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Vietnamese Turmeric Fish with Dill - Cha Ca
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Vietnamese Turmeric Fish with Dill | Chả Cá Lã Vọng

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By: Cindy Lam Lorimer
Prep Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings: 5
Chả Cá Lã Vọng is a dish that originated in Hanoi featuring grilled chunks of seasoned fish, served with dill, scallions, and peanuts, accompanied by rice noodles and drizzled with fish dipping sauce.

Ingredients 

Marinade:

  • 3 lbs catfish filet , (or any flaky white fish like halibut or tilapia), cut into 2 inch pieces
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp sugar
  • ½ Tbsp fresh turmeric, minced
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 Tbsp ginger, minced
  • 3 Tbsp galangal , (can substitute with lemongrass), chopped
  • 2 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tsp Mam Tom, shrimp paste
  • 1 Tbsp fermented rice, known as Me or you can substitute with sour cream or greek yogurt

Ingredients:

  • ⅓ cup avocado oil, or any neutral oil
  • ½ onion, peeled, sliced
  • 3 green onions, cut into one inch length
  • 1 bunch dill, coarsely chopped, stems removed
  • ⅓ cup shallots, fried
  • ⅓ cup peanuts, chopped
  • 3 green onions, chopped, flash fried in neutral oil

Green onion oil:

  • 3 green onions, chopped
  • a few tablespoons neutral oil

Instructions

  • Place the fish in a medium size bowl, add marinade mix and rub together to coat the fish evenly.
  • NOTE: Turmeric stains everything so please make sure to wear gloves. Also, use a bowl that you don’t mind getting stained.
  • Set bowl aside and let it sit at room temperature for an hour.
  • While the fish marinates, make the green onion oil: heat the oil in a small saucepan until hot, then pour it over the chopped green onions in a heatproof bowl to flash-fry them. Set aside.
  • In a large pan, on medium high heat, add ½ cup of oil and fry half of the fish pieces, so you are frying in one single layer to create a nice browning, for 3 minutes on each side. Remove the fish from the pan and repeat the process with the remaining half. Add more oil to the pan and sauté onions and the one inch green onions. Cook the onions for a couple of minutes, then gently add the fish and cook for two additional minutes, lightly tossing. When done, remove the pan from heat and sprinkle dill, fried shallots and chopped peanuts on top. Drizzle green onion oil and serve immediately.
  • I like to eat this with vermicelli noodle salad (consisting of noodles, cucumbers, julienned carrots and shredded red leaf lettuce) and fish dipping sauce. You can also eat it over rice, or wrap it in a rice paper roll and dip with fish dipping sauce.

Notes

 
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1portion | Calories: 486kcal | Carbohydrates: 11g | Protein: 48g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 158mg | Sodium: 126mg | Potassium: 1199mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 369IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 75mg | Iron: 2mg

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