Full disclaimer, neither hubby and I have had a traditional version of Cha Ca Thanh Long. We didn’t even know about it until I talked with a coworker and he brought it up one day. Following that we saw it a few times on youtube Vietnamese food vlogs and then a few other times on specialty food shows. We were sold. White flaky fish marinated in a bright yellow turmeric marinade over a bed of wilted dill and green onions and topped with some spicy shrimp paste? I don’t know that just has both of our names plastered all over it. I LOVE savory rich dishes, and this is it! If you’re not one for shrimp paste, fish sauce/nuoc cham is equally amazing! If you’d rather have fish sauce, here’s a handy dandy post about all you need to know about fish sauce.
So at the brink of the COVID pandemic, my family and I went out and stocked up on not toilet paper, but fish, our livelihood. If you don’t know, people in the villages off of the Hue province (central province of Vietnam) thrive on fish. Steamed, cooked in a clay pot, made in soups, congee, salted and fermented, you name it! Fish is pretty much a staple in our house and we always have some on hand. So, because we were in the mode of stocking up, we personally bought 2 boxes of black cod and my mom and I split 1 box of ‘pink fish- the fattier variation (not cod)’. Our freezer was filled to the brim with frozen fish. We’ve probably gone through 2 fishes every other week? Either way, white fish is the way to go and both of the fishes I have stockpiled are both conveniently white fish.
I fileted one of each variation. I took the leftover bones and created a stock because frugal me didn’t want anything to go to waste, and I knew a fish broth from these amazing fish would be really sweet. This meal includes the turmeric garlic fish, shrimp paste sauce, and quick fish soup.
Ingredients for Tumeric Garlic Fish (Cha Ca Thanh Long)
– Filets of white fish (skin on or off your preference) I ended up using 12 filets- 6 from each fish
– 2 tbs Tumeric
– 7-8 cloves of garlic minced
– 1/2 tsp Salt
– 1 tsp pepper
– 2 tsp crushed red pepper
– 1 tbs Fish Sauce
– 1 medium onion sliced thick
– 4 tbs neutral tasting oil (I used avocado)
– 1-4 large bunches of dill
– 1 bunch of scallions
**I eyeballed these, you can too. Going for a barely salty marinade with lots of punch from turmeric and garlic.
Steps for preparing Cha Ca Thanh Long
1. In a large glass bowl, mix together the marinade (everything but the fish). Taste to make sure its to your preference. Again subtly salty with a lot of kick from the other aromatics.
2. Let sit for at least 15 minutes
3. Prepare/wash fresh dill cutting it into 1 inch segments
4. Prepare scallions by cutting it into 2 inch segments. The whites you can slice hotdog style so they’re thinner
Ingredients for Shrimp Paste Sauce
– 1 tbs shrimp paste
– 1 1/2 tsp sugar
– 1 tbs hot neutral oil (hot = almost to smoking point but not quite)
– 1 tbs hot water
– 1/2 a lime or more depending on preference
– 4 cloves minced garlic
– 5-6 minced thai chili (preferential
Steps for shrimp paste sauce
1. In a heat safe bowl, add your shrimp paste and sugar and mix well.
2. Pour hot oil over the shrimp paste and stir.
3. Add your hot water and stir.
4. Add the rest of your ingredients and continue to adjust to your preference
*some people omit using hot oil which is cool too. We use it to in a way cook the shrimp paste and also add some richness/thickness to the sauce!
Ingredients for Fish Soup
– Fileted fish bones and whatever’s left of your fish
– Fish Tofu/balls
– Dumplings if you have
– Thickening agent like wheat starch or tapioca flour
– Fish sauce
– Mushroom seasoning
– Sesame oil
– White or black pepper to serve
Steps for Fish Soup
1. Bring your fish remnants to a rolling boil. You can remove the bones once your fish has cooked and scrape off the fish from the bones if you have any.
2. Add your fish tofu or fish balls — whatever you happen to have
3. Add your dumplings. I used har gao dumplings since it’s made from wheat starch which will double as my thickening agent, and I had some I made awhile ago in my freezer
4. Season with fish sauce and mushroom seasoning to taste
5. Use a thickening agent to give some heftiness to the soup. My har gao dumpling was sufficient to do the trick. If you’re using a different dumpling, opt for wheat starch slurry or tapioca starch slurry.
5. Once its done, add 1 tsp of sesame oil and mix in.
6. Serve with white or black pepper.
Vermicelli– Method is optional
1. Boil a pack of vermicelli
2. When cooked let the vermicelli drain for 5 minutes.
3. Grab a handful of vermicelli and twist or wrap into a ball and place on a plate. This will help your eaters be able to grab a nice mound of vermicelli easily each time.
Putting it all together!
Once everything is ready to go (don’t forget to boil your vermicelli), you can cook this dish on the table or prepare it first on your stove.
1. Heat some oil on a large pan and pan fry your fish with some onions faced down to develop a nice sear.
2. Cover with a lid to steam cook the fish all the way through. I had some liquid in the pan to do this, but if you don’t add 1/4 cup water.
3. If you’re cooking on the table: Once your fish is cooked top with dill and green onions and saute
3. If you’re cooking stove top: Remove the fish and saute your dill and green onions. Remove dill and onions top with fish.
4. This is served by placing some vermicelli in your bowl, topping with veggies and fish, and with a spoon or two of shrimp paste over everything. Mix and enjoy.