I’m happy to announce the winner of my Soapy Giveaway is, drum roll please, Tara of Aigoo-Chamna.net! Congratulations, Tara! Thrilled that you won & you most definitely deserve it. Tara is always one of the first people to read my posts & leaves thoughtful comments. Very pleased that she won, but it was all the more easier for her to win when a bunch of people got disqualified because they failed to do one simple thing: leave multiple comments on different posts. Womp womp! Oh well, their loss is Tara’s win. Visit her blog & befriend this friendly blogger! Thanks to all those who participated & be on the lookout for another giveaway in the future. I’m bound to have another one. 🙂
Let’s get on with my previous promise to share Vietnamese recipes, shall we? I bring you a delicious fish & noodle recipe from my peeplez. Cha Ca Thang Long (Grilled Turmeric Fish with Dill) is a very popular northern Vietnamese dish, which has a transliteration of “grilled chopped fish from Thang Long.” While we were sweating in Vietnam’s summer heat, my family went to lunch at a restaurant in Hanoi which only served Cha Ca Thang Long and it was quite excellent. However, I’ve had better in the comforts of my own home (& my mother’s cooking) & at Pho Quang Trung. It’s also comforting knowing you can eat fresh herbs raw without worry of parasites too, so there’s that. This recipe is not meant for those who don’t like seafood or fish sauce, because honey, fish sauce is the soy sauce of Vietnam. In other Asian cuisines, soy sauce is the base for many dishes, but in Vietnam, it’s fish sauce. It’s the secret ingredient my mom uses to make her spaghetti sauce full of umami goodness.
BONUS FUN FACT: Ancient Romans also used fish sauce in their spaghetti too, so don’t you judge my mother for adding her Vietnamese fusion ways into pasta.
Cha Ca Thang Long
Yooooo, did you know that Vietnamese food is one of the healthiest ethnic cuisines? Ignore the fact that the dipping fish sauce (nuoc mam cham) is mostly sugary fishy vinegar water, but take a look at this fish dish: it’s supposed to be grilled–but I ain’t got a grill here, so whatevs–which is healthy so long as you don’t burn the heck out of the fish & it’s slathered with turmeric & dill. Turmeric has anti-inflammatory properties & it can help lower cholesterol, making it heart healthy, & aids with digestion. Dill is also great for indigestion & when combined with turmeric, they make a great team for keeping insulin levels from fluctuating. This is great news for diabetics & even better news for those trying not to develop diabetes! Ready for this? Get my recipe y’all.
Fishy Dinner
**I’ll post those adverts for the runner-ups for the next post. Right now I need to do my chores, sheesh.**
Kenny
Congratulations to Tara. Very well deserved, I say.
Your recipe looks delicious. I prefer meat over fish, but if there is fish in front of me, I will eat it. Especially if it’s smothered with fish sauce. Yum.
Tiff
Thanks Kenny! I run a Pescetarian/Vegetarian/Vegan food blog, so my recipes are centered around vegetables & sometimes creatures from under the sea.
Drea
Tara’s good people and I’m glad she won!
I’ve never been good with fish, unless it’s sashimi cuts or, shamefully, overly processed. It’s a secret shame of mine. I’m not good with fresh cooked fished, but maaaaybe I’ll give it a shot. ;D
Tiff
Hi Drea, I run a Pescetarian/Vegetarian/Vegan food blog, so I would really recommend that you take a look at my vegetarian/vegan recipes rather than my pescetarian ones if you don’t like fish. It’s interesting that you can do sashimi but not cooked fish. Anyway, I wouldn’t recommend making this at home if it’s your first time & you don’t like fish to begin with. Rather, you should try going to a Vietnamese restaurant & ordering the dish with friends who do like fish to see if you like it.
Tiff K
I neeed more Vietnamese food Tiff!! 😀 Hellooo! OMG been so long. I’m trying to go and find everyone’s blogs again. Thank you for always inspiring me with your food photography <3
Tiff
Hi Tiff! Nice to see you around again. It’s been so long indeed. Thanks & you’re welcome!! I’m trying to post more Vietnamese recipes, but I always end up making them at night & they don’t look as nice in the morning.
Tara
NOM! I somehow missed this post on Feedly. Ack! Sorry about that.
Thanks for hosting the giveaway! I am thrilled that I won XD First time I ever won a giveaway, haha! Can’t wait for my awesome goodies and such!
Anyway back to the NOM! Thanks for introducing me to more about Vietnamese cuisine! The only thing I know is pho and spring rolls, so I’m glad I learnt a bit more about it :3 The fish looks great and the addition dill and turmeric sounds like an interesting combo.
As for your mum combining fish sauce with pasta — nothing wrong with that! Huzzah for being creative with fusion cuisines 😀
Tiff
Don’t worry about it, Tara! 🙂 I’m glad you won the giveaway. Pho & spring/summer rolls are great Vietnamese dishes though, so at least you’re familiar with the most popular items! My favorite Vietnamese dishes are always our noodle dishes. They’re so vastly different & so delicious.
Haha well even though some people think it might be wrong to add fish sauce to spaghetti, it’s totally .. well, okay, it’s kind of authentic because anchovies are used in Italian cuisine & they can really bring out any pasta dish with some additional umami!
onlytessss
Your meal looked wonderfully and beautifully put together!
I am vietnamese and I love our cuisine, and pretty happy to see that it’s making it into America… not sure if I like the whole “fusion” thing if it breaks down the traditional meal. However, it’s still delicious and thanks for sharing this again!
Cat
Congrats to Tara on winning the giveaway!
Oohh, I’ve never had this dish before. I am someone who likes both fish and fish sauce though, so I think I would like this 🙂 I like that the ingredients are all things I’ve seen in stores before. We’ve been having issues lately with some Asian recipes and not being able to find a few of the ingredients, even at Asian super markets!
Tiff
Totally recommend trying this in a restaurant before attempting to make it in the comforts of your own home! I’m sure you’ll love it, but it’s always nice to see how restaurants do it before you try it out yourself. You’re definitely not hurting for good Vietnamese food in your area! If you ever need help with identifying any Asian ingredients, let me know! I can definitely try to help. Sometimes Asian super markets–especially H Mart–really do just lack the things I need (like dried bean curd!!) but I find that the large Chinese or Vietnamese ones have everything even though they’re not as nice as the Japanese or Korean ones.
Lynn | The Road to Honey
Despite the heat, I bet it was magical sitting at that restaurant in Hanoi and enjoying a big bowl of Cha Ca Thang Long. Vietnam is one of the countries I hope to visit in the near future. . .so perhaps I too will be able to have this magical experience. Until then. . .I will have to settle for creating a little slice of Vietnam in my home with your Cha Ca Thang Long (how much fun is it to say this?)
Tiff
It was indeed! I had a lot to complain about, but I love traveling & eating so it was great. I was also sick for a good portion of the trip–thanks parasites!!!–so that hindered my enjoyment factor, but it was still amazing to travel around to see historical places.
Bring lots of mosquito repellant, hydrocortisone, & all the antibiotics you can get your hands on for your stomach in case you eat a parasite (unwashed/uncooked vegetables &/or improperly cooked shellfish).
My parents & I usually just say, “cha ca” when we refer to Cha Ca Thang Long because it’s such a long name for food & we all know we’re talking about this dish when we say, “cha ca”! It is indeed a tongue twister haha, but most of the Vietnamese language is!