Finding fresh dill in Manila (or Central Luzon for that matter) during the rainy season is like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack… So I was resigned to wait until the holiday season to take a stab at cooking Cha Ca La Vong at home. But a few days later, while picking up some staples at the SM grocery in Cebu, several packages of fresh dill were just sitting in the chillers, and I bought everything they had, say 100 grams worth or so. I brought the dill to the office in Cebu, rummaged around a freezer for some frozen fish fillets and checked to see if we had powdered turmeric… Soon after, we were experimenting with Cha Ca La Vong in our commissary kitchen. This version was really quite easy to make, and it tasted terrific!

First, finely mince some galanggal or ginger if you don’t have the former ingredient. Smash it up in a mortar and pestle. Slice up some firm white fleshed fish (we used two cream dory fillets, that was the only choice other than bangus in the freezers) but good tilapia fillets or other freshwater fish might do nicely. Place the fish in a bowl, add the smashed ginger, a half cup of plain unsweetened yoghurt or sour cream, half a tablespoon or so of powdered turmeric and some salt and pepper to taste. I added in some fish sauce (thai) only because we didn’t have the guinamos-y, greyish fish or shrimp paste that is probably closer to the original ingredient used in Vietnam. Let this all marinate for a couple of hours, covered and in the fridge.

A word on authenticity. I believe the original dish is made with a by now, rather rare and expensive fresh water river fish. It is also suggested in some books and on-line sources that instead of yoghurt, the Vietnamese use a form of fermented rice to give the dish that creamy slightly funky dimension. And the fish sauce is ideally of the murkier, seriously pungent variety rather than refined fish sauce or nuoc nam. Not sure if it’s best to use fresh turmeric rather than powdered, but many recipes seem to use the powdered form. At any rate, my numerous substitutions non-withstanding, it is the end product that matters when all is said and done, knowing that this isn’t quite totally authentic… :)

When you are ready to cook and eat, set a medium to large sized saute pan on medium heat, add more lard or vegetable oil than you think is necessary, say 3/4 of a cup or so, then dredge the fish in some fine rice flour (or all-purpose flour) and saute for a few minutes until just cooked and it takes on a nice sunny rich color. For me, the lard added another dimension of flavor that vegetable oil will not provide.

Add in your shredded spring or green onions, lots of dill and I added a bit of coriander as well.

The dish is strikingly colorful, fragrant and appealing…

The added herbs wilt quickly, retaining their vibrant green color. Take the pan off the heat and serve immediately with some rice noodles on the side (previously cooked, served at room temperature), and a bowl of fish sauce/lime juice/sugar/ water and a bit of chilies. Throw in some chopped up peanuts as well.

My fish to herb ratio was higher than the dish we tasted in Hanoi, and I did that on purpose as I felt perhaps a bit shortchanged at the restaurant with just a few pieces of fish and just so many darned herbs… :) This easily served 8, with other dishes at that lunch meal. All the folks in our Cebu office, who have never had this dish before and some of whom aren’t the most adventurous eaters at all, wiped out this dish in record time. I think the mixture of fish, herbs, rice noodles and sauce and a little crunch of peanut and a little heat from the chilies was just an explosive mouthful of flavor. Will be doing this again when dill returns to Manila markets. Definitely doing this again…

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“An institution, and whoever did the decor deserves to be in one. Sit upstairs and get a pan of hot oil to cook your fish and herbs in. Delish, but avoid the loos.”

That’s a verbatim quote from our Luxe City Guides for the city of Hanoi. Cha Ca La Vong is the name for a small restaurant operated by five generations plus of the same family for 100+ years, serving only ONE dish, Cha Ca La Vong (fried fish in turmeric with herbs). It got a thumbs up from the New York Times writer, here, but don’t get your expectations up too high or you might be disappointed. The bottom line? Mrs. MM, the Teen and I enjoyed our dish of Cha Ca La Vong a lot, and while a bit pricey by Hanoi standards, and certainly in less than thrilling surroundings, this is one dish that I can say, been there, tasted that, and it’s fairly easy to replicate to about 90% of the original, so stay tuned for the MM version, up next…

Located in a small two-storey walk-up in the old district of Hanoi, the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner, only takes cash and has no menu since you have no choice besides their signature dish.

We sat down in a crowded room after a short wait, and the description of the Luxe guide was spot on. It’s the kind of place most of you probably wouldn’t venture into alone, nor stay when you saw how some of the food was being handled. :( We quickly took our places at a table for 4, the server hand communicated with us that we wanted three orders of the specialty, two waters and a Coke Zero and waited a minute or two. An individual burner was put in the middle of our table, a bowl filled with shredded green onions, dill and other herbs, a plate of mint/basil, and two bowls of fresh rice noodles, a small plate of peanuts and some chopped chilies was provided. Watching the other locals, we noticed you could get some of their version of bagoong as well if you knew how to ask for it, or if you pointed a bit rudely at a neighboring table…

I was futzing around with my camera and before you could take off a cap and turn it on, the server arrive with a hot pan of oil and sizzling fish then dumped in the herbs and started stirring, pointing at us to start munching away. I nearly missed the whole thing that took just a few seconds! At any rate, this yellowy fish (the turmeric) and herbs turned into a fragrant and oily mass and we turned the heat down so as not to overcook it all.

The idea is to take a bit of fish (perhaps just 100 grams of less of it per person(!) some of the oil and herbs and mix it with your very plain noodles and eat that all up with some herbs and chilies or fish sauce/lime sauce. It was delicious! Intentionally oily, but a real palate awakener, and a bit out of the ordinary for us. I really liked the combination of flavors and the way it was quickly prepared. The volume of herbs might turn off a few people, but I was totally into this. The dill, in particular, probably a vestige of French colonialism, gave this a very refreshing, tasty twist. Mrs. MM and the Teen found it a bit too oily for their liking, but we managed to polish off the entire pan without much difficulty. We only ate a third of the noodles they provided, however. Lunch was done in less than 20 minutes, and we paid a bill of roughly $24 (quite pricey by Hanoi standards) but I thought the experience and the dish was worth the money.

I am sure there are lots of other places that do this dish well, but it’s always nice to head to the place that is generally considered to be the best, or the oldest, if only for your first experience.

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