This is one of the easier recipes I’ve done in a while, a dish to make on a busy weeknight that comes together in about the same time it takes to make the steamed rice that goes along with it. It’s total Vietnamese comfort food: Crispy pieces of fish bathed in a simple sauce, served with onions, chiles and lots of cilantro.
I first found this recipe in my friend Andrea Nguyen’s great book Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors. She uses catfish for her version, but I prefer a firmer fish such as lingcod. Virtually any fish will work here, however.
The key to success with this dish is not overcook the fish. The easiest way to achieve this is to get just one side of the fish crispy, letting the simmering sauce cook the rest of the fish gently. You can of course sear both sides if you want, but if you do, make sure you are really searing it quickly, over high heat.
Don’t like cilantro? Use mint or watercress, or even parsley, although parsley’s not used much in Vietnamese cooking.
And yes, I know this is not a very challenging recipe. No fish skin chicharrons or crispy fried duck tongues here. Just wanted to let you know that I can do easy, too. Cheers!
- 2 pounds lean white fish, cut into 2-inch chunks
- Salt
- 3 tablespoons peanut oil
- 1 large onion, about 3 cups, sliced thin from root to stem
- A piece of ginger about the size of your thumb, peeled and sliced thin
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 to 5 jalapenos or other hot chiles, seeded and sliced thin
- 4 tablespoons fish sauce
- 4 tablespoons water
- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
- Juice of 2 limes
- Sprinkle salt over the fish. Heat the peanut oil in a large saute pan or wok and add the fish. Sear the fish in the oil so one side of it gets a nice, golden brown crust. Don't flip the fish, as you will finish cooking it later. Remove each piece of fish as it browns.
- When all the fish is done, add the onions and ginger and a little more oil if needed. Stir-fry over very high heat until the edges of the onions begin to brown, about 3 minutes. Add the sugar, jalapeno chiles, fish sauce and water and bring to a boil.
- Add the fish and gently toss everything to combine. Cover the pan and simmer for 5 minutes. Gently mix in the cilantro and turn off the heat. Add the lime juice and serve with steamed rice.
Thanks again, Hank. This was delicious. A very simple dish with no hard to find ingredients and no expert technique is required. If you are reading reviews and thinking of making this, do it and, as Hank might say, you will not be sad. Contrary to another reviewer’s comment, I did not find this to be overly fishy. I thought the flavors were very balanced. It does taste like fish but that’s probably only because it IS fish. The only thing I will do differently next time is to modify the heat level. I used 3 seeded jalapenos and I didn’t get any heat. This is not a flaw in the recipe but rather due to the fickle nature of the jalapeno itself. Hank, I bow before thee, Oh Exalted One. Your recipes never disappoint. 🙂
Thank you Hank. I am not a great cook and stumbled my way through this easy recipe making some mistakes as I went. My hopes weren’t very high when I was done, but when I tried it I was almost unsettled by how amazingly delicious it was. Truly great flavor and I know I will make it even better next time. Thanks again.