TURMERIC CATFISH WITH RICE NOODLES, SCALLION, AND DILL
This Northern Vietnamese boodle dish hits all five major taste sensations: salty, sour, sweet, bitter, and umami (savory). The unusual ingredient combination includes galangal, shrimp sauce, sesame rice crackers, and sour cream, the last standing in for me, the same mash of fermented cooked rice traditionally used in mock turtle stew (page 153). For many Vietnamese, the definitive cha ca is the rather complicated version served at the landmark Hanoi restaurant Cha Ca La Vong. There, the fish is cooked partially on a grill and then finished at the table in a skillet of oil, scallion, and dill. While that restaurant rendition is delicious, my family takes an easier path to making the dish. We broil the fish and then enrich it with scallion and dill seared in hot oil. The fish can also be grilled over a medium-hot fire, but the small pieces can be difficult to manage on a grill.
Yield serves 4 generously as a one-dish meal
Number Of Ingredients 13
Steps:
- Rinse the catfish fillets and pat dry with paper towels. Cut each fillet into index finger-sized pieces about 3 inches long and 3/4 inch thick. (To arrive at pieces that are long enough, you may need to angle the knife so that you cut on the diagonal.)
- To make the marinade, in a shallow bowl large enough to accommodate the catfish, combine the sour cream, turmeric, galangal juice, and shrimp sauce and mix well. Add the catfish and use a rubber spatula to coat the fish evenly. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to overnight.
- Thirty minutes before broiling, remove the catfish from the refrigerator. To prepare the accompaniments, arrange the noodles on 2 plates in 2-inch mounds for easy serving. Place the noodles, vegetable garnish plate, peanuts, dipping sauce, and rice crackers on the table.
- Position a rack about 3 inches from the heat source and preheat the broiler for 20 minutes to get it nice and hot. Arrange the catfish pieces on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet, spreading them out flat like a jigsaw puzzle. Broil for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the fish is sizzling and a little brown. Remove from the broiler, make a spout in one corner of the foil, and pour off the accumulated liquid. Use chopsticks or a spatula to flip the fish pieces over. Broil for another 5 to 8 minutes, or until browned on the second side. Transfer to a serving plate.
- To garnish the fish, blanket it with the dill and scallions. Then, in a small saucepan, heat the oil until faint wisps of smoke start rising. Pour the hot oil over the scallion and dill to wilt them. Use 2 spoons to mix the fish and garnishes and then place on the table.
- To eat this dish, each diner combines all the various ingredients in a small bowl (such as a rice bowl), tearing the lettuce and herbs into pieces and breaking up the rice cracker. He or she then drizzles a little sauce on top, mixes the contents of the bowl, and eats.
- To extract galangal juice, first reduce the knobby rhizome to a fine texture by either grating it with a Microplane or Japanese grater, or by thinly slicing it and then pounding the slices in a mortar to a mush. Press the solids through a fine-mesh sieve to obtain the milky liquid. For 1 tablespoon juice, you will need a 1 1/2-inch chunk of galangal.
- Some people don't care for the taste of Tangy-Sweet Shrimp Sauce, finding it too strongly flavored. Include an alternative of Basic Dipping Sauce (page 308), made without garlic, on the table.
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