Trứng Nhồi Chả Cá

Fish Paste stuffed Eggs

5 hard boiled eggs, cut in half lengthwise
1/4 lb fish paste
4 fresh water chestnuts, julienned
2 green onions, chopped
1 sprig cilantro, chopped
vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste

Combine fish paste, water chestnut and green onion in a bowl, add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the egg yolks from the egg halves. Stuff the egg whites with the mixture, forming a slight mound. Fry in hot oil, deep enough to cover the mixture, fish side down until golden brown, turn over and fry the egg side until golden crisp.
Sprinkle chopped cilantro and grated egg yolk on top. Serve with sweet and sour sauce or cucumber fish sauce.

Cá Chim Chiên Sốt Cay

Crispy Pomfret in Spicy Sauce

Cá Tuyết Hấp Gừng Hành

Steamed Sea Bass with Ginger and Green Onion


1 slice Sea bass (10-12 oz)
1/4 T sake (or white wine)
1 T soy sauce (light)
1/2 T vegetable oil
few drops of sesame oil
1 small piece fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
1 green onion, julienned
salt, pepper and sugar

Clean and place Sea bass in a large shallow bowl. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the fish. Add soy sauce, sake, vegetable oil, some sugar, ginger, green onion (white head only, leave green part for garnishing) into the bowl.
Fill some water in a wok or a skillet that deep enough (or one has a big lid cover) to hold the bowl and some room for the steam, place bowl in, cover. Bring to a boil over medium high heat then reduce to medium heat to let the fish steam for 10-15'.
Turn off heat and remove the fish bowl. Drop some sesame oil in, sprinkle some green onions shreds on top then serve.

Bong Bóng Cá Dồn Thịt

Stuffed Fish Maw

Cá Nục Kho Thơm

Mackarel braised in Pineapple Coconut Juice

3 Mackarels, clean and cut in half
1/4 Pineapple, sliced
1 can coconut juice
2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
1/2 cup fish sauce
Vegetable oil

Pan fry mackarel with oil until skin turn golden. Transfer over pressure cooker, add coconut juice, fish sauce, garlic, pineapple, some oil in. Cover, lock lid and cook over medium high heat for 5 minutes. Reduce heat to simmer for 50 minutes. Turn off heat. Let it cook in steam for 10 more minutes. Release steam, open lid. Fish are ready to serve. The bones can be eaten (very soft) too.

Cá Bông Lau Kho Tộ

Catfish Simmered in Claypot


4 slices catfish (small)
1 small piece pork belly, sliced
1 T fish sauce
1/2 T sugar
1 t pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
1 T vegetable oil
2/3 T caramel sauce
2 green onions, chopped
1 dried hot chilli, chopped

Put fish, pork belly, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, garlic, shallot, oil, caramel sauce into clay pot. Let it marinade for 1 hour. Simmer with low heat until liquid is reduced 2/3. Garnish with chopped green onion and dried hot chilli.

Mực Xào Cần Cà

Sauteed Cuttlefish with Cucumber, tomato and Chinese Celery

Sườn Ram Tôm

Caramel Spare Rib with Shrimp


1 lb lean sparerib, cut into 2-inches pieces
12 medium shrimps, shelled and deveined
1 shallot, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 onion, cubed
1 green onion, cut into 1-inch length
1 T vegetable oil
1 T white wine
2 T sugar
Fish sauce, salt, pepper to taste

Put spareribs + garlic + shallot + 1 T fish sauce + 1/4 t salt + 1/2 T sugar + fresh ground black pepper, mix well, cover and refrigerate overnight or 4 hrs.

Heat oil in a heavy bottom skillet. Add the ribs and cook until brown, about 15-20 minutes. In a small pan, make caramel sauce from 1 T sugar. Add caramelized sugar and stir for 5 minutes. Add 1 T white wine and let it simmer for 5-7 more minutes. Add shrimps and onion, stir for few more minutes until shrimps are cooked (3 minutes. Season with 1/2 T sugar and some fish sauce to taste. Sprinkle with black pepper and green onion then serve with steamed rice.

Tôm Càng Kho Tàu

Prawn Simmered in Garlic Onion Sauce


1 lb frozen prawn (5-6)
2 shallot, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-1.5 T shrimp paste in soya bean oil
2 green onion, cut into 2-inches length
1 T vegetable oil
salt, pepper, fish sauce, sugar

Use scissors to cut off part of the prawn head, just pass the nose (hard nub above the eyes), the claws and legs part while prawn still frozen (don't defrost them). Remove prawn shell, sand vein, but leave the tail attached for presentation.

Heat oil and add shallot and garlic, cook until fragrant, place prawns and pan sear both sides until golden. Add shrimp paste with soya bean oil in. Season with fish sauce, salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Simmer for 3-5 minutes (if prawn was frozen).

Optional: You can add 1/2 cup of coconut juice and simmer.

Chem Chép Kho Tộ

Green Mussel Claypot

1 cup green mussel meat (remove from 1/2 shell)
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions, cut into 1-inch length
5 dried red chilli
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 T fish sauce
1.5 T sugar
salt, pepper

Heat 1 T oil in a clay pot over medium heat, add garlic and stir until fragrant, add mussel, dried red chilli, fish sauce, sugar and stir to marinate well. Heat 1 T sugar in a non-stick pan until sugar turn into caramel color, transfer caramelized sugar into clay pot. Simmer in medium low heat until liquid reduced. Add scallion, some salt (if needed) and fresh ground pepper.

Cá Hồi Chiên Giòn Sốt Cay

Crispy Salmon in Spicy Sauce

Crispy Salmon
1.5 lbs salmon fillet, cut into bite cubes, salt and pepper
oil to fry
Heat oil until hot, deep fry salmon until cooked (inner flesh turns white) about 2-3 minutes.

Spicy Sauce:
1 T vegetable oil + 1 T fish sauce + 2 T rice vinegar + 2-3 T honey or plum sauce + 2 cloves minced garlic + 1/2 seedless minced red chilli (adjust all the ingredients to your taste). Stir this mixture to a boil over medium heat then reduce heat and simmer until thicken.

Pour over crispy salmon then serve.

Cá Bống Kho Tiêu

Sand Goby Simmered in Pepper Sauce

1 package frozen ready-to-cook sandy goby
3 T premium grade fish sauce (if using regular one, 2 T should be enough)
2.5 T vegetable oil
2-2.5 T sugar
1 t fresh ground pepper
1 small shallot, minced

Run water to wash and seperate the fish from frozen package, pat dry with paper towel.
Heat 2 T oil in a non-stick pan (big enough for all gobies touch the bottom and some room to turn them) over medium high heat, add shallot and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the fish in (they should be partially frozen), add 2 T fish sauce and 1/2 T sugar in. Lower heat to simmer, use simmer burner if you have one otherwise use the lowest mode (partially cover) until all liquid totally absorbed. Turn off heat and let it cool off.
Heat 2 T sugar in a small skillet to make caramel sauce. Just when the sugar turn light brown, remove and add 1 T water to dissolve the sauce. Warning: Fresh caramelized sugar is very hot, so handle it carefully, adding water might spray the hot caramelized sugar in any direction. You can use the ready made one, but making fresh caramel sauce will give better color. Transfer fish into a claypot, add caramel sauce, 1/2 T oil, 1 T fish sauce, 1 t pepper into the fish. Turn the fish so they can be covered evenly. Bring back to simmer, cover first to let it steam for a few minute, then simmer uncovered until all liquid are gone.
This whole simmering in fish sauce-pepper oil process will give the goby a distintive texture like ... fish version of chicken.

By the way, the reason I use non-stick pan to simmer it first because I don't have a 100-years old clay pot. In fact, I just bought 1 when I got the fish yesterday. If you have a well-use, already break-in one, you can just use it to simmer the fish from the beginning.

So I spent 6.99 + tax for the clay pot, plus the fish (I forgot how much was the fish), plus the whole morning simmering these 5 little fish (there were 7 of them, 2 gone for taste-test). I probably gonna serve them in my gold rimmed Rosenthal plate :)))

Cá Chiên Muối Ớt Tây Ninh

Tay Ninh Chilli-Salt Fish Nugget

Chả Cá Thái

Tod Mun

3/4 lb fish paste
3/4 cup green bean
1 green onion
1 egg
1 T sugar, fish sauce, pepper
Vegetable oil

Mix egg, sugar, some fish sauce (just enough to season green beans), pepper into fish paste until smooth.

Thinly dice green beans and green onion crosswise (1/8 inch thick).

Mix green bean and green onion into the paste.

Heat some oil in a pan over medium heat. When it's hot enough, scoop mixture with a spoon in. When the down side harden, press down the mixture to make a flat patty. Turn to cook both sides evenly (golden brown).
Serve with cucumber sauce.

Cucumber Sauce: put 1 part sugar + 1/2 part water + 1/2 part vinegar in a small sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolved and the sauce thicken as syrup. Cool off.
Peel 1/2 cucumber and remove seeds, dice into small cubes.
Pour sauce over cucumber and refrigerate until serve. Top with some crushed roasted peanut when served.

Tôm Rang Muối

Salt and Pepper Shrimp

12 medium head-on shrimps
1/2 onion, cut 1 inch apart
2 green onion, cut into 2-inches length
1 green jalapeno pepper, sliced (optional)
1 T cornstarch
Sea salt, pepper
Vegetable oil

Use scissors to cut off part of the shrimp head, just pass the nose (hard nub above the eyes) and the 5 pairs legs part. Rinse over cold water and pat dry. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over. Lightly coat the shrimps with the cornstarch.
Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium high heat, deep fry the shrimps until they turn bright orange, turn to cook both side about 1-2 minutes. Remove and drain on papper towels.
Put shrimps into another pan, heat on medium heat, add onion, jalapeno pepper (optional) and green onion in, sprinkle more salt and pepper as you stir (or toss if you wish) the shrimps to coat evenly. Serve hot.

Cá Nướng Da Giòn

Double-broiled Catfish

1 medium live catfish (4 lbs)
1 T oyster sauce
1 whole egg
1 egg white
1/2 T honey
1/2 T melted butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 T vegetable oil, salt, pepper
2 T green onion oil
1 T crisp fried shallot
1 T toasted peanut, crushed

Have the butcher clean you fish and remove all guts and gills. Clean off the black mud by pouring boiling water and scrubbing the fish's skin with the blade of a sharp knife. Clean under running water.
On a flat surface, hold the fish by the head and insert the blade point of a knife into the gill hole (where they cut to remove guts abd gills). Make a cut all the way to the belly along the length of the back bone, close but not into the rib case, run to the tail. Open the fish like a butterfly, skin side up. Make 2-3 slits each side of the fish wing (the filet parts). Rub oil, garlic, salt and pepper evenly on the fish. Put in oven, cover and broil under 500 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Mix oyster sauce + honey + egg + egg white + butter into a bowl. Use a brush to brush the mixture on the fish skin and put back in the broil, wait until dry, continue to brush until a thick golden surface is built. Brush on more butter if needed. Transfer the fish to an ovel dish, top with green onion oil, crisp-fried shallot, and toasted peanut.

Accompaniments for Serving
Vegetable platter
Rice papers
Rice noodles
Anchovy Pineapple Sauce

To eat, take 1 rice paper (on holder) put on your dinner plate, place varieties of vegetables on rice paper, noodles (optional), big chunk of fish with crispy skin. Roll the rice paper up then dip it in the anchovy sauce and eat out of hand.

Ghẹ Rang Muối Ớt

Dry Fried Spicy Blue Crab


10 live blue crabs
1 T spicy seasoning
3 shallots, thinly sliced
2 garlic, finely chopped
Butter, oil

Spicy seasoning:
1 part sea salt+ 2 parts minced fresh garlic + 1 part fresh ground black pepper+ 1/2 part paprika+ 1/6 part of dried hot chilli pepper (or depend on how much spicy you can handle).

Prepare the crabs:
Place crab on a large cutting board, belly side up. If it's alive (and it should be), kill it by placing the pointy end of a knife through its belly (right below the apron). Remove the apron. Turn over and pry off the top shell by holding the body in one hand and pulling the top shell right at the rear with the other hand. Make sure you do it gently, not to break off the legs. Pull off the gills at the front of the crab, twist off the mouth parts, rinse over running water. Scoop out the crab butter from the shell and set aside. Cut crab in half.

Heat up some oil and butter in a large wok, add crab and stir to fry, add spicy seasoning, cover to cook evenly, stir occationally and continue to fry until the juice dry up. Meanwhile, use a small sauce pan to heat up some butter and add shallot and garlic in to cook until golden brown, add crab butter in and cook until thicken (1-2 minutes). Pour that fragant butter over the crabs. Stir to coat evenly.

Tôm Kho Đánh

Tasty Braised Shrimp


18-20 raw head-on shrimps (36-40 count)
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, chopped
2 green onion, chopped
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 T fish sauce, 1 t sugar, salt, pepper

Count means the approximate number of shrimp per pound, 36-40 count means that there are 36-40 shrimps per pound.

Most Americans probably have never seen shrimp with head on. But, head-on shrimp has much more flavor than shrimp without its head, just like the difference between fish on bone and fish fillet. In this dish, shrimps are cooked in their own butter to make a special tasty sauce so we need to leave that part on.

Remove head shell: Hold the shrimp body in one hand, and the head in the other. Squeeze the tip of the head to twist up the head shell. That will leave the orange butter on the ten-legs part.

Remove the body shell and the sand-vein:

Hold the tail while gently removing the shell around the body. Remove the tail. There are couple ways to remove the sand vein:
- Making a shallow cut lengthwise down the outer curve of the shrimp's body. Remove vein with your fingers.
- Use a toothpick to poke and pick the vein out from the shrimp's back without making a slit.
-Pinch at tail end and pull out with fingers.

Remove 10-legs part: Hold the shrimp body in one hand and gently squeeze off the 10-legs part with the other hand without taking off much of the orange stuffs.

Put shrimps on a bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

In a medium sauce pan, heat oil, add shallot and garlic to cook until fragant, add shrimps, stir well. Add fish sauce and sugar and let the shrimp braised in its own sauce for 5 minutes. Add green onion and fresh ground pepper. Serve with steamed rice.

Chạo Tôm

Grilled Shrimp Paste On Sugar Cane

1 lb raw shrimp in shell
2 ounces pork fat (optional)
1 egg white
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 scallions (white head only), crushed
1/2 T sugar
salt and grounded white pepper to taste
1 can (12 ounces) sugar cane in light syrup

Shell and devain shrimp, sprinkle salt over and let stand for 15 minutes, rinse and dry.

Boil the pork fat for 5 minutes, drain and finely dice.

Put shrimp, garlic, scallion, egg white, sugar, salt and pepper in a food processor. Process until the paste is fine and sticky. Add pork fat and mix well. If not using pork fat, add 1 T vegetable oil and mix well.

Split each section of the sugar cane lengthwise into quarters (or in half). Oil your fingers. Mold the paste onto the sugar cane, leave about 1 inch each end of the sugar cane exposed to serve as a handle. Press firmly so that the paste adheres to the cane.

You can grill over medium charcoal for 6-7 minutes, or broil in the oven until browned, or pre-steam for 3 minutes (until the color turns pink) then pan-fry them for 3 more minutes.

Served with peanut sauce:
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/2 T tamarind paste, soak in warm water, remove seeds and pouches
1 T peanut butter
Siracha chili sauce
2 T roasted peanuts, finely crushed
sugar to taste

Combine hoisin sauce, chicken broth, tamarind juice, peanut butter in a small sauce pan, stir well and bring to boil over medium heat. Add sugar to taste.
Top with ground peanuts and chili sauce.

Chả Tôm Trộn Sầu Đâu

Sadao and shrimp cake in tamarind sauce

1 pack frozen sadao
1 cup raw shrimp in the shell
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T tamarind paste
2 T sugar
fish sauce and pepper to taste
1 T vegetable oil

Shrimp Cake: Shell and devein the shrimp. Sprinkle some salt over the shrimp and let stand for 15'. Rinse throroughly, drain, and dry with papper towers. Finely chop the shrimp or use food processor to process the shrimp paste. Season with some fish sauce and black pepper.

Pan fry the shrimp cake on each side for 3-4 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a cutting board to cool off and slice.

Sadao: Remove wooden stem, wash and drain.
Add 3 cups of water in a small pan, bring to boil, add sadao and drain quickly. Set aside.

Tamarind Sauce: Put 1/3 cup of water and tamarind paste in a small saucepan, bring to boil. Add 1 T fish sauce, 2 T sugar, garlic and stir until the sugar dissolved.

Pour the sauce over shrimp cake and sadao.