Cháo cá (Bánh canh cá lóc) - Fish soup from my hometown - Quang Tri province
Any one from centre of Vietnam will surely fall in love and miss this cuisine when they are far away from their hometown.
Chao ca or Banh canh ca loc (fish soup), a very hot and spicy soup cooked from rice noodle and snakehead fish, adding a lot of ground peppercorn and sliced "Nem" herb when finish. "Nem" is quite hard to find, it is only from my province so we usually use scallion instead. It is hot served to enjoy all the profile and taste of ingredients. You will find the sweetness of fish, tangy herb aroma of Nem herb (scallion), warm of pepper along with a bit chewy rice noodle. In my hometown, everybody usually enjoys it at night when the weather is a bit cold. And, it is perfect to eat it in winter. :)
This cuisine helps a lot when you have a cold or flue. As it contains a lot of Nem herb (scallion) and pepper and very hot when eating, it makes you sweat a lot like sauna and feel better. :) I remember when i was in 2nd year of university, i introduced this cuisine to my roommate when she was ill, she tried it and got addicted to it afterwards. She is the one who never eat hot and spicy cuisines, but with this one, she found it marvelous.
Now, living in Ho Chi Minh city, 1 day by car from my hometown, i still can try it at a small restaurant in Tan Binh district, near Nguyen Thai Binh school. Of course the taste is a bit modified to fit with Southern city but i still like it.
So, how to prepare a bowl of this Banh canh ca loc (Fish soup)?
All the things you need to prepare are:
- Fresh rice noodle (fresh tapioca noodle)
- Prepared snakehead fish
- Scallion
- Nem herb (the key herb to boost the sweet of fish)
- Pepper
- Fish sauce
-Cooking additives
- Chilli saté
Process:
1. Boiled the snakehead fish and keep the boiled water.
2. Remove the bones of the fish. Stir fried some Nem roots till you get the aroma then add fish meat, MSG, fish sauce, pepper corn, salt and a bit of chilli powder. Cook in 1 minute.
3. Cook the boiled water and insert the fish meat, some boullion up to your taste, wait for the mixture to get boiled then add the rice noodle in and cook within 3 minutes. Add additives to get the balanced taste.
4. Pour the cooked soup into a bowl, adding a lot of Nem herb (scallion), pepper and chilli saté.
Adding fresh chilli or lemon juice as you like and Enjoy. :)
Any one from centre of Vietnam will surely fall in love and miss this cuisine when they are far away from their hometown.
Chao ca or Banh canh ca loc (fish soup), a very hot and spicy soup cooked from rice noodle and snakehead fish, adding a lot of ground peppercorn and sliced "Nem" herb when finish. "Nem" is quite hard to find, it is only from my province so we usually use scallion instead. It is hot served to enjoy all the profile and taste of ingredients. You will find the sweetness of fish, tangy herb aroma of Nem herb (scallion), warm of pepper along with a bit chewy rice noodle. In my hometown, everybody usually enjoys it at night when the weather is a bit cold. And, it is perfect to eat it in winter. :)
This cuisine helps a lot when you have a cold or flue. As it contains a lot of Nem herb (scallion) and pepper and very hot when eating, it makes you sweat a lot like sauna and feel better. :) I remember when i was in 2nd year of university, i introduced this cuisine to my roommate when she was ill, she tried it and got addicted to it afterwards. She is the one who never eat hot and spicy cuisines, but with this one, she found it marvelous.
Now, living in Ho Chi Minh city, 1 day by car from my hometown, i still can try it at a small restaurant in Tan Binh district, near Nguyen Thai Binh school. Of course the taste is a bit modified to fit with Southern city but i still like it.
So, how to prepare a bowl of this Banh canh ca loc (Fish soup)?
All the things you need to prepare are:
- Fresh rice noodle (fresh tapioca noodle)
- Prepared snakehead fish
- Scallion
- Nem herb (the key herb to boost the sweet of fish)
- Pepper
- Fish sauce
-Cooking additives
- Chilli saté
Process:
1. Boiled the snakehead fish and keep the boiled water.
2. Remove the bones of the fish. Stir fried some Nem roots till you get the aroma then add fish meat, MSG, fish sauce, pepper corn, salt and a bit of chilli powder. Cook in 1 minute.
3. Cook the boiled water and insert the fish meat, some boullion up to your taste, wait for the mixture to get boiled then add the rice noodle in and cook within 3 minutes. Add additives to get the balanced taste.
4. Pour the cooked soup into a bowl, adding a lot of Nem herb (scallion), pepper and chilli saté.
Adding fresh chilli or lemon juice as you like and Enjoy. :)
