Recipe: Crispy fried fish in soybean sauce

An com is a beautiful cookbook full of home-style Vietnamese dishes and useful tips about ingredients and cooking methods. Phi-Yen and her parents’ recipes show you how to make Vietnamese (street food) classics at home, so you can make the tastiest spring rolls, spring rolls, sweet-and-sour fish soup, dipping sauces and crispy pancakes together with your loved ones.

Cá chiến tương hột is fried fish covered in a delicious sweet-and-savory sauce packed with heat and umami from the fermented soybeans and ginger. The dish gets a playful texture from the vermicelli noodles. 

Use any white fish you like

Phi-Yen: ‘My father usually uses sea bream or sea bass for this recipe. He goes to the Saturday market in Oss and buys his fish as fresh as possible. You can actually use any white fish you like. Depending on your budget, you could choose tilapia fillet or cod, for example.’

For this recipe, you need soybean sauce, also known as taotjo. You can find it at Asian supermarkets. Use soybean sauce in which the beans are still whole.

How to make crispy fried fish in soybean sauce

Scale the sea bream and remove the fins.* Wash the fish thoroughly under cold water. To reduce the fishy smell, you can use a few drops of vodka and some salt to rinse the fish. Pat the fish dry with paper towels or let it drain in the refrigerator for 30 minutes on a rack with a plate underneath. 

Mix the marinade ingredients in a bowl. 

Heat 3 tablespoons of neutral oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the ginger, garlic, shallot and red chili pepper and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the marinade and bring to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes over low heat with the lid on the pan. Set aside. 

Soak the glass vermicelli for 5 minutes in hot water. Rinse with cold water and drain in a colander. 

Heat a generous splash of neutral oil in a frying pan or wok over high heat. Add the 2 crushed garlic cloves to the pan and fry for 1 minute. Reduce the heat to medium and fry the fish for 6 to 8 minutes on both sides until golden brown. 

Reheat the marinade a few minutes before the fish is ready. Stir the glass vermicelli noodles into the sauce. Place the fish on a serving platter and pour the sauce over it. Garnish with the spring onion rings and sprinkle with some pepper. 

Would you like to eat a little healthier? Steam the fish instead of frying it. Steaming will take between 20 and 25 minutes, depending on the size of the fish.

* Don’t feel like doing this at all? Ask the fishmonger whether they can clean the fish for you. If you prefer not to deal with bones while eating, you can also choose ready-made fish fillets. Keep in mind that the cooking time may be slightly shorter

soybean sauce or taotjo

Soybean sauce is also known as yellow bean sauce or taotjo. As the name suggests, it is made from soybeans. The soybeans are cooked and then mixed with water, salt and wheat flour. They are placed in jars and fermented in the sun. The flavor is salty and slightly sweet. It is sold as a sauce with whole beans or as a purée, and we usually use the whole-bean variety.

Phi-Yen: ‘We prefer the Flower Brand, with a yellow-and-red label, or Mee Chun, recognizable by its blue-and-white label.’

Title: An com
Author: Phi-Yen Phan
Price: €29.99
Publisher: Nijgh & van Ditmar

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Image: Mathilde Nai