Contents
Here is another Northern Vietnamese meal for four. Today it has fish: a pot of dark galangal braised fish, an egg and pork omelette, a bowl of winter melon soup with shrimp, a plate of garlic chayote and some crunchy pickled eggplant. If your family does not eat much fish, this is a good day to change that.
What is on the table today
- Galangal braised fish: the first main dish, salty and deep, fragrant with galangal, perfect with hot rice.
- Egg and pork omelette: the second main dish, soft and rich, the one children like best.
- Winter melon soup with shrimp: a mild, cooling soup to sip between bites.
- Garlic chayote: a crisp green vegetable, stir-fried fast over high heat.
- Pickled eggplant: a sour, crunchy side that resets the mouth after the fish.
Why this meal works
Braised fish is salty and strong, so the meal needs something mild beside it. The winter melon and shrimp soup does that job: the gentle sweetness of the melon and the shrimp, with nothing harsh. The omelette is soft and rich and sits between the strong fish and the crisp vegetable so the meal does not swing too far. The pickled eggplant cleans the palate after every piece of fish. Salty, rich, sweet, light, sour and crunchy, all in five dishes.
Shopping for four
- Grass carp or common carp steaks, 600 g, and 40 g of galangal.
- 4 eggs, 100 g minced pork shoulder, a little wood ear mushroom, spring onion.
- 400 g winter melon, 100 g fresh or dried shrimp.
- 2 chayote, garlic.
- 200 g quick-pickled small eggplants (make ahead or buy ready-made).
- Shallots, fish sauce, sugar, pepper, chilli, cooking oil. About 300 g of rice.
Cooking order for about an hour
- Minute 0: marinate the fish and put the pot on the stove over low heat. The fish cooks by itself while you work.
- Minute 10: wash the rice and start the rice cooker. Mix pork, mushroom and eggs for the omelette.
- Minute 20: cook the omelette in a small covered pan.
- Minute 40: peel the melon and make the soup with the shrimp, about 10 minutes.
- Minute 50: stir-fry the chayote last so it reaches the table still crisp.
- Minute 55: turn everything off and set the table. The pickled eggplant is made the day before or bought.
Galangal braised fish
This is the main dish and also the one that asks for patience, because good braised fish needs low heat for long enough to let the sauce sink into the flesh.
- Wash the fish and cut it into steaks about 3 cm thick. Crush the galangal and slice it thinly.
- Marinate the fish for 20 minutes with 2 tablespoons of fish sauce, 1.5 tablespoons of sugar, half a teaspoon of pepper, the galangal and 2 minced shallots.
- Place the fish in the pot, add a teaspoon of caramel colour and pour in water until it nearly covers the fish.
- Bring to a boil, then lower the heat as far as it goes and braise for about 40 minutes. Do not cover the lid fully, so the fishy smell can escape.
- When the sauce thickens, turn off the heat and let the fish rest a few minutes in the pot.
Do not stir the fish, because it breaks easily. If you need to, shake the pot gently or spoon the sauce over the top. A fish braised the day before tastes even better, since the sauce has soaked in; the next day you only need to heat it up.
The other dishes, briefly
Omelette: beat 4 eggs with the minced pork, chopped wood ear and spring onion, season with fish sauce and pepper, pour into a small oiled pan, cover and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes, then cut into pieces. Soup: fry shallots, stir-fry the shrimp until fragrant, add water, drop in the melon pieces and cook 8 to 10 minutes until translucent, then season with fish sauce. Chayote: cut into strips and stir-fry over high heat with fried garlic for about 3 minutes so it stays crisp.
On days when there is no time to braise fish, we make grass carp braised with green banana, cooked in batches and available by pre-order. Sale dates and prices are on the dish page.
See the Braised Grass Carp with Green Banana page
Quick questions
- How many people does this meal feed?
- Four. For three, reduce the fish and eggs a little; for five, add a few steaks and one egg.
- Does the fish need to be deodorised?
- Fresh fish, marinated with galangal and shallots and braised without a fully closed lid, is enough. If the fish smells, rub it with a little salt and ginger and rinse before marinating.
- Which dishes can be made ahead?
- The fish tastes better made the day before. The pickled eggplant can be made ahead too. Cook the soup and the chayote last.
