Vietnamese Fried Fish with Fish Sauce (Cá Chiên Nước Mắm)

Vietnamese Fried Fish with Fish Sauce (Cá Chiên Nước Mắm)

Are you looking to make fish for tonight’s dinner? Try this Vietnamese fried fish with fish sauce recipe (Ca Chien Nuoc Mam).

Ca Chien Nuoc mam is fried fish with a light and crispy crust, topped with a sweet and savory fish sauce glaze. It has an amazing, full-body Vietnamese flavor that cooks up in less than 15 minutes.

This fish recipe starts off by cutting the filet into individual servings. I like to get a large slab of fillet at Costco and cut them into five large pieces. You can use any kind of fish for this recipe. In the posted pictures, I’m using steelhead trout. It tastes and looks very much like salmon but costs a bit cheaper.

If you notice a strong fishy smell after buying your fish, give it a gentle scrub down with salt then rinse it under cold running water. The salt will get rid of any of the surface impurities that might be causing the fishy smell, as well as giving it a beautiful shine. If the fish still smells after a salt scrub down, you might have a spoiled fish. It’s best not to risk your health and throw it out.

Dust the fish fillets in cornstarch. When working with cornstarch, I usually go outside to do my dusting. Cornstarch is lightweight that it gets everywhere in all the nooks and crannies of my kitchen. This makes me spend more time in the kitchen than I want to. Now, I just step outside in the backyard and do my dusting freely. After dancing in the plumes of cornstarch powder, I can easily and quickly pat myself off afterwards. The cornstarch dusting absorbs all the excess moisture, which is critical in preventing hot oil splatters when frying. The cornstarch dusting also makes a beautiful light crispy crust.

After dusting in cornstarch, fry the fish in batches in a large skillet until golden brown on all sides. No need to marinate before frying. All the flavor will be added at the end. Remove the fried fish from the skillet then make the glaze.

The glaze is a concentrated version of Vietnamese fish sauce dipping sauce (Nuoc Mam Cham). It’s sweet, savory, and sour. If you like a little kick, add some Thai chili peppers. Allow the sauce to thicken slightly then transfer the fried fish back into the skillet to evenly coat with the glaze.

That is it! Easy as pie. Full recipe below. Happy cooking!

Vietnamese Fried Fish with Fish Sauce (Cá Chiên Nước Mắm)

Vietnamese Fried Fish with Fish Sauce (Ca Chien Nuoc Mam)

Serves 5-7

Ingredients

• 2-1/2 lbs fish fillets
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil (divided)
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 2 tablespoons minced shallot
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• Juice of 1 whole lemon/lime (about 2 tablespoons)

Instructions

1. Toss fish fillets in cornstarch and dust off excess.
2. In a large skillet, add about 1/4 cup vegetable oil and heat on medium high. In batches, fry the fillets until golden brown on all sides. Transfer the fried fish to a large platter and set aside.
3. Remove the dirty oil and clean the skillet. Add about 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and heat on medium high.
4. Toss in garlic, ginger and shallot. Saute until fragrant. Add fish sauce, sugar, and lemon juice. Heat until mixture starts to bubble (about 30 second) then turn off heat. Toss in fried fish and evenly coat them with sauce. Transfer fish to a platter and serve immediately for best results.

Vietnamese Fried Fish with Fish Sauce (Cá Chiên Nước Mắm)