There is a restaurant in Hanoi so committed to this one dish that the street was renamed after it. Cha ca la vong is chunks of white fish marinated in turmeric and galangal, fried until golden, then finished in a pan with an almost absurd quantity of dill and spring onion.
The dill is not a garnish here – it is a vegetable, and it goes in by the bunch. As it hits the hot pan it collapses into something sweet and grassy that plays beautifully against the earthy turmeric and the funk of the shrimp paste in the dipping sauce.
Serve it the Hanoi way: a nest of cold rice vermicelli in each bowl, a spoonful of the sizzling fish and herbs on top, roasted peanuts, and mam tom or nuoc cham for dipping. Bring the pan to the table still spitting.
