Name: Din Daeng Fish Cakes (Chả Cá Din Daeng)
Yield: Makes 12
Cuisine: Vietnam
Ingredients: 1 bunch perilla, leaves picked; 1 green oak lettuce or butter lettuce, leaves separated; 50 g (1¾ oz) dried rice vermicelli noodles; vegetable oil, for shallow-frying; 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) boneless, skinless red fish fillets (or any firm white fish fillets), thinly sliced; 5 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced; 50 g (1¾ oz) snake (yard-long) beans, thinly sliced; dipping fish sauce, to serve; 1 tablespoon fish sauce; 1 egg, lightly beaten; 1 garlic clove, crushed; 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste; 1 bunch mint, leaves picked; 2 spring onions (scallions), white part only, thinly sliced; 1 bunch Vietnamese mint, leaves picked

Preparation info

Makes
12

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Songs of Sapa

By Luke Nguyen

Published 2009

About

I BOUGHT SOME FISH CAKES FROM A STALL IN THE OPEN MARKETS ON THE STREETS OF QUY NHON. I ASKED THE LADY WHO OWNED THE STALL WHERE SHE GOT HER RECIPE FROM. ‘FROM MY BIRTH PLACE, DIN DAENG IN THAILAND,’ SHE SAID. I WAS EXCITED AS I WAS ALSO BORN IN DIN DAENG, AND SHE WAS THE ONLY PERSON THAT I’VE EVER MET FROM THERE. WE HAD SIMILAR STORIES: BOTH OUR FAMILIES ESCAPED VIETNAM IN 1977 AND WE WERE BOTH BORN IN THE SAME YEAR, IN THE SAME PROVINCE. SHE DIDN’T HESITATE TO SHARE HER RECIPE WITH ME.