Cá Nướng Cuốn Bánh Tráng (Grilled Whole Catfish)

The other day, my older brother asked me to make dinner and have his family over; I decided to make Grilled Catfish and brought it over to his house for a feast with his mother-in-law's savory mắm tôm (pickle shrimps) and thịt heo luộc (boiled pork) rolled in rice paper.

As I mentioned in the last Mahi Mahi post,Grilled Catfish is one of the healthy dishes that my family enjoy. I often prepared Cá Nướng (Grilled Whole Fish) then rolled it up in rice paper with our homegrown lettuce and herbs, sliced cucumber, daikon and pickled carrot and strings of noodle if you want to fill your tummy up quickly. Then, dipped it in mắm nêm or mắm ruốt (Fermented Anchovy Dip or Salted Fermented Shrimp dip). I prefer my mắm ruốt dip over mắm nêm; if you make the mắm ruốt dip just right, it actually tastes as good as mắm nêm or better, but cheaper. If you prefer a milder, less fishy-flavored dipping sauce, then this would be ideal. Here's to a delicious healthy meal for the whole family. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

RECIPE: Ca Nuong
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Ingredients

A whole large cat fish

Roasted peanut, crushed, for garnish

Fried shallot, for garnish

Mo hanh (Scallion Oil)

Making Mo Hanh

1 bunch of scallions, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

Pour about 1 or 2 tablespoons of oil into a pan on high heat. When the oil is hot, add in the chopped green onions. Stir and remove it from heat. Set it aside.

Marinate Ingredients

1/2 cup Yoshida Sauce

1/4 cup Fish Sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder

1 1/2 tablespoon onion powder

1/2 tablespoon ground pepper

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Preparing the Fish: buy a whole cat fish from any Asian stores. You can buy live or iced catfish. I always pick the one that has small head as the meat are usually more tender. Ask the butcher to clean and gut the catfish. At home, put it in a kitchen sink with hot water. Use a small knife to scrape out all the black layer on the fish. Rinse it with clean water and blot it with a paper towel to dry it off. Most of the Asian supermarkets would do this part for you, so make sure to ask them.

Make a few cuts along the side of the fish for the marinade to penetrate. Make a long deep cut from top to the tail of fish. Lay a fish on a baking tray with foil paper on the bottom if you don't want to clean up the tray later on.

In a seperate bowl, combine all the marinate ingredients. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary. Rub 2/3 of the marinade all over the fish. Make sure to get the marinade in the cuts to soak in flavor. Save the rest of the marinade to brush it on the fish while baking it.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake the fish for about half an hour. During the baking process, about every 5-7 minutes, make sure to brush the remaining marinate all over the fish until the fish is fully cooked. Switch Bake to Broil on High and continue to broil for about 5 minutes or just until the skin turns golden brown. Make sure to keep the oven door ajar while broiling to allow steam to escape while broiling.

Transfer fish to a large plate. Garnish with crushed roasted peanut, fried shallot and mo hanh.

Salted Fermented Shrimp Dip Ingridents

3 tablespoons Mắm Ruốt (Salted Fermented Shrimp)

1 tablespoon Sugar

1cup Coco Juice
1 piece Pineapple or use canned Pineapple, finely chopped, make 1 cup

1/2 Lime

1 tablespoon Lemon Grass, minced

1 tablespoon Ginger, minced

1 Shallot, minced

3-4 cloves of Garlic, minced

Making Salted Fermented Shrimp Dip:Mix mắm ruốt, sugar, coco juice and pineapple in a bowl. Set aside. Pour about 1 tablespoon of oil into a sauce pan on medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add in the garlic, shallot, lemon grass and ginger. Stir it until the mixture release the fragnance. Pour the mam ruot mixture in the sauce pan. Turn the heat to high. Remove it from heat when it starts boiling. Squeeze the lime juice into it. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

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Accompaniments

A pack of Rice Paper (prefer three ladies brand)
Pickled Daikon and Carrot (click here for recipe)
Lettuce
Herbs (cilantro, Vietnamese coriander, sorrel, fish wort, mint)
Slices of Cucumber

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Making Rolls

Dip a rice paper in a warm bowl of water and remove it immedietly. Lay it flat on a non-stick plate. Add everything on it and a piece of fish. Roll it up and dip it in the dipping sauce.