I had read in an article about a famous dish that originated in Hanoi that I was dying to try – Cha Ca La Vong.
The dish is named after the restaurant it was invented in over 100 years ago – it is so famous that they renamed the street after it and it is known as Cha Ca Street.
The restaurant only serves that one dish.
Due to the popularity copy cat restaurants have popped up over Hanoi and we went to one of them that was right around the corner of our hotel.
Ca – means fish in Vietnamese so as you can guess the main element of this dish is fish.
The fish is pre-cooked before arriving on your table to be finished off.
It had been seasoned liberally with turmeric giving it a striking colour and unusual flavour. The fish is grilled over coals in a banana leaf to keep it moist.
On the table was a burner that is needed as the dish needs to always remain hot.
A frying pan with the fish came out – the server then added the biggest pile of spring onions and dill I have ever seen and stirred them around to caramelise the dish.