Cha ca!!!!!!

Cha ca,...one of my favourite dishes during our travels in Vietnam a few months ago. 

It’s a famous dish from Hanoi and is a fish tumeric dish with dill.

On top of that tumeric is known as one of the healthiest spices in the world so you can’t go wrong with this!

                                                            Recipe courtesy of The Morning Glory Cookbook by Trinh DiêmVy

Ingredients (serves 4 people)

 -800 g firm white fish (e.g. halibut, snapper or mackerel), cut in 4 cm pieces

marinade

    -1 teaspoon sea salt

    -1 teaspoon sugar

    -1 tablespoon olive oil

    -¼ teaspoon fresh grounded black pepper

    -1 tablespoon ginger, finely grated

    -1 teaspoon fish sauce (Nuoc Mam) (can be found in most supermarkets)

    -1 small shallot, minced

    -1 tablespoon ground tumeric (~or 4 tablespoons fresh tumeric)

-3 tablespoons olive oil

-1 bunch of dill, chopped (without stems)

-2 tablespoons chives

-1 bunch of scallions/spring onion sliced in pieces

-handful of peanuts, chopped

-600 g rice vermicelli noodles

-2 tablespoons fish sauce*

Directions

1. Prepare the marinade: mix salt, sugar, olive oil, pepper, ginger, fish sauce, shallots and tumeric in a bowl. Rub fish with marinade and let sit for at least 30 minutes.
2. Place piece of fish on a grill or use a sauce pan to cook at medium high heat. Add the rest of the ingredients when the fish is almost ready and serve
3. Lay the noodles in a bowl, top with the fish and dill/chives/scallion mixture and spoon over the dipping sauce (mix olive oil and fish sauce) and serve with crushed peanuts on top.

*There are different varieties of fish sauce, some of them are very salty. To be on the safe side start with 1 tablespoon of fish sauce,...you can always ad more.

Looking for a different salad for your barbecue?

Try this zucchini noodle salad! A light alternative for pasta!

You only need a vegetable spiralizer and noodles are done in less than a minute.

...But what the heck is a spiralizer? 

It’s a super fun kitchen gadget that can transform your vegetables into noodles.

There are plenty of different spiralizers on the market but this one does the job for me: 

Gefu spiral slicer. I’ve ordered mine on Amazon.

Try this salad, a great combination between sweet and sour. 

Mango/Zucchini Salad

Ingredients

-2 zucchini's, cut in spirals

-1 red onion, finely chopped

-12 cherry tomatoes, sliced in quarters

-1 mango, sliced

-¼ red chili pepper, seeds removed and finely chopped or cayenne pepper

-handful of basil leaves, cut in chiffonade (~small slices) or basil pesto*

-4 el extra vergin olive oil (not needed if you use basil pesto)

-handful of pine nuts (roasted)

Preparations

1. Cut zucchini in spirals
2. Mix all ingredients
3. Cover and chill for at least an hour so all the flavours can mix in
4. Serve with roasted pine nuts

* I usually make my own basil pesto. In case you need the recipe

Basil Pesto

Ingredients

-2 cups packed fresh basil leaves

-100 g pine nuts, roasted

-1/2 lemon (juice and zest)

-~15 cl extra-virgin olive oil

-100 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions

Combine the basil, lemon juice/zest and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the oil and process until fully incorporated and smooth.

Season with salt and pepper and add the cheese.

Tips & Tricks

-I make this usually in big batches and freeze it. Freeze in ice cube trays, and then store frozen pesto cubes in plastic freezer bags for up to 6 months

-If you want to make this a less outspoken flavor you can use half basil leaves and half baby spinach leaves