You can’t leave northern Vietnam without trying this absolute treat

The dish

Cha ca la vong, Vietnam

Cha Ca and its accompaniments in Hanoi.Credit: Alamy

Plate up

There’s something we have to own up to here, and that is that the spelling of “cha ca la vong” you see before you is wildly incorrect. The system here just doesn’t have the capability to print the tonal indicators used in the Vietnamese alphabet, which is why we’re missing the dropping pitch in “cha”, the high-rising pitch in “ca”, the rising pitch in “la”, and the low-dropping pitch in “vong”. So, apologies. Let’s get to the good stuff though, which is the physicality of this classic Hanoi dish: chunks of freshwater fish, usually catfish, are marinated in a range of ingredients, most notably turmeric, fried in oil until golden brown, and served with a tonne of fresh dill, spring onions, peanuts, and often rice noodles. You can’t leave northern Vietnam without trying this absolute treat.

First serve

More than a century ago, when Vietnam was part of French Indochina, the Doan family began a business of selling cha ca, or grilled fish, ostensibly to make money, but also to provide a secret meeting place in central Hanoi for resistance fighters battling colonial powers. They named their restaurant in honour of Jiang Ziya (one of his titles, “Lu Wang”, is “La Vong” in Vietnamese), a Chinese military general and revolutionary who was said to have fished without a hook, convinced the fish would come to him when they were ready.

Order there

The Doans’ restaurant still exists in Hanoi: it’s at 14 Cha Ca street in the Old Quarter, though beware it is surrounded by many similarly named imitators. Cha Ca Anh Vu, at 120 Giang Vo in the Ba Dinh district, is also recommended.

Order here

In Sydney, sample cha ca la vong at VN Street Foods in Marrickville (vnstreetfoods.com.au). In Melbourne, head down to Highett for cha ca la vong at Bun Cha (bunchahighett.com). In Brisbane, try Viet De Lites (vietdelites.com.au).

One more thing

There’s a sad end to the story of Doan Phuc, the original proprietor of Cha Ca La Vong. After two decades concealing his restaurant’s illicit activities, he was caught by the French and executed. However, his wife, Bi Van, continued to run Cha Ca La Vong, and passed the recipe to their daughter-in-law.