How to cook fried fish noodle soup served with delicious simple vegetables at home

How to prepare Fish Cake with Rice Noodles

• 1

  Prepare the fish

  After purchasing the snakehead fish, remove the gills and the internal organs to avoid bitterness when eating. Use a knife to clean the fish scales. Rinse the snakehead fish with diluted saltwater, then wash it again with clean water and let it drain.

  Tips for cleaning snakehead fish to avoid fishy smell

  • Method 1: To prevent the snakehead fish from being fishy, after cleaning the scales and gills, you can soak the fish in a little white wine for 3 – 5 minutes, then rinse it again with water. White wine will effectively eliminate the fishy smell of snakehead fish.
  • Method 2: Another way to clean the snakehead fish without it smelling is to use a mixture of coarse salt and crushed ginger to rub on the fish until it releases a slimy substance, then rinse with clean water and let it drain.

  
• 2

  Prepare other ingredients

  All the ingredients such as dill, green mustard, and coriander should have their roots and damaged, yellow leaves removed, then washed clean and drained. Next, cut them all into pieces about 3 – 5 cm long.

  Shallots should be peeled, washed clean, and sliced thinly. Ginger should be peeled, washed clean, half of the ginger should be sliced thinly like the shallots, and the remaining half should be minced to marinate with the snakehead fish for aroma.

  Green onions should have the outer layer peeled off, the yellow leaves removed, and washed clean. The bulb part of the green onions should be cut into pieces similar to the dill, while the leaves should be chopped small and set aside. Rice paper should be soaked until soft, then washed again to clean and drained in a basket.

  

  

  

  
• 3

  Boil and separate the fish meat

  Place a pot on the stove, pour in water more than half of the pot, and cover it to bring to a boil. When the water begins to boil, add the green onion, 1/2 of the sliced shallots, and ginger into the water.

  Next, add the prepared snakehead fish, cover the pot, reduce the heat, and boil for 10 – 15 minutes. After about 15 minutes, when the snakehead fish floats to the surface, you know the fish is cooked, at this point turn off the heat and gently remove the fish onto a plate to avoid breaking the fish.

  After removing the fish onto the plate, we will separate the fish meat and fish bones into two separate plates. Since the snakehead fish is quite soft, it’s best to use your hands to break the fish into large flakes for frying!

  

  

  

  
• 4

  Marinate and fry the fish

  With the catfish portion separated, we will marinate the fish with finely chopped ginger, 1 spoon of turmeric powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder, 1/2 teaspoon of sugar, and 1/2 teaspoon of pepper.

  Use your hands to gently mix so that the spices are evenly absorbed into the fish meat. Place a pan on the stove and add 3 tablespoons of cooking oil into the pan, wait for the oil to heat up, then select the large pieces of fish and add them to the pan, frying over medium heat until the fish is golden brown on both sides, then remove to a plate to drain the oil.

  Using the same pan, scoop out some of the oil and add 1/2 of the remaining shallots to the pan to sauté until fragrant. When the shallots are golden and fragrant, continue to add the catfish and stir-fry quickly over high heat for 3 minutes, then turn off the heat and transfer the fish to a bowl.

  

  

  

  
• 5

  Cooking the broth and finishing

  The fish bone part that was separated earlier will be put into a strainer and then placed into the pot of boiling water to enhance the sweetness of the broth.

  After about 10 minutes and seeing the broth boiling, remove the fish bones. Season the broth with 2 teaspoons of seasoning and 1 teaspoon of salt to make the broth richer in flavor.

  Simmer the broth on low heat for another 5 minutes, then add the mustard greens to blanch for 2 minutes and remove. Continue to add the rice noodle into the broth for 2-3 minutes until the noodles are cooked and soft, then take them out.

  Place the noodles, mustard greens, and fish into a bowl, sprinkle a bit of chopped green onions on top, and pour in the broth to complete.

  

  

  

  
• 6

  Final product

  The fish noodle dish, although made with simple ingredients, is incredibly delicious. The broth is pleasantly sweet, the noodles are soft, the fish is crispy, and with the addition of mustard greens, it doesn’t feel heavy at all.

  With the fish noodle dish, you can enjoy it with a bit of chili fish sauce and lime for an even better taste!