How to Make Delicious and Simple Nha Trang Fish Cake at Home

How to Prepare Nha Trang Fish Cake

• 1

  Prepare the fish and other ingredients

  First, use scissors to make a longitudinal cut along the belly from head to tail, then use your hands to remove the intestines and any blood inside. Next, use a knife to scrape off the scales and wash thoroughly.

  Chives should be washed and drained, then chopped finely along with onions and garlic that have been sautéed.

  Tip: To completely remove the scales, do not scrape in the downward direction; instead, scrape from the tail upwards towards the head.

  Methods to Prepare Fish Without a Fishy Smell

  • Method 1: The simplest method is to use diluted white wine to marinate the fish for 2 minutes and then wipe it dry.
  • Method 2: Soak the fish in diluted salt water or rice washing water for 15 minutes.
  • Method 3: Additionally, while preparing, marinating with pepper, onion, chili, ginger, celery… is also very effective in eliminating the fishy smell.
  • Method 4: Another way is to use diluted lemon juice or vinegar to soak the fish for a few minutes, which not only eliminates the fishy smell but also removes the mucus from the fish.

  See also: Effective Methods to Eliminate Fishy Smell

  

  

  

  
• 2

  Remove bones and scrape the fish meat

  Use your hands to take the spine bones out from both sides that are exposed on the surface.

  Next, flip the fish over and pound it all over, especially along the spine from head to tail.

  Then, turn the fish back to its original position, hold the tail section’s bones, and pull them up to remove the bones.

  Finally, with one hand holding the fish body and the other using a spoon to scoop out the meat and place it into a bowl.

  Tip:

  • When pulling the bones out of the fish body, do not pull too lightly as it may leave some bones attached.
  • You can also scrape the meat off the bones after removing them if there is still a lot of meat left on them.

  

  

  

  
• 3

  Mixing fish cake

  Take a bowl for mackerel, snakehead fish, and fresh fish paste (previously placed in the freezer for 1 hour) and mix them well together.

  Once the fish is sticky, add 2.5 teaspoons of MSG, 5 teaspoons of sugar, 2.5 teaspoons of salt, chopped green onions, and minced shallots and garlic, then continue to mix.

  When it feels heavy in your hands, meaning the fish is chewy, shape the fish into round pieces for frying.

  Tip:

  • To ensure the fish cake is evenly seasoned when mixing, add the spices gradually.
  • To make the fish cake chewy, you can place the fish in the refrigerator before mixing.

  

  

  

  
• 4

  Frying fish cake

  Place a frying pan on the stove with 500ml of cooking oil over medium heat.

  Once the oil is hot, add the fish cake and fry for 7 – 10 minutes, then remove to drain the oil.

  Tip:

  • When frying, do not use too little oil; the oil should cover the fish cake piece completely.
  • To achieve an even golden color on both sides of the fish cake, do not use high heat; fry over medium heat instead.

  

  

  

  
• 5

  Final product

  The fried dish today brings a lot of emotions, right? The evenly fried fish cakes look very appealing, and the chewy texture with a rich flavor makes it hard for anyone to resist the deliciousness it offers.

  The Nha Trang fish cake is very easy to pair with other dishes like fish cake noodles or enjoy with a steaming bowl of white rice, even as a snack, it makes perfect sense. Now, let’s not just talk about it, let’s enjoy our final product!