Chả Cá: Turmeric Fish and Dill

Ingredients

• 500 g firm white fish fillet, cá lăng traditional; snakehead or cod as substitutes, cut into large pieces
• For the marinade
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 tsp galangal, finely grated or ground
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 1 large bunch dill, both feathery fronds and thick stalks retained
• 4 spring onions, cut into short lengths
• 60 ml peanut oil

Method

1. 1
   Combine turmeric, galangal, fish sauce, and shrimp paste in a bowl. Add the fish pieces and turn to coat thoroughly. Set aside to marinate; the flesh will take on a deep golden stain from the turmeric.
2. 2
   Cook the marinated fish over a hot charcoal grill or under a high grill until just par-cooked — the exterior is set and lightly coloured but the centre is not yet fully cooked through. The surface should carry visible char or caramelisation from the marinade.
3. 3
   Heat the peanut oil in a wide pan over high heat until it shimmers. Add the par-cooked fish pieces and the spring onion. This is where the dish lives or dies: the heat must be fierce enough to finish the fish in its own fat and marinade without stewing it — the oil should spit and the pan should smoke lightly.
4. 4
   Add the entire bunch of dill — fronds and stalks together — in the final 30 to 60 seconds of cooking. Toss once. The dill wilts into the hot oil and fish fat but retains its fresh, green character. Remove from heat the moment the stalks have softened and the fronds are just collapsed.