Cha Ca La Vong - Cha Ca street

Cha Ca La Vong is the name of a specialty dish of Hanoi. This is a dish made from fish (usually catfish) sliced into pieces, marinated, grilled on charcoal and then fried in a fat pan, made by the Doan family at 14 Cha Ca Street (formerly Hang Son Street). ) in the old town keeps the business secret and named this dish so.

In the years of the French colonial period, at 14 Hang Son, there was a family of the Doan family, who often used their house as a place to take care of the De Tham insurgents. The owner often makes a delicious fish cake for guests, gradually becoming familiar, those guests have helped the family open a restaurant specializing in selling that dish, both to feed the family and as a gathering place. Over time, the two words 'Cha Ca' became the name of the city. In the restaurant, there is always a Mr. La Vong - Khuong Tu Nha sitting with his knees bent and fishing - a symbol of a talented person who is waiting for his time. Therefore, regular customers called Cha Ca La Vong, today becoming the name of the restaurant and also the dish. The secret of making fish cakes is only passed on to the eldest son of the Doan family.

The fish made of spring rolls is usually fresh lentils. This is a fish with few bones, sweet and fragrant. The most special and also extremely rare dish is made from Anh Vu fish, caught at the confluence of Bach Hac River (Viet Tri - Phu Tho). If you don't have salmon, you can use catfish and fish, but catfish has more flesh and more bones, so it's not as delicious as salmon. Fish meat is sliced from the sides, thinly sliced, marinated with galangal juice, turmeric, batch, pepper, shrimp paste in a special esoteric way for at least 2 hours, and then clamped into bamboo bags. or a griddle with a layer of grease to prevent sticking). The griller must fan the fire, turn them over so that both sides are equally golden. Preparing to eat, people bring toasted rolls and pour them into a fat pan with a little bit of dog fat - this is the heirloom secret of this type of fish cake - on a charcoal stove placed in the middle of the dining table. When the patties are boiling in fat, fragrant golden brown, dill and scallions are mixed into the pan and quickly divided into serving bowls. Usually do not use cooking oil to fry fish because the temperature is lower and the fish is less fragrant. Do not eat hot. When eating, take each piece of fish into a bowl, pour fat (boiling) on top, serve with tangy vermicelli, grilled rice cake, roasted peanuts, dill, spring onion, chopped onion, pickled in vinegar, coriander, Lang basil. and some shrimp paste. Shrimp paste must be made by squeezing fresh lemon, a little fat, sugar, white wine and chili, stirring it up and adding a little ca cuong essential oil. Some foreign guests who can't eat shrimp paste are replaced with fish sauce, but fish sauce more or less makes the fish cake taste less flavorful. The bowl of fish sauce is not salty but just eaten, not strong but still retains its characteristic smell. The fatty sweetness of La Vong fish cake mixed with the aroma of vegetables and the salty taste of shrimp paste makes many people crave.

Business hours:

The shop is open every day of the week

• Noon: 11:00 - 14:00
• Evening: 17:00 - 21:00

Tel: +84 24 3825 3929