My Favorite Vietnamese Food!! DON’T Miss It When You’re in Hanoi!

all right one of the great things about this dish is the more you keep on cooking it the kind of better it gets because it kind of caramelizes the oil [Music] hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day it's Mark Wiens I'm in Hanoi Vietnam and today for lunch we are gonna go eat what is one of the most well-known and one of the most delicious dishes that you have to eat when you come to Vietnam especially in Hanoi it's called Chaka or chakalavong is the original one but we're gonna go to a restaurant that's one of the most highly regarded restaurants to eat this dish of fish and turmeric and the dill I'll share with you a little bit about the history of the dish and how it was invented here in Hanoi and I'm going to share all of the food with you in this video all coming up right now [Music] we're in a taxi on our way to the restaurant but I'm just remembering my first time to ever eat the dish and even though it's originally from Hanoi I had it for the first time in Saigon they had a branch of the original restaurant in Saigon where I tried it for the first time and I just immediately just fell in love with the flavors the combination of turmeric and garlic and galangal with the fish so like melt in your mouth yet crispy fish and especially the flavor of all of the herbs and the dill so back in Hanoi now after many years um I think it was 11 years since the last time we came here and we're gonna go to one of the most highly regarded restaurants serving the dish now and it's a little ways outside of the center of the old quarter so we're in a taxi we're on our way there now and I'm very excited okay we made it it's actually a really nice Boulevard a big Main Street tree-lined beautiful weather today in Hanoi and the restaurant is right here in front of us called Chaka on view oh yeah it's a nice restaurant oh I can smell the dill already oh immediately walking here oh thank you very much oh I like this place nice family restaurant we're here actually just after they open they open at 10 A.M we're here at like 10 30 and already there's a few families here already digging in and already this entire restaurant you can just undeniably smell the aroma of Dill which is already sitting on your table when you sit down oh I love it there's a burner in the middle I cannot wait one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes okay oh some of the bun some of the noodles and the dipping sauces oh and then another dipping sauce that you need to have is the shrimp paste shrimp paste oh nice A little noodle noodle chop Boon chop so ordering is super simple there's a checklist menu but really you come here to eat that Chaka that's what we came to eat that's what this dish is all about and you order it by the portion usually one portion per person but then they also have the long car which is the fish stomach so he recommended since we're three we get two fish one stomach and then I also have fish spring rolls they have some other I mean that's maybe basically all and then then drinks from there all right oh you're gonna put in the yes put in the herbs immediately okay the dill and green onions mostly dill and green onions I think the fish is already prepared when you arrive they have it going already thank you very much oh okay so now we can already start eating yeah okay thank you very much thank you very much oh man it's almost an instantaneous process because the fish is already pre-marinated in turmeric garlic maybe some galangal and that's why it has a yellow color from the turmeric but I think it's pre-grilled so they just add it to your pan when you order it and just bring it to your table like literally within seconds turn on the fire he adds in the vegetables the the dill and then you can just kind of Sizzle that around in the oil and just keep on eating as you as you dig into your the central communal pan smell the aroma the oil coming out and the um the stomach almost looks like little macaroni the fish stomach one of the great things about this dish is the more you keep on cooking it kind of better it gets because it kind of caramelizes the oil the dill the fish oil comes out of it oh thank you very much put some of the Boon into my bowl okay all right and then [Applause] oh thank you and some fish thank you very much add on a little bit of that fish sauce mixture so I think it's not pure fish sauce I think it's maybe that sweet kind of fish sauce mixture and then just try that fish with some of the herbs with some of the noodles peanuts in there um [Music] oh wow that is superb you can taste the quality of the fish big nuggets of meaty boneless fish that combination of stringy dill and green onions and that fragrance The herbal fragrance that light fragrance of the garlic I think galangal in there as well and the turmeric making up the foundation and then with that salty and slightly sweet fish sauce with the noodles just melting in your mouth wow that is amazing what a dish I'm gonna try that fish stomach yeah they almost look like little macaronis oh nice it has a little chewiness to it oh it's delicious nice texture oh that's that's tasty oh man it's so fresh before trying our next combination with the shrimp paste dip let's go over a little bit about the history of this incredible Vietnamese dish and it dates back over 130 years ago to the old quarter of Hanoi and it was invented by a family whose name was the Doan family and so Chaka actually translates directly to fish sausage or sausage fish and then in that area they were known for serving fish and for grilling fish and from what I was reading from a number of Articles the Doan family was known for grilling fish and they had served it to their neighbors before eventually opening a restaurant at the address 14 Chaka Street in the old quarter of Hanoi and the restaurant is actually still there up until today as their restaurant grew in popularity for serving really good quality fish and uh this dish they soon became more and more popular and they also became very popular with French Colonials and the French troops during the late 1800s and that restaurant is called Chaka lavong so the procedure is add some noodles to your bowl some Boon then go into that fishing Dill fish and then a nice heap of the herbs all on top you can immediately see how the noodles just kind of are coated in that yellow turmeric oil the shrimp taste it's kind of foamy okay and drizzle maybe maybe more I'm guessing I don't know how salty it is oh yes we gotta add some chilies there we go all right hmm oh that's a little bit of a stronger taste with the shrimp paste a little more of a like it has a sweetness though too a sweetness punch of saltiness and a punch of that fermented flavor oh that's a really good addition as well and then with the chilies oh man you can't go you can't go wrong with either version of the sauce but what a dish and I'm loving the quality here too mm-hmm and with the chilies and really quickly this is part of the best part right here when it starts to get all the oils come out crisp if I oh yeah that's going to be a an insanely Tasty Bite of fish hola much flaming oil in the mouth I decided to come here to this restaurant because people really recommended it saying it's one of the local favorites now for this dish chocolate and so it's not the original but they really are maintaining the quality here and definitely they are it's really good quality the fish is really fresh oh warm thank you hey and just keep topping you up with more herbs thank you very much they must go through a lot of herbs here we also got some fish spring rolls oh that's really good oh man filled with combination of them fish I think there's some mung bean noodles in there and a little bit of herbs in there sauce is wonderful too salty sour sweet this place is really popular now that we've come here almost full let's go again [Music] there we go [Music] thank you foreign [Music] the Vietnamese have just figured out the perfect combinations of how meat or fish pairs with herbs and that combination of fish and Dill it's really like complementary to each other right oh thank you here we go final bite of the fish dip it in that shrimp paste fantastic meal [Music] step outside after our meal the sidewalk here has turned into a foreign a parking lot as the restaurant has filled up this is the place Chaka highly recommended really good really tasty really great balance of flavor thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommended when you come to Hanoi for a great version of Chaka and I want to say a big thank you to you for watching this video also there's going to be more videos in this series in Hanoi we're covering some street food eating some incredible fun some other incredible street food dishes that you're not going to want to miss on my main Channel as well as on this channel so be sure to stay tuned and I want to say a big thank you for watching this video please remember to give it a thumbs up if you enjoyed it leave a comment below I'd love to hear from you and if you're not already subscribed make sure you subscribe for lots more food and travel videos goodbye from Hanoi and I will see you on the next video

Channel: Mark Abroad

Views: 387,452

Keywords: Vietnamese food, Best vietnamese food, Vietnam, Mark Wiens, Hanoi, best restaurants in Vietnam, best Vietnam, Vietnamese best food, Vietnam travel, Hanoi restaurants, Hanoi Vietnam, cha ca, cha ca la vong, things to do in Hanoi, Chả Cá Anh Vũ

Id: c7y0hZdHWXQ

Length: 12min 30sec (750 seconds)

Published: Sun May 28 2023