Overcooked rice, fried thac lac fish served with dry-cooked fish sauce at a Can Tho restaurant

Overcooked rice, dry-cooked fish sauce and fried thac lac is a Mekong Delta common dish that has made it big in the cities of Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh.

Several HCMC eateries specializing in southern cuisine now also boast the dish, a potent blend of freshwater fish meat, crispy rice and thick sauce that tastes just as good as it smells.

The dish usually costs between VND20,000-30,000 (US$1.18-1.78) at restaurants in the city.

First, to make dry-cooked fish sauce, it’s best to use high-quality fish sauce and a clay pot. Leave the pot over a medium heat for a few seconds until it is hot. Add small pieces of larder, then some spring onions and garlic.

When the mixture becomes fragrant, slowly pour fish sauce into the pot. Use a pair of chopsticks or a long-handle spoon to stir until the fish sauce turns thick. Then add some pepper and chilli. After about 20 minutes of cooking, the fish sauce should be dark yellow, dry and sticky.

Next, to make the overcooked rice, sauté some garlic in a pan before adding some well-done rice. Use a spatula to press the rice to the bottom of the pan. Cook the rice until it is a shade of yellow-brown and crispy. Overcooked rice is traditionally cooked in a clay pot over fire.

After preparing the dry-cooked fish sauce and overcooked rice, fry the whole fish in oil. Cook until both sides of the fish are well done and yellow. The fish should be seasoned beforehand with sugar, pepper, fish sauce, lemon grass and chili. Let it sit for some time before cooking to absorb the spices.

The dish is now ready to serve. The rice shouldn’t be too hard, while the dry-cooked fish sauce should be strong and the fried fish crispy and fragrant. The combination of all three is a real delta treat.

Reported by Diem Thu