Vietnamese Fish Quenelles (Nem Ca) Recipe

Serves/Makes: 24 quenelles

Ingredients:

• 1 pound cod fillets, skin and bones removed, cut into chunks
• 2 tablespoons nuoc mam (Vietnamese fish sauce)
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• Freshly ground white pepper
• 2 tablespoons potato starch
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Spicy Lemongrass Soy Dipping Sauce (see the recipe below), to serve

How to cook Vietnamese Fish Quenelles (Nem Ca):

• Whisk together fish sauce and sugar in a bowl until the sugar is completely dissolved. Stir in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and white pepper to taste.
• Place the fish in a food processor and pulse to make a fine paste, about 1 minute. Add the fish sauce mixture, potato starch, and baking powder and continue pulsing until the mixture has a firm, paste-like consistency, about 1 minute more.
• Bring a pot filled with water to a boil over high heat. Pinch off about 1 teaspoon of the fish paste and form it into a ball. Repeat the process, dropping each ball into the boiling water to cook.
• Once the balls float to the surface, cook for 1 minute more and remove with a slotted spoon. Drain and cool completely. At this point you can use fish balls in hu tieu do bien, seafood noodle soup, or freeze them.
• Heat the remaining vegetable oil in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Pan-fry the fish balls, shaking the pan occasionally, until golden on all sides, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Serve the Vietnamese Fish Quenelles with spicy lemongrass soy sauce for dipping.

Vietnamese Spicy Lemongrass Soy Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Xa Ot) Recipe

Vietnamese Spicy Lemongrass Soy Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Xa Ot) Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 stalk lemongrass, leaves removed, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 spring onions (scallions), finely sliced
• 2 red Thai chilies, seeded and finely sliced
• 1/3 cup soy sauce

How to cook Vietnamese Spicy Lemongrass Soy Dipping Sauce (Nuoc Xa Ot):

• Heat the oil in a small wok or heavy pan.
• Stir in the lemon grass, garlic, spring onions and chilies.
• When the lemon grass begins to turn golden, quickly stir in the soy sauce.
• Remove the pan from the heat and pour the nuoc xa ot into a serving bowl.

Notes:
The Vietnamese Fish Quenelles recipe very easy to prepare and so good!
The Vietnamese name for this recipe is Nem Ca.

This recipe for Vietnamese Fish Quenelles (Nem Ca) serves/makes: 24 quenelles

The Vietnamese Fish Quenelles (Nem Ca) recipe is adopted from The Authentic Vietnamese Cooking by Corinne Trang.

Main Ingredient: Cod 
Preparation Method: Poached/Simmered 
Cuisine: Vietnamese