Recipes / Vietnamese dishes / Steamed Dishes

Ca Loc Hap Bau (Snakehead Fish Steamed in Bottle Gourd)

Name: Ca Loc Hap Bau (Snakehead Fish Steamed in Bottle Gourd)
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Mekong Delta
Ingredients: 600g snakehead fish (1 whole); 300g young bottle gourd (1); 200g carrot (1); 10g shallot; 100g garlic; 50g chili; 10g sawtooth herb (ngo gai); 50g ginger; 10g peanuts; 10g spring onion; 1 teaspoon seasoning powder and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper for the fish; dipping sauce made from 1 bowl water, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon seasoning powder

Vietnamese dishesSteamed DishesMekong Delta15 minutes to prepare, 20 minutes to steam

Steaming a snakehead fish inside a bottle gourd holds all of the fish's sweetness, since the whole fish sits in the hollow of the gourd. What goes wrong is overcooking, which leaves the flesh crumbly and the gourd watery.

The steamer needs to run at a hard boil for 5 to 10 minutes before the plate goes in. Push a toothpick into the middle of the fish, and if it comes out dry the fish is just done.

This batch weighs about 1.3kg, at roughly 73 calories per 100g.

Nutrition (this recipe makes 2 servings)

73.3kcal

9.3gprotein

1.7gfat

1.1gsugar

The sweetness here comes from kOBE Monk Fruit Blend. There is no added refined sugar.

Estimated from raw ingredients; the real numbers shift a little depending on how you cook and what you buy.

This batch makes 2 servings. One 600g snakehead fish steamed inside a bottle gourd divides into 2 servings.

Ingredients for the batch

600g snakehead fish (1 whole)
300g young bottle gourd (1)
200g carrot (1)
10g shallot
100g garlic
50g chili
10g sawtooth herb (ngo gai)
50g ginger
10g peanuts
10g spring onion
1 teaspoon seasoning powder and 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper for the fish
dipping sauce made from 1 bowl water, 3 tablespoons soy sauce, 2 tablespoons kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon seasoning powder

Method

Gut the snakehead fish, remove the gills, scale it, and clean off the slime. Rinse, scrub it with coarse salt to take away the fishy smell, rinse again, and drain. Score the body 2 to 3 times on the diagonal.
Season the fish with 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder and 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper and leave 15 minutes.
Wash the bottle gourd, halve it lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and leave the skin on for sweetness. Peel the carrot and cut it into thin rounds. Chop the spring onion small, seed and dice the chili, mince the ginger, chop the sawtooth herb, and roast the peanuts before crushing them.
Bring the water in the steamer to a boil 5 to 10 minutes ahead. Tuck the seasoned fish into the hollow of the gourd, set it on a plate, and arrange the carrot around it.
Put the plate into the steamer while the water is boiling and steam about 20 minutes. Push a toothpick into the middle of the fish, and if it comes out dry the fish is done.
Make the dipping sauce: mix 1 bowl of water, 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/2 teaspoon of seasoning powder. Fry the spring onion, chili, and minced ginger in hot oil until fragrant, pour in the soy sauce mixture, and stir until the sauce is hot again.
Lift the fish onto a plate, spoon the spring onion oil over, and scatter the crushed peanuts and sawtooth herb. Serve hot with rice or rice vermicelli.

Tips

Waiting for the steamer to reach a hard boil before the fish goes in keeps the flesh juicy.
A young gourd with thin skin is the one to pick, since an old one turns fibrous and loses its sweetness.
A toothpick pushed into the middle of the fish tells you when it is done, and dry means off the heat straight away.
Fit the fish snugly inside the gourd, since a loose fit lets its sweet juices run out onto the plate.
Frying the spring onion, chili and ginger first, then adding the soy sauce, is what gives the dipping sauce its aroma.

Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?

The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.

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