Fish under a pot – Ca up chau | MEOWU Indochine CHIC (English)
MEOWU SELECT · old Tonkin

Cá úp chậu
fish sleeps under a pot, wakes up smoky

Indochine
CHIC
Fish napping under the pot
25 min (sleep + bake)
straw & embers gentle heat
4 servings
deeply rustic

ingredients

  • Fresh carp / black carp : 1 whole (~1.2kg / 2.6 lb)
  • Dry clean straw : 1 big bundle
  • Aluminum / iron pot (bowl) : 1 (wider than fish)
  • Fresh herbs : lettuce, perilla, mint, dill
  • Fresh rice vermicelli (bún) : 400g / 14 oz
  • Ginger, garlic, chili, lime
  • Premium fish sauce (40°N) : 5 tbsp
  • Sea salt, MSG (optional)
  • Fermented rice (mẻ) / galangal (for marinade)

MEOWU tip: choose a fish with red tail – firm flesh.

pot magic

1
clean & prep – make the fish pretty – Scale, remove gills, keep whole. Score both sides. Rub with galangal+fermented rice+salt+fish sauce, stuff ginger inside. Rest 20 min.
2
straw bed – comfy nest – Spread a thick layer of dry straw (3–4 cm) on clean ground / brick yard. Place fish on top, slightly curved.
3
cover with pot – natural steam chamber – Invert the aluminum pot tightly over fish, edges pressed into straw. Press gently to seal.
4
burn straw around – gentle smoke – Light the excess straw surrounding the pot. Flames will heat the pot; fish cooks slowly. After about 25 minutes you’ll smell smoky fragrance.
5
uncover – golden, sizzling, fragrant – Lift the pot. Skin is crisp-amber, eyes bulging, flesh white. Transfer to a big platter.
6
divine dipping sauce – Ginger fish sauce: fish sauce + sugar + warm water + ginger julienne + garlic & chili. Or simple garlic-chili fish sauce.

Arrange fish on a bamboo tray, scatter herbs and dill. Serve with vermicelli, greens, and the sauce.

Best enjoyed in a garden, on a floral mat, with a few cats lounging nearby listening to the straw crackle. The skin is paper-thin crispy, the flesh sweet and tender – real “pot-sleeping” style of the North. A wisp of smoke like early morning mist in old Hanoi. 🐾 Meowu – “home with a cat, you never eat fish alone”
ginger fish sauce ✨ 1 : 1 : 3 ✨
1 tablespoon fish sauce ∙ 1 tablespoon sugar ∙ 3 tablespoons warm water ∙ then add lime juice, minced garlic, chili, and plenty of ginger julienne. Adjust to taste – that’s the golden ratio! : 1-1-3
serve with bún + herbs + chili fish sauce
2026 MEOWU kitchen – sleeping pot fish @meowu.eat Ca up chau board share the straw
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