Fish Sleeps Under a Pot

Name: Ca up chau (fish under a pot / straw-baked fish)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Vietnamese (Northern)
Ingredients: whole carp 1.2kg; dry straw; aluminum pot; mixed herbs; rice vermicelli 400g; ginger, garlic, chili; fish sauce; salt, fermented rice

fish-under-pot-nam-dinh

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

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.

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.

cover with pot – natural steam chamber – Invert the aluminum pot tightly over fish, edges pressed into straw. Press gently to seal.

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.

uncover – golden, sizzling, fragrant – Lift the pot. Skin is crisp-amber, eyes bulging, flesh white. Transfer to a big platter.

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”

: 1-1-3

serve with bún + herbs + chili fish sauce

ca up chau english, fish under a pot, northern vietnamese fish recipe, straw baked fish, meowu recipe

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2 months ago