Recipe from Diep Tran
Adapted by Tejal Rao
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Rating
- 4(219)
- Notes
- Read community notes
This version of bún kèn, a deeply delicious street food specialty of Kiên Giang Province in southern Vietnam, comes from the chef Diep Tran, who traveled to the region while researching “The Red Boat Fish Sauce Cookbook,” written with Cuong Pham and Tien Nguyen. The dish is built by infusing fish stock with aromatics and coconut cream, then ladling this fish curry over rice noodles and topping the bowls with fresh herbs, vegetables and a drizzle of sweet and salty coconut nuoc chăm. While you can often find yellowtail collar at Japanese and Korean markets in the United States, Ms. Tran suggests using a snapper head or grouper head, or any small whole fish that isn’t too oily, if you can’t get your hands on collar. —Tejal Rao
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1pound yellowtail collar, or whole small fish
- 1shallot, halved
- ½teaspoon whole black peppercorns
- 1lemongrass stalk, bruised with the back of a knife
- 1cup cilantro stems, bruised with the back of a knife
- ¼cup fish sauce
- 2fresh Thai chiles or other small hot chiles, minced
- 2garlic cloves, minced
- 1teaspoon lime juice
- 1cup grated palm sugar or granulated sugar (6 ounces)
- ¾cup plus 2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut water (7 ounces)
- 12tablespoons annatto oil or vegetable oil
- 1medium white onion, diced
- 5lemongrass stalks, tender white, purple and pale green parts minced
- 2ounces cilantro root, minced (½ cup) or 4 ounces cilantro stems, minced (1 cup; see Tip)
- 2tablespoons minced garlic
- 3tablespoons turmeric powder
- ½cup coconut cream or 1 cup coconut milk
- 6fresh makrut lime leaves, midribs removed, minced
- 2 to 4fresh Thai chiles or other small hot chiles
- ¼cup fish sauce
- 2(8-ounce) packages dried vermicelli rice noodles
- 1bunch rau răm (Vietnamese coriander)
- 2cups bean sprouts
- 1bunch basil leaves
- 1bunch cilantro leaves
- 1carrot, peeled and shredded (see Tip)
- 1Japanese cucumber or 2 Persian cucumbers, shredded
- 1small green papaya, seeds removed, peeled and shredded
For the Stock
For the Coconut Nuoc Chăm
For the Curry
For the Noodles
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Preparation
Step
1
Make the stock: Place the yellowtail collars in a pot large enough to fit them snugly, then add the shallot, peppercorns, lemongrass, cilantro stems and 5 cups water. The fish should be completely covered. If they aren’t, add a bit more water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat, strain the stock and reserve the fish, setting it aside to cool. Return the strained stock to the pot, discarding the other solids. When the fish is cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bones, return the meat to the stock and let stand off heat.
Step
2
Meanwhile, make the nuoc chăm: In a small pot over high heat, bring all the ingredients to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat and let cool before transferring to a jar.
Step
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Make the curry: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, add 3 tablespoons oil and the onion. Spread the onion out evenly in the pan and let it fry without touching it, so it gets slightly charred at the edges, about 5 minutes. Tip the onion and oil into the fish stock.
Step
4
Lower the heat to medium and add the remaining 9 tablespoons oil, the lemongrass, cilantro root and garlic. Stirring constantly, cook until tender and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the turmeric powder and stir for 15 seconds, then tip everything in the saucepan into the fish stock. To the same saucepan, add the coconut cream, makrut lime leaves and chiles, and turn the heat up to high. Use a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula to scrape up any bits of lemongrass, cilantro or garlic that may be stuck to the bottom of the pan. When the cream starts to boil, turn off the heat and let it steep for about 10 minutes. Pour the coconut cream and fish sauce into the stock, turn the heat to low and stir the curry sauce.
Step
5
While the cream steeps, prepare the noodles: Cook the rice noodles according to the package directions and drain well. In each bowl, layer noodles and fish curry, then top with a pinch of the rau răm, bean sprouts, basil, cilantro, carrot, cucumber and green papaya. Put the rest of the toppings on the table, along with the nuoc chăm, for seasoning.
Tip
- When cooking with cilantro root, use as much of the bottom root as possible to make the most of its intensity of flavor. Try not to trim away anything, except for dirt, and soak the roots in water, shaking them off and giving them a good rinse to get rid of any stubborn gritA handheld shredder, which resembles a vegetable peeler with a serrated blade, will make quick work of shredding the cucumber, carrot and green papaya. If you don’t have one, you can finely slice the vegetables with a knife.
Ratings
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out of 5
219
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Cooking Notes
Botany Boy
Dried makrut leaves are available online but I wouldn't bother. Frozen, yes. Omit or try fresh citrus leaves or dried or fresh peel along with the coconut. Steep a bit, then REMOVE to avoid bitterness. Fresh toppings add texture, color, and interest. Try lemon basil, cilantro leaves, Thai or holy basil. Green papaya is neutral, wet, a bit crunchy. Try slivered rutabaga, celeriac, jicama, daikon, or mild turnip. At the table squeeze, then stir in, some fresh lime - key lime is more authentic.
Stella Luna
I was immediately taken back to the street food we ate after school in Bangkok and can't wait to try this! Well worth a masked trip to an Asian grocery, or - if necessary - an order from Amazon. When I returned to the States in 1976 it was impossible to replicate the flavors by making substitutions, making this kind of family recipe even more of a treasure.
Lisa
Phenomenal. My family loved it. Couple of notes. Fish collars are hard to find. I used a few salmon steaks. Fatty fish is the key. I couldn't find rau ram at H-Mart or our local grocery. Not a dealbreaker. The rice vermicelli was way too much. I would use half or less. Last, be careful on step 4! I thought the oil and the lemongrass, et al went into the stockpot. No, it's into the saute pan to make a little roux of all the lemongrass, cilantro stems, etc. THEN they go into the stock pot.
Karen
You can get fresh lemongrass and lime leaves here https://importfood.com/. I’ve been using them for years! The videos are super!Can’t wait to try this recipe
Steven
Vietnamese coriander is a totally different plant. Google "rau ram" or "Persicaria odorata."
RoLo
The change in terminology is due to the old name holding insensitive/offensive context to some groups. Because the leaves are used more heavily in Southeast Asian cuisine, availability isn't necessarily a given at "most" Asian grocery stores; really, it depends on where you live. In the Twin Cities, I wouldn't see them at the Korean or Chinese-focused marts, but could easily find them at the stores that carry more SEA (Viet/Hmong/Thai/Lao/Indo/Malay etc.) items.
Manya
This was excellent and easier to put together than I thought it would be at first look. Well worth the time to layer flavours - subbed under ripe mango for papaya and served with lime wedges - the tartness was perfect foil for the rich broth. Thank you!
Prakash Nadkarni
"Kaffir" ("infidel" in Arabic) is used to refer to non-Muslims derogatorily. In South Africa, the term was used by Whites as a slur (the local N-word) to refer to Blacks.
RIZ
One pound of “small whole fish”…. Scaled? gutted?
Vanessa
Recipies like these are why I pay for this app. A classic standout! Thank you!
Jg
I doubled this for a small party using 2 pounds of yellowtail collars (pretty easy to find frozen at an Asian mkt.) Definitely takes time to do (took me over 2 hours) but incredibly delicious. Love the coconut nuoc cham...it's totally brilliant. Just don't use white napkins...still soaking them to get the turmeric out!
Joanie
Too much sugar in the Nuoc Cham.
Meryl
I would not make again--fish curry is way too oily.
Joanie
I think one cup of palm sugar is too much for the nuoc cham. Is it meant to be that sweet?
stereoswim
The yellow tail collars are perfect for this. They make a good broth and you’ll get plenty of tasty meat. It took me 3 hours (working pretty efficiently). The NYT time estimates are correct, if you have someone else prepping for you. I used less sugar than in the nuoc Cham and it turned out great.
Sara
Long process. Very tasty. Enjoyed a lot. Used steelhead instead of dry fish.
heather
Worth it!Yes, you will likely need to make a trip to a grocery store not on your regular route. You will likely buy ingredients that you aren't used to using or have never used (hello, annatto!). However, this made a delicious meal that our family of 3 enjoyed; 3 people with disparate palates. It was a bit of a weekend kitchen project for me, but it was fun and I will make it again.
heather
PS The yellowtail/hamachi/bari collars came only in a pack of 4, frozen. They are not cheap, but there was a surprising amount of meat on them. I used 2 for the stock, as specified. The following morning I broiled the other 2 and we enjoyed a sumptuous breakfast of hamachi collar.
Tom
This was the best new addition to my family's winter Sunday soup/stew tradition for quite some time! I used a fatty, skin-on hunk of halibut I had on hand, which resulted in a rich broth with nicely textured fish in the final product. The lime leaves proved hard to get locally on short notice, but I can't imagine that I missed too much. I threw some microplaned lime zest into the coconut cream instead. Don't skim on the accoutrements!
RIZ
One pound of “small whole fish”…. Scaled? gutted?
Katie
12 tablespoons = 3/4 of a cup (not sure why the recipe doesn't write this)
steph
Cooked February 2 2022. A little bland. Probably should have used more lemongrass. The nuoc Cham is very sweet.
Dawn
Why coriander leaves AND cilantro leaves since they are the same thing. Or is there something I don’t know about Vietnamese coriander?
Steven
Vietnamese coriander is a totally different plant. Google "rau ram" or "Persicaria odorata."
wg owen
Cilantro is Spanish for coriander, which is the only term for the leaves outside of Spain, Latin America and the USA.
Karen
You can get fresh lemongrass and lime leaves here https://importfood.com/. I’ve been using them for years! The videos are super!Can’t wait to try this recipe
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