FechTin Go · Vietnam · Food

🥗 Spiny Eel Salad (Gỏi Nhệch)

Hungda · BY-SA 3.0

Fresh spiny eel tossed raw with fragrant toasted rice powder, wrapped in fig and ming aralia leaves and dipped in a rich, nutty chẻo sauce — a coastal specialty of Thái Bình.

In the seaside districts of Thái Thụy and Diêm Điền in Thái Bình, gỏi nhệch is an elaborate dish reserved for honored guests. The slippery spiny eel is cleaned of its slime, thinly sliced and tossed with toasted rice powder and seasonings until 'cooked' by the acidity. The magic lies in the thick, golden chẻo sauce simmered from the fish bones with galangal and fermented rice, wrapped with an array of wild leaves into an unforgettable layering of flavor.

Flavour: Fresh and sweet, nutty and rich, fragrant with toasted rice

Ingredients

• spiny eel
• toasted rice powder
• fig leaves
• ming aralia leaves
• chẻo dipping sauce