Hanoi Delights: Claypot Basa Fish.

Ete Cafe is one of our favorites. It's within easy walking distance, has great food, funky/artsy atmosphere, and fairly reasonable pricing. It offers a combination of French and Vietnamese food, plus one of the better burgers in town (though it's made Aussie style with a fried egg on top. Actually very good once you get over the fact that it's not the good old Amurrican burger you've been craving.). Recently, they have also acquired a young tom cat who likes to sit on my lap while I eat. A definite plus in my book. It is often crowded at lunch with French expats, so you know they make great freedom fries. And they have a bottle of one of my favorite scotches--Caol Ila--which I am forced to sample from time to time.

But the main draw for us is the basa fish slow-cooked in a clay pot. Very simple in concept, very complex in flavor. Basa fish is a medium-sized freshwater white fish with a mild flavor somewhere between trout and catfish. They cut off a three-quarter inch steak and put it in the pot with lots of chopped lemongrass and ginger, slices of a root vegetable we have yet to identify, and most importantly, a big chunk of fatty pork belly. The dish is cooked for a long time over a slow fire, until the ingredients caramelize and the flavors deepen and meld into a rich, complex deliciousness.

The ginger and lemongrass are cooked so long that they are soft enough to chew,
yielding concentrated essenses of caramel and pork fat, as well as of course
ginger and lemongrass.

It comes with rice, a tasty vegetable broth, and our beloved
buttery greens stir-fried with lots of garlic. $3.50 each, and well worth it.

P.