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Vietnamese Fish Cake, or Chả Cá, is a beloved dish across Vietnam, known for its chewy texture and delicate balance of flavors. It’s often enjoyed with rice noodles, tucked into bánh mì, or served simply with rice and dipping sauce. Making chả cá at home is surprisingly simple and rewarding — all you need are a few basic ingredients and a food processor.

What Is Chả Cá?

Chả cá, or Vietnamese fish cake, is a beloved dish often found in everyday Vietnamese meals. It’s made from ground fish seasoned with classic aromatics like fish sauce, garlic, pepper, and dill, then formed into patties and either fried or steamed. Depending on how it’s prepared, chả cá can be eaten as a snack, a main dish in your daily meal, or added to bánh mì together with pickled carrot and daikon (đồ chua), to noodle soups like bún chả cá (Vietnamese Fish Cake Noodle Soup) or bánh canh chả cá (Vietnamese Fish Cake Thick Noodle Soup).

Making fish cake at home is easier than you think, and the result is totally worth it — fresh, springy, and deeply flavorful.

Ingredients for Making Fish Cake

The main ingredients of Vietnamese Fish Cake (cha ca) is absolutely fish. Besides, you’ll need some salt, pepper, garlic, etc. to add more flavor to your fish cake. Firstly, let me share how to select the right types of fish and how to choose fresh fish:

Types of Fish to Use

Some popular fish choices for making Vietnamese Fish Cake (Cha Ca) include:

Mackerel (cá thu): Thick, firm meat with a strong flavor — ideal for fried fish cakes.
Basa fish (cá basa): Mild, fatty flesh with a natural springiness — perfect for steamed or fried versions.
Tilapia (cá rô phi): A common freshwater fish in Vietnam, with sweet, firm, non-fishy flesh — easy to work with.
Featherback fish (cá thác lác): A traditional choice with natural sweetness and bouncy texture.
Catfish (cá lăng): Sweet, soft yet firm flesh, often used for steaming.

How to Choose Fresh Fish

The freshest fish is alive — look for clear eyes, bright red gills, shiny scales, and no discoloration on the skin.
If buying already-killed fish: firm flesh that bounces back when pressed, no unpleasant odor, no slimy surface.
Frozen fish fillets are also fine! Common options include basa and tilapia fillets — just make sure they’re unseasoned and not too broken apart.

Detailed Recipe of Vietnamese Fish Cake

In general, making Vietnamese fish cake is really simple: you blend the fish until it becomes a paste, add some salt, pepper, garlic, fish sauce and dill (optional), done! Here’s my favorite recipe of cha ca:

800g (28.2 oz) fish fillet (tilapia, basa, mackerel, or other white-fleshed fish)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tapioca starch (or cornstarch, for stability and chewiness)
10g (0.35 oz) fresh dill (optional but highly recommended for unique aroma)

Tools You’ll Need

You should have a strong food processor: It needs to handle semi-frozen fish without overheating. A weaker processor may struggle or overheat. I used a 800W Bosch food processor and it’s been good so far to make Vietnamese fish cake (Chả cá), pork paste (giò sống) and many more.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1. Prepare the Fish

If using fresh fish, freeze it for at least 4 hours until it’s semi-frozen — firm but still sliceable with a knife. If using frozen fillets, leave them out at room temperature for about 20 minutes until they reach a semi-frozen state (cold and firm, but not rock solid).
Cut the fish into small chunks for easier and safer processing.

Step 2. Process the Fish

Add the semi-frozen fish to the food processor and begin blending. Stop every 3–5 minutes to let the machine rest and to check the temperature of the fish. Continue until the fish becomes a smooth, sticky paste.

If the fish warms up during blending, add 1–2 ice cubes to cool it down, or place the whole food processor bowl together with fish in the freezer for 30–60 minutes before resuming. Keeping the fish cold is crucial — it directly affects the springy texture of the finished chả cá.

Step 3. Season

Once you reach a smooth consistency, add fish sauce, garlic, pepper, salt, tapioca starch Blend again for 1–3 minutes until everything is evenly combined.

You can also toss in some whole peppercorns and and finely chopped dill for added texture and aroma.

Step 4. Shape and Cook

Fish paste is very sticky, so oil your hands generously before shaping it. I recommend wearing gloves to prevent stickiness. Shape the paste into round balls, round cakes or flat patties.

To fry: Heat oil over medium heat and pan-fry until both sides are golden and the inside is cooked through.

To steam: Steam the patties for 15–45 minutes depending on thickness. Use a toothpick to check — if it comes out clean, they’re done.
The final Vietnamese fish cake (cha ca) has to be elastic and chewy, not crumbly.

Step 5. Serving & Storage

Enjoy chả cá sliced into bite-sized pieces, served as a snack with chili sauce, in a rice meal, or as a topping in noodle soups.
You can freeze cooked Vietnamese fish cakes for up to 6 months. It’s best to cut them into serving-size portions, pack them into freezer-safe bags, label them with the date, and store in the freezer. Try to use them sooner for the best texture.

The final Vietnamese fish cake (cha ca) has to be elastic and chewy — Cut cha ca into bite-sized pieces.

Some Personal Tips

When I first started making fish cakes, I always fried a small test patty to check the seasoning and texture. If it wasn’t quite right, I’d keep blending a little more or adjust the seasoning.

Different types of fish and different food processors will yield slightly different results — so experiment a few times to find what works best for you. But once you do, you’ll have fresh, delicious homemade chả cá that beats anything store-bought!

Homemade Vietnamese Fish Cake (Chả Cá)

Vietnamese Fish Cake, or Chả Cá, is a beloved dish across Vietnam, known for its chewy texture and delicate balance of flavors. It's often enjoyed with rice noodles, tucked into bánh mì, or served simply with rice and dipping sauce.

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Course: Main Dish, Side Dish, Snack

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Keyword: chả cá, vietnamese fish cake

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 45

Servings: people

Calories: 250kcal

Author: Mia Pham

Equipment

1 Food Processor

Ingredients

800 g fish fillet (tilapia, basa, mackerel, or other white-fleshed fish) (28.2 oz)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon tapioca starch or cornstarch, for stability and chewiness
10 g fresh dill (optional but highly recommended for unique aroma) (0.35 oz)