Cá Đuối: Vietnamese Ray Fish, Grilled, in Curry and in Hotpot

Cá đuối, ray fish, has become a popular Vietnamese street food. The best place to eat it is a beach town such as Vũng Tàu, Nha Trang, Long Hải or Đà Nẵng, and the best time is from January to the end of March on the lunar calendar.

There are three main ways to cook it.

1. Grilled ray

This is the easiest way to cook ray, and one of the best. All you need is a hot coal and some guise leaves. The ray is wrapped in the leaves and laid on the coals, and it’s ready in no more than 10 minutes. It tastes better still when the fish is seasoned first with garlic, chilli and lemongrass.

Grilled ray is even better if you drink some Vietnamese wine with it, such as rượu đế or rượu chuối. Some restaurants grill the ray right by their front door to draw in customers, which is how the dish came to count as street food.

2. Ray curry

Ray curry is simple too. The only other thing it needs is eggplant, cut into pieces about the same size as the pieces of ray. It’s an inexpensive dish, eaten with rice or noodles, and fishermen are fond of it for its aroma.

3. Ray hotpot

Ray hotpot is one of the writer’s favourites whenever the writer travels to Vũng Tàu or Mũi Né. Its flavour changes with the vegetables and other ingredients that go into it. In the writer’s view the broth is at its best with river leaf or tamarind added, which gives it a sour edge.

Which region eats which

Each region has its own way with ray. The North favours ray hotpot, the Centre goes for ray curry, and the South prefers it grilled.