This is probably one of the elders favorite fish dish. It’s a go to recipe when we go camping out in the ocean. It tastes amazing since the fish are super fresh; especially if it’s wrapped in banana leaves and cooked over charcoal. SO TASTY! It’s wrapped and cooked in banana leaves and stuffed with tons of garlic, lemongrass, pepper, dill, cilantro, and other great summer herbs. Your whole house is going to smell fantastic! Dish recipe works well with any fish you like. White fish is my favorite for this dish. But what I love the most is to deep fried the fish and then mixing the herbs in. My mom loves to overcook the fish and let the excess amount of fish liquid broth evaporate until the herbs on top becomes nice and crispy. But it’s up to you. Feel free to cook it until the fish is just cooked.  My mom also did a deep fry version which also taste amazing! So give it a try and let me know what you think!

BASIC INGREDIENTS

Any fish you like, fresh herbs, banana leaf and a whole lot of love!

Season the fish with a little salt. Let it marinade while you prep other stuff.

If you don’t want to use whole fish, you can opt out and use fillet of fish. It’ll work as well. But whole fish is recommended.

Herbs & Spices we use: Lemongrass, garlic, kaffir lime leaf, chili peppers, and fresh coriander seeds

Herbs: Lots of fresh dill, cilantro, and green onions 

Seasonings: Mushroom seasonings, fish sauce, and salt

Fresh banana leaf! You can use frozen banana leaf as well! 

Chop the herbs before pounding them 

Use a mortar and pestle to pound the herbs and spices 

Stuff the fish. My mom cut the top part of the fish so she can have more room to stuff the whole fish with the delicious herbs. Pretty neat! 

Top the fish with the remaining herbs.

You can also make a dip fry version! This version is delicious as well. You can either deep fry the fish and then just mix & toss the fresh herbs in with the fish and enjoy it as is. OR do what we did and cook the fish even more in banana leaves for about 30-45 more minutes. It’s so good. 

HERE IT IS! What it looks like after it’s cooked. Doesn’t look that appealing, but it’s tasty! 

Serve with rice, pepper dip, and other condiments of your choice.
Enjoy!

Hmong Style Herb Fish: Nqaj Ntseg Xwv

Serves: 10-15 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 1 hr + 1 hr +

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

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Ingredients

• 4 whole fish of choice
• 1/2 cups kaffir lime leaf chopped
• 1 1/2 cups chopped lemongrass
• 5-6 whole Thai chili (more if you want more spice)
• 1/2 cups whole garlic (or 2 whole bulbs)
• 3 cups chopped dill
• 3 cups chopped cilantro
• 3 cups chopped green onions
• 2 TBSP fresh coriander seeds (if available)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cups fish sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp mushroom seasoning (optional)
• Fresh or frozen banana leaves

Instructions

1) Clean the fish well

2) Season the fish with a little salt and set aside while you prep the herbs. (at this point, you can also fry your fish if you want)

3) In a a mortar and pestle, add in the peppers, garlic, chopped lemongrass, and 1 tsp of salt. Pound until the garlic and pepper are smashed well. Then add in all the chopped herbs. Pound until the herbs are wilted a little. Then add in the fish sauce and mushroom seasoning. Pound until just well mix. Taste and adjust if you want. Set aside next to your fish for stuffing.

4) Get foil and the banana leaves ready. Lay the foil down on a baking sheet and then place the banana leaf on top. Then lay your fish on top. Stuff as much herb filling as you want inside the fish and on top of the fish. Any left over herbs can be used for other protein if you want to use it up! We used all the herbs since it's delicious with rice itself.

5) Place another banana leaf on top of the fish and then foil it. Cook in the oven at 400 degrees F for about 1 hr. After 1 hr, take the top foil and banana off and let it cook for another 25 minutes until half of the fish liquid evaporate (This is optional. My mom just likes to dry out the liquid even more so it brings in more flavor to the fish. Feel free to cook to your liking)

6) Let it rest for 20 minutes before serving. Serve with rice or sticky rice. Enjoy!

-CHawjCreations

Notes

Use any kind of fish you like. Add as much herb filling as you like! This recipe makes a lot of filling since we like a lot of it. As always, adjust to your liking. You can cook this in the oven, steam it, or cook it over charcoal as long as you have foil covering it.