Mắm Chưng is a specialty of the Mekong Delta Region (aka Miền Tây in Vietnamese). You’ll easily find it at the bustling Vietnamese street food stalls where they serve up Cơm Bình Dân (commoner’s rice).
Mắm Chưng is my ultimate comfort food, a sneaky little rice thief that somehow convinces me to polish off at least two bowls of steamed rice every time it’s on my plate.

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What is Mắm Chưng?
In Vietnamese, “Chưng” means steamed, while “Mắm” means fermented/preserved aquatic animals. This Mắm Chưng is actually a steamed egg meatloaf with salted fish.
It looks quite similar to Chả Trứng Hấp, the steamed egg meatloaf in Cơm Tấm (broken rice platter). Even in Vietnam, many people confuse the two dishes.

In Vietnamese cuisine, Mắm has a broad definition. It could refer to:
Nước Mắm aka fish sauce, which we use for seasoning or making Nước Chấm (dipping fish sauce) or Nước Mắm Gừng (ginger fish sauce).
Mắm Nêm: the fermented anchovy sauce.
Mắm Tôm: Mắm Tôm is the Northern fermented shrimp paste, used in many Northern dishes such as Bún Đậu Mắm Tôm, Bún Mọc, Chả Cá Lã Vọng, or Bún Riêu.
Mắm Ruốc: the Central fermented shrimp paste, which is essential for Bún Bò Huế or Thịt Heo Xào Mắm Ruốc.
Food in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, particularly in An Giang province bordering Cambodia, is heavily influenced by Khmer cuisine.
Most Mắm (fermented or salted fish) in this region is made from Mekong River fish and reflects the influence of Cambodian Prahok (known as Mắm Bò Hóc in Vietnamese). In fact, Mắm Chưng is essentially a steamed version of Prahok.
From these fermented fish, you can create a variety of dishes, including the flavorful Bún Mắm (fermented fish noodle soup) and the hearty Lẩu Mắm (fermented fish hot pot).

Ingredients
The only exotic ingredient you’ll need here is the preserved fish. Some preserved/salted fish I could recommend for making Mắm Chưng are:
- Mắm Cá Lóc (salted snakehead fish)
- Mắm Cá Linh (salted dorab fish)
- Mắm Cá Sặc (salted gouramy fish)
- Mắm Cá Trèn (salted sheatfish)
- Mắm Cá Thu (salted mackerel)
Local Vietnamese cooks often suggest combining two or three types of fermented fish for the best flavor, but you could use just one type. Today, I used Mắm Cá Lóc and Mắm Cá Sặc.

You will also need:
- Ground pork: You could incorporate some minced shrimp or crab meat into the ground pork mixture to enhance the flavor. Sometimes, I have leftover crab meat from Súp Măng Cua (Vietnamese Crab & Asparagus Soup) and Chả Giò (Vietnamese Egg Rolls) and I add it to my Mắm Chưng.
- Eggs: in Vietnam, we often use duck eggs.
- Garlic, shallots, scallions, ginger
- Thai chili: optional
- Sugar, ground pepper
- MSG: to balance the flavor of the salted fish.

Helpful Tips

- To ensure the flavor of your steamed meatloaf, microwave a small portion and taste it. You can adjust the flavor by adding some sugar, MSG, or a bit more ground pork.
- When mixing ingredients, it’s better to use your hand while wearing a disposable plastic glove.
- I recommend using two or three types of preserved fish if you have them on hand, but using just one also works fine.
More authentic recipes from the Mekong Delta (Miền Tây)


(Vietnamese Chicken in Coconut Water Sauce)

(Vietnamese Sweet & Sour Soup)


Mắm Chưng (Vietnamese Steamed Egg Meatloaf With Salted Fish)
Equipment
- 1 Food Processor
Ingredients
- 0.7 pound ground pork (320g)
- 5 oz boneless salted snakehead fish (140g) (if using just one type of salted fish, use 7oz/200g in total)
- 2 oz ground salted gouramy fish (60g) (if using just one type of salted fish, use 7oz/200g in total)
- 6 eggs (separating 2 egg yolks to make the yellow top layer)
- ½ tbsp sugar
- ½ tsp MSG (optional)
- ½ tbsp ground pepper
- 1 sprig scallion (seperating the white and green parts then finely chop)
- 1 shallot
- 1 big clove garlic
- 2 small slices ginger (7g)
- 1 tbsp annatto oil (or cooking oil)
- 2 tbsp cooking oil (to sauté the aromatics)
Instructions
Optional step:
- Finely mince the shallot, garlic ginger, and the white part of scallions.
- Sauté all these ingredients in cooking oil until fragrant. Allow them to cool down completely.
Prepare the preserved fish:
- Some preserved fish is ground, while others are whole fish, especially the preserved snakehead fish. If it still has bones, remove them.
- Finely chop the whole fish with the aromatics. I prefer to use my food processor to save time. You could add some Thai chilies in this step since chilies could help reduce the fishy smell of Mắm.
Steam Mắm Chưng:
- Mix together the preserved fish, ground pork, green part of scallions, and eggs (reserving two egg yolks to make the yellow egg top). Season the mixture with sugar, MSG, and ground pepper.
- Apply a thin layer of cooking oil to grease your baking mold or bowl (this helps to take out the steamed meatloaf easily).
- Pour the mixture into the bowl. Make an X mark at the center of your meatloaf; this will help ensure the meatloaf has a level surface after steaming.
- Steam it over low-medium heat for around 30-40 minutes. Check with the toothpick test to ensure it's cooked through.
- Whisk the remaining egg yolk with some annatto oil (for a brighter color) or cooking oil.
- Pour the egg yolks over the steamed meatloaf. Use a spoon to spread them evenly over the surface. Optionally, garnish with some sliced chili to make it more appealing. Steam for a few minutes until the top sets without covering the lid.
- Serve Mắm Chưng hot with steamed rice, sliced cucumber, sliced eggplant and blanched vegetables.