On the southern Con Dao islands and on Phu Quoc this is a favourite sandwich filling. You could also coat the fish patties in green rice for some extra crunch, then fry them and serve with the classic dipping sauce.

600 g snapper fillets

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon fish sauce

½ teaspoon sugar

teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3 spring onions, white part only, thinly sliced

oil, for deep-frying

6 small baguettes

3 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 iceberg or other crisp green lettuce, leaves separated

1 cucumber, sliced

120 g tofu, cut into 2 cm thick slices (optional)

1 handful coriander sprigs

1 long red chilli, sliced

1½ tablespoons soy sauce

Remove the skin and bones from the snapper fillets and cut the fish into rough chunks. Put the fish and garlic in a food processor and process to a paste. Add the fish sauce, sugar, salt, pepper and spring onion and process until combined. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Using lightly oiled fingers, form the fish mixture into 12 patties.

Heat the oil in a deep frying pan or wok and deep-fry the patties for 4–5 minutes, or until they are golden and cooked through. Drain well on paper towel.

Preheat the oven to 180°C (Gas 4). Heat the baguettes in the oven for 1 minute, then cut in half lengthways and remove some of the soft centre.

Spread the mayonnaise on the bottom of the baguettes and top with the lettuce, cucumber, tofu (if using), fish patties, coriander and chilli. Drizzle with the soy sauce and serve immediately.