This Vietnamese-style salad from our book, Money Saving Meals, is made with basa fillets – a freshwater Vietnamese catfish with a mild flesh (and not too many bones) that remains moist during cooking.

It was also very cheap. If you want to use a local fish, tell the fishmonger what you are making and ask for some economical suggestions. It's always hard to know what to combine with Asian-style salads, but a baguette is fine with this one, especially if you warm it in the oven for a few minutes first.

Serves 4.

½ teaspoon turmeric
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1½ tablespoons peanut oil
400g (14oz) fish fillets (such as basa), cut into chunks
125g (4oz) vermicelli noodles
3 cups shredded iceberg lettuce or 100 g mixed lettuce leaves
2 Lebanese cucumbers, halved lengthwise, sliced thinly
1 carrot, coarsely grated
2 tablespoons chopped dill
4 green onions, sliced
1/3 cup roasted peanuts, chopped

Dressing
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons peanut oil

Whisk the turmeric, fish sauce and 2 teaspoons of the oil together in a medium-sized bowl. Add the fish and set aside to marinate for 15 minutes.

Prepare the vermicelli noodles. Pop them into a heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and leave them to soften. Drain, run them under cold water, drain again, then snip in half (or small pieces) with kitchen scissors.

Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together in a small bowl until the sugar has dissolved.

Put the lettuce, cucumber slices and carrot into a large serving bowl with the noodles and drizzle over the dressing.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium–high heat and stir-fry the fish for about 3–4 minutes, stirring often, until just cooked. Add the dill and green onion, stir to combine.

Fold the fish mixture gently through the salad so that the fish is coated with the dressing and top with the roasted peanuts for added crunch.