Braised trout in caramel sauce |
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 50 mins
Total time: 1 hour 5 mins
Known as ca kho to in Vietnamese, this braised trout in caramel sauce is classic Vietnamese comfort food. Serve with white jasmine rice.
- 1 whole trout (or 1-1.5 pounds of an oily fish, skin on), cut into steaks.
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- ½ cup water
- 3 tbsp cup fish sauce (nuoc mam in Vietnamese)
- 1 tbsp salt
- ½ onion, thinly sliced
- 3-8 red Thai chiles
- 1-inch nub of ginger, julienned
- 2 tbsp ground black pepper
- Put sugar and half of the water in a medium pan or clay pot on high heat. Don't stir or touch. It will boil vigorously before the bubbles slow and start building on one another. After 5 minutes or so, it will begin turning brown, caramelizing. Take it off the heat when it's a deep golden brown color, like very weak coffee. Don't let it get espresso-dark!
- Add in the rest of the water, fish sauce, salt, and return it to the heat, turning it down to medium low heat.
- Add fish steaks to the caramel sauce. Top with onions, chiles, ginger, and pepper. Cover with a lid, cracking it open a little with a chopstick. Simmer for 20 minutes. Flip the steaks over. Simmer for another 20 minutes until sauce thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
- Serve with steaming white rice.
Recipe by heo yeah yum at http://heoyeahyum.com/2012/10/braised-trout-in-caramel-sauce/
3.1.08