Vietnamese Braised Catfish (Cá Kho) - A Recipe for Lent
Braising this catfish brings out its richness. It's the perfect comfort meal on top of a hot bed of rice.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 30 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 2 lbs catfish steaks
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 shallot (minced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes (optional)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp Caola oil, or another neutral, high smoke point oil
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- 3/4 cup water
Instructions
- 1
Arrange your fish steaks in one layer at the bottom of a heavy bottomed or stainless steel pot
- 2
Sprinkle fish sauce, shallot, garlic, chili flakes, salt and pepper and oil on top of the steaks.
- 3
Put the fish undisturbed on the stove over medium heat. In the meantime, make your caramel.
- 4
Make the caramel by heating sugar on high heat until it is a deep brown color. Be careful not to burn the sugar.
- 5
Add water to sugar and immediately pour sugar water on top of fish.
- 6
Bring to a simmer and cook covered for 15-20 minutes. Check every few minutes and add boiling water as necessary if the liquid boils away too quickly. If the sauce is too runny, cook uncovered until your desired amount of liquid has evaporated.
- 7
Season again to taste with salt and pepper and serve with white rice and pickled mustard greens.