Vietnamese Caramelised Fish in a Clay Pot
THAI · THAILAND

Vietnamese Caramelised Fish in a Clay Pot

Cá kho tộMain

Catfish braised in a dark coconut caramel until the sauce goes sticky and bittersweet, with the funk of fish sauce and the bite of black pepper underneath. This is the Mekong Delta's everyday clay-pot dish, and it should taste almost too strong on its own, so you eat it with plain rice.

Total
75 min
Heat
2/5
Serves
4

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Flavour profile

Heat
Funk
Acid
Richness
Umami
  • Caramelised
  • Funky
  • Salty
  • Sweet

The real deal

Region
Mekong Delta, southern Vietnam. The clay pot (tộ) is the point: it holds heat and steams the braise down to a glaze.
Technique
Nuoc mau, a burnt-sugar caramel, is built first and the fish braised lid-on, then reduced lid-off until the sauce clings.
We kept
Nước màu caramel, thick fish sauce, black pepper, coconut water as the braising liquid, and catfish or another firm skinned fish — never a sweet, shy version.

Ingredients

4 Serves

fish

  • 800 g · thick steaks on the bone, or skinned fillets cut into large chunks

caramel

  • 60 g
  • 2 tbsp

Braise

  • 5 tbsp
  • 400 ml
  • 1½ tsp · coarsely cracked

Aromatics

  • 3 · sliced
  • 4 cloves · smashed
  • 4 cm · julienned
  • 2 · optional · sliced, seeds in for real heat
  • 2 tbsp

Garnish

  • 3 · optional · sliced, green parts only
  • 1 bunch · optional

Method

  1. Thinly slice , smash with the flat of a knife, julienne , and slice if you want the heat in. Crack coarsely — a heavy pinch of gravelly bits, not powder. You want the pepper to bite, not just season. Put in a small heavy pan with 2 tbsp and set it over medium heat. Swirl, do not stir, until it melts, foams and turns the colour of dark tea — a couple of shades deeper than caramel sauce, but never black, which is bitter. This is nước màu caramel, the nước màu. Pull it off the heat the moment it hits colour.

    Cut the chilli last or your fingers will find your eyes before dinner.

    Sugar burns in seconds once it foams. Keep your face back and have the pan off the heat before it smells acrid.

  2. Warm a heavy-bottomed pan or clay pot over medium heat with 2 tbsp . Add the shallot, garlic, ginger and chilli and sizzle until fragrant and just softening, about 1 min. Do not brown them properly — this is a braise, not a stir-fry.

    Dig out your clay pot if you have one: it holds the heat, steams the fish and makes the sauce thicker than any metal pan will.

  3. Pour in 400 ml , 5 tbsp and nước màu caramel. Stir until the caramel dissolves and taste: it should be aggressively salty-sweet. Add the fish pieces in one layer, skin side down, and scatter over about half the cracked pepper.

    Never stir the fish once it is in — shake the pot instead, or the pieces break into shreds.

  4. Cover and braise over low heat until the fish is just cooked and has taken on the colour of the sauce, about 15 min. Keep it barely bubbling — a hard boil toughens the flesh.

  5. Take the lid off, turn the heat to medium heat, and let the sauce bubble down until it is glossy, syrupy and coats the fish like lacquer, roughly 15 min. Spoon the sauce over the fish as it reduces. Taste once more — it should be intense, salty and sweet, not thin.

    If it tastes too soft, add another splash of fish sauce rather than salt; the extra funk is the whole character of the dish.

  6. Take the pot off the heat and scatter over the rest of the pepper, the sliced and the . Let it sit for 5 min before serving — the fish firms and the sauce thickens as it cools. Serve straight from the pot with a lot of hot rice, and a sour soup or pickle on the side to cut the richness.

    This is better on the second day: cover and refrigerate, then gently reheat with a spoon of coconut water loosened through the sauce.

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