On to the topic at hand…Cá Kho! If you don’t know what it is, it’s basically braised fish (usually catfish) in a savory caramel sauce! Cá in Vietnamese means fish and kho means braise essentially. My Vietnamese isn’t the greatest but that’s the gist of what you need to know.

The OG original method to this dish is actually served in a clay pot and you caramelize the sugar from scratch (which can be tricky if not done properly) but can also become….smoky. Am I saying that from experience? Perhaps.

But the name of the game here is to make traditional Vietnamese dishes more easy and approachable for those that may not have the ingredients or time to do it the traditional way. So here I am with my version of the classic Cá Kho. In my technique…well you honestly don’t need any technique. LOL. As long as you can stir and flip, that’s all the skills you need.

Instead of burning sugar and waiting for it to caramelize, I used in its place dark soy sauce. It’s sweeter and lighter in taste than regular soy sauce but will give the fish that dark caramel coloring. I’ve also replace the liquid in the recipe with chicken stock because let’s be honest, not everyone has coconut soda/juice lying around. But if you do, feel free to use it in place of chicken stock, it’s much better. But if you don’t have it, you’ll still be fine.

I hope you enjoyed the recipe as much as I did recreating it! I moved out at a young age so to be able to recreate these recipes and flavors that are so reminiscent of home means a lot to me. Especially being able to share it with y’all!

Chat Soon!

Cá Kho aka Caramelized Catfish

Recipe by Jen H. DaoCourse: Blog, Recipes

Servings

2-3

servings

Prep time

15

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb catfish steaks

• 2-3 garlic cloves (minced)

• 1 birdseye chili (sliced thinly)

• 2 tbsp fish sauce

• 1 1/2 tbsp dark soy

• 2 tbsp brown sugar

• 1/4 c chicken stock/coconut juice/coconut soda

• 1 tbsp veggie oil

Directions

• Combine fish sauce, dark soy sauce and sugar to make marinade. Marinate catfish steaks for 15 mins.
• On med/high heat, add your oil and cook your garlic for 30 secs, then add your fish and marinade. Cook on med heat for 2-3 mins each side then add chicken stock and simmer (with lid) for 3-4 mins.
• Remove lid and cook for 1-2 mins until sauce thickens. Topped with green onions, chili and black pepper. Serve with rice!

Recipe Video