Ca Kho To
Fish braised in a dark, sticky caramel that tastes like it took an afternoon and took eighteen minutes. Serve it with plain rice and let the sauce do the talking.
- Total time
- 18 min
- Serves
- 2
- Effort
- Medium
What you need
Written for 2 — nudge the counter and the numbers follow.
0 of 8 in the basket.
How you make it
Melt the sugar with 1 tbsp water in a small heavy pan over medium heat, without stirring, for about 4 minutes until it turns the colour of dark tea.
Stand back and add the 120ml water carefully - it will spit - then swirl to dissolve the caramel and stir in the fish sauce, garlic and spring onion whites.
Slide in the fish pieces in a single layer, spoon the sauce over, and simmer covered over low heat for 8 minutes.
Uncover, baste again, and cook 3 more minutes until the sauce is syrupy and the fish flakes cleanly and is opaque all the way to the centre.
Crack the black pepper over, scatter with chilli and spring onion greens, and serve straight from the pan.
Read all that and thought “absolutely not”?
Completely fair. Ca Kho To is sitting in the Vietnamese kitchen right now, it costs nothing, and it will never arrive.
Order it insteadMore from the Vietnamese kitchen
Clear broth, loud herbs, immediate calm.