Month: June 2020

Cá Kho Tô

Ingredients:

  • 1 Catfish
  • 1/2 medium yellow onion
  • Caramel – nuoc mau
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • Coco Rico (optional) – alternatives are carbonated water or just water
  • Non-stick pan, clay pot, or any pot/pan you have

Marinating Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

  1. Cut catfish in half (around its belly button(?))
  2. Take the tail end and slice into 3/4″ slices
  3. Chop onion and layer at bottom of the pan
  4. Drizzle caramel (nuoc mau) over the fish a couple of rounds
  5. Sprinkle salt & sugar over fish and marinate for 30 minutes
  6. If using a non-stick pan, cook on medium high. If using a clay pot, start on low and slowly increase the heat to avoid cracking the clay pot.
  7. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes.
  8. Every 2-3 minutes, check & add about 2 tablespoons of liquid (coco rico/soda/water) around the fish. Use chopsticks to carefully adjust the edges of the fish so it doesn’t stick to the pan. When one side seems done, you can flip to the other side.
  9. Serve with rice and, if desired, veggies (sliced cucumbers, tomatoes, pickled mustard greens, etc)

nước mắm

Using coconut juice

  • 12oz nước dừa ( hiệu Coco Rico)
  • 4oz+ 1t đường trắng
  • 4oz+ 2T nước mắm ( hiệu Việt Hương 3 con cua)
  • 2oz+ 1T nước cốt chanh ( lime)
  • 1 củ tỏi băm nhuyễn.

Combine all ingredients

Using water

  • Smash 2 cloves of garlic,
  • squeeze the juice of one lemon or lime,
  • heat a bowl of water,
  • brown sugar
  • fish sauce

Add a lot of brown sugar to the warm water and stir until all dissolved, add the garlic and lemon/lime juice, then add just enough fish sauce to your liking.

Add sliced jalapeno and shredded carrots at the end

Fast & Easy

  • Tam’s version
  • 3 table spoons hot water
  • 3 tbsp sugar
  • mix the two, then add a whole lemon
  • add 3 tbsp nuoc mam
  • stop. This is where you tast to your liking.
  • I think I ended up with 4 tbsp nuoc mam
  • chop (it matters, apparently) some garlic and chili and put them in. Chopping the garlic makes the sauce not cloudy (I made this mistake), and putting it with the chili at the end helps them float (mixing the sauce would cause them to sink)