Cá Kho – Vietnamese Caramelized Fish
May 31, 2025 03:18 AM
Cá kho (Vietnamese caramelized fish) features fish braised in caramel sauce and fish sauce to develop a beautiful color and a deep, savory flavor that complements rice very well. This is classic Vietnamese home cooking at its best.
Everyone in Vietnam grows up eating caramelized dishes like cá kho and thit kho tau on a regular basis. You may hear people call caramelized fish cá kho tộ, which simply means braised fish in a clay pot in Vietnamese. In home cooking, they usually call it cá kho.
Fish sauce and caramel sauce (called kẹo đắng, nước màu or nước hàng) are two essential ingredients to create the deep color and flavor. In addition, there are many ingredients that can be braised with the fish depending on the taste preferences of each region and family – like galangal, tomatoes, tea leaves, or pickled mustard greens, just to name a few.
Ingredients:
- 2.2 lbs whole mackerels or similar oily fish, cleaned and gutted
- salt
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
- 2 oz galangal, peeled and thinly sliced (or substitute with ginger)
- 2 oz shallots, peeled thinly sliced (about ⅓ cup sliced)
- 10.5 oz tomatoes, sliced into thin rounds (about 2 large or 3 small-medium tomatoes)
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce (to taste)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- black pepper
- 1-2 bird's-eye chilis (optional)
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
Prep Time:
15 minutes
Cook Time:
120 minutes
Total Time:
135 minutes
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