← Nouns Cooking · Vietnamese

Ingredients

• 700 g catfish steaks, about 2 cm thick (or salmon or cod steaks)
• 2 tbsp Fish sauce
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 2 Shallot, minced
• 3 cloves Garlic, minced
• ½ tsp Black pepper
• 1 tbsp Vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp Sugar
• 2 tbsp Water
• 250 ml coconut water (or water)
• 1 tbsp Fish sauce
• 2 Bird's eye chilli, sliced (optional)
• 2 Spring onion, cut into 3 cm lengths
• 1 tsp black pepper, coarsely cracked, to finish

Method

1. Rub the fish with a little salt, rinse and pat dry. Toss with the marinade ingredients and leave for 20 min.
2. In a clay pot or small heavy saucepan, heat the oil, sugar and water over medium heat without stirring. Cook for 4–5 min, swirling the pan, until it turns a deep amber caramel, like strong tea. Watch closely: it goes from dark to burnt fast.
3. Lift the fish out of the marinade and lay it in the caramel in one layer (it will spit). Cook for 1 minute per side.
4. Pour in the leftover marinade, the coconut water, fish sauce and chillies. Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered for 25–30 min, spooning the sauce over now and then and turning the fish once, until the sauce has reduced to a sticky, glossy glaze.
5. Scatter over the spring onions and cracked pepper and cook for 1 minute more. Serve bubbling in the pot with plenty of rice and a simple soup or greens.

Tips

• Choose steaks rather than fillets; they hold together through the long braise.
• The sauce should be intensely salty-sweet: you only need a spoonful on each mouthful of rice.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Vicky Pham Hungry Huy Wok and Kin