Ca kho (Caramelized fish)

As we know, healthy diets almost always contain fish, a protein food with fewer calories than other meat sources. It's also one of nature's most versatile food. We can process fish in different ways such as bake, fry , steam or poach but for simmering fish , it will reduce stinking taste and increase flavour of fish.
Photo: eva.vn

“Cá kho“ in Vietnam can be divided into two types:” kho khô” ( dry simmering) va “kho nước”. “Cá kho nước” is usually made with sea fish like tuna, salmon, mackerel, garrupa…,its taste is quite light and it often cooked with a lot of water that can be used to souse on steamed rice,“bún” or noodle. On the other hand,” Cá kho khô” is  saltier and cooked until nearly all water in the pot evaporates, it usually made with fresh water fish like long-jawed anchovy, carp, goby, mullet and so on.

To make a” Cá kho”  in both two kinds, we need prepare ingredients carefully. First of all, seasoning includes: salt, pepper, “ nước mắm”, sugar and a little” kẹo đắng” , a liquid made from well-cooked sugar like a caramel syrup, has a bitten taste and dark reddish-brown colour- it is often used to create a sweet, bitten taste and nice colour for dishes. Secondly, we can use some vegetables called” phụ gia” such as small slices of ripe pipe-apple, tomatoes, carambola , jack- fruit and  several chunks of  sugar-cane. One more and most important ingredient is fish, we should choose fresh fish that will make our dish more delicious. Fish is scrapped off the scales ,then washed carefully by water and vinegar.
Photo: beptruong.edu.vn

After  careful preparation,   fish is chopped up into small chunks and mixed  with spices, vegetables for  about 30 minutes before cooking . Then they are put into pot, often clay pot because it increases taste of fish and filled with water and small cup of tea. We simmer the pot for several hours depending on different kinds and sizes of fish. During cooking, we need to care about level of  fire and  always keep level of water higher than face of fish up to 1-2 centimetres. We stew the pot until fish is well-done and gain a desirable level of water, for “ Cá kho nước” we keep quite a lot of water left in the pot but for “ Cá kho khô” there is a little of water left.

“ Cá kho” is often served with steamed rice or “bún” and can be kept up to one week.