Vietnamese
Ca Kho To (Clay Pot Caramel Braised Catfish)
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Ca Kho To (Clay Pot Caramel Braised Catfish) is Vietnamese home cooking, eaten at dinner. On the plate it is the dish at the centre. Below is what usually sits beside it, what it does and does not contain, and what else to cook once you have made it.
Ingredients
The quantities follow this count.
How to cook it
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Cut the catfish into thick steaks or large chunks and pat them dry.
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Melt the sugar with 2 tbsp water in a heavy pot or clay pot over medium heat, swirling occasionally, until it turns a deep amber caramel, about 6 minutes.
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Carefully add the oil and sliced shallots and garlic, standing back as the caramel sputters, and stir 1 minute.
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Pour in the coconut water and fish sauce and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring to dissolve the caramel into the liquid.
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Nestle the catfish pieces into the sauce in a single layer and season with the black pepper.
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Cover and simmer gently, spooning the sauce over the fish once or twice, until the fish is cooked through and the sauce has thickened and darkened, about 20 minutes.
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Uncover and simmer a few minutes more if the sauce needs to reduce further so it clings to the fish.
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Scatter with scallions and serve hot straight from the pot over the jasmine rice.
Watch how to cook Ca Kho To (Clay Pot Caramel Braised Catfish)
Someone making it start to finish, so you can see what the steps look like.
Serve it with
A Vietnamese dinner is a plate rather than a single dish. These are the courses that normally sit beside Ca Kho To (Clay Pot Caramel Braised Catfish), read from the same composition Dinejot builds a real meal from.
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The cooked vegetable
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Something to sip
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What it is eaten with
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Something cool and fresh
Safe at your table
Dinejot tracks ten allergens and tags every one of them by hand, so the absences below are as deliberate as the presences. Ca Kho To (Clay Pot Caramel Braised Catfish) carries fish and coconut. It is free of the remaining 8 allergens on that list.
| Allergen | In this dish | Cook this instead |
|---|---|---|
| Peanuts | No | |
| Tree nuts | No | |
| Dairy | No | |
| Gluten | No | |
| Shellfish | No | |
| Eggs | No | |
| Soy | No | |
| Fish | Yes | Banh Mi Op La (Baguette with Fried Eggs) |
| Sesame | No | |
| Coconut | Yes | Banh Mi Op La (Baguette with Fried Eggs) |
These tags are set by a person rather than inferred from an ingredient list, and they describe the recipe as written here. Read the labels on whatever you actually buy.
What it brings to the plate
Estimated, per serving
- Calories
- 440 kcal
- Protein
- 26 g
- Carbs
- 58 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Fiber
- 0 g
- Sugar
- 14 g
- Sodium
- 1040 mg
- Saturated fat
- 3 g
Estimated values. Actual nutrition varies with ingredients, brands, and how you cook.
When to cook it
Ca Kho To (Clay Pot Caramel Braised Catfish) takes about 45 minutes from a cold stove to the table, and the cooking itself is a fair bit of work. It is eaten at dinner. Nothing in the calendar rules it out, so it is a year round dish.
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Cook this with your whole family
Dinejot plans breakfast, lunch and dinner as whole plates, built around the cooking you call home and filtered for the allergies at your table.
Meal suggestions support your goals. They are not medical advice. Please ask your doctor about your family's health needs.