TASTEMADE: Cá Kho- Mom’s Braised Salmon Recipe
Check out my latest Tastemade recipe collab: My mom's Vietnamese Braised Salmon aka "Cá Kho" recipe is so easy and oh so tasty.
You'll see this normally served in Vietnamese restaurants in a simmering claypot but you can make this straight on your stovetop with a pan or stove-proof pot.
Typically you caramelize sugar first, but if that step scares you then you'll like this shortcut of marinating the fish in sugar and fish sauce and letting the fish caramelize with the marinade slowly in your pot.
Catfish or mackerel is commonly used but in our household we love using salmon.
Get that bowl of rice ready, you'll want to eat this with a heaping bowl of steaming hot jasmine rice!
*For more traditional method with caramelized sugar, see recipe -here-.
INGREDIENTS
~1 lb salmon steak
1 tbs sugar
3 tbs fish sauce
BRAISING
+/- 1/4 cup water (more if you have a bigger steak than 1 lb, a little less if less lb)
Black pepper
1-2 tbs soy sauce (*optional for a little more umami and color, my dad does this but my mom doesn’t prefer it, I personally like it so this is totally optional)
1/2 small red onion (thinly sliced)
2 Thai red Chili peppers (diagonally sliced)
Garnish:
Few sprigs cilantro
Cucumber (sliced thin, *optional)
Serve with:
Jasmine Rice
PREPARATION
1. Rinse fish (descale skin with a knife if needed) and pat dry with paper towel.
2. Marinate fish with brown sugar, fish sauce and oil for at least 15 min in the fridge.
3. Add fish to pot/pan, let simmer for about a minute on one side, then carefully flip and add any remaining marinade onto salmon.
4. Let fish braise over low-medium heat for about 10-15 minutes with the lid on partially.
5. Remove lid and let sauce cook down until slightly thickened, then add black pepper, onions, and red chili peppers. Let simmer with lid on for a couple minutes until onions are slightly cooked.
6. Serve hot straight from your clay pot/pan or transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with a little fresh cilantro or fresh slices of cucumber.