Name: Catfish Braised in Caramel Sauce (Cà Kho Tộ)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon ground black pepper; ¼ cup fish sauce; 2½ tablespoons sugar; Fresh cilantro; ¾ pound fresh catfish, cod, or halibut, cut in 1-inch crosssectional slices, with skin and bones intact (ask your fishmonger to do this for you); 2 cups Coco Rico coconut soda, or 7Up or similar soda; 1 fresh Thai bird chile, sliced into rings with seeds; 1 scallion, chopped into rings

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Little Saigon Cookbook

By Ann Le

Published 2011

About

Ca kho to has always been a traditional recipe of South Vietnam. Because this dish can be made ahead of time, and the saltiness helps it last a little bit longer than your average leftover, it is extremely popular to have during the week of Tet. This version is my grandma’s recipe and better than other ca kho to recipes I have had in restaurants. She loves using lots of pepper and keeping the sauce thin. In this recipe, coconut soda or a 7Up-like soda helps break down the proteins of the fi