Name: Caramelised Whitebait and Pork Belly Hotpot (Cá Cơm Kho Tộ)
Yield: Serves 4–6 as part of a Shared Meal
Cuisine: Vietnam
Ingredients: 100 g (3½ oz) boneless pork belly, cut into thin 2 × 3 cm (¾ × 1¼ inch) pieces; 1 teaspoon oyster sauce; 2 tablespoons sugar; 2 spring onions (scallions), sliced on the diagonal; 100 ml (3½ fl oz) chicken stock or water; ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce; 200 g (7 oz) small whitebait, rinsed and drained; 1 tablespoon garlic oil; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 2 bird’s eye chillies, sliced; 2 tablespoons fish sauce

Preparation info

Serves
4–6
as part of a Shared Meal

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

The Songs of Sapa

By Luke Nguyen

Published 2009

About

PUT SIMPLY, WHITEBAIT ARE YOUNG FISH. THEY ARE ONLY 2–5 CM (1–2 INCHES) IN LENGTH AND THE ENTIRE FISH IS EATEN — HEAD AND TAIL — AND THEY ARE NOT GUTTED. WHITEBAIT ARE TENDER WITH A SLIGHT CRUNCH, AND ARE VERY TASTY.