Sunday, August 03, 2008

Trout in Vietnamese Caramel Sauce



[ts]
Wow, this is so overdue!

I first read about Vietnamese caramel sauce in Bittman's How to Cook Everything or Best Recipes in the World. I was very intrigued; I had never heard about it before.

A while back, I tried it with prawns. It was a success! It was time to replicate it for a party setting. This time, trout acted as the protein.

First, I mixed some nam pla (fish sauce) and water together. I made sure I had this ready so I could add it to the caramel to stop its cooking.

Onto the caramel: I added some sugar and water to the pan and waited until the sugar dissolved. I waited a little bit more until it darkened. (It was a little difficult to judge the color of the caramel in this dark-colored pan.)

When the caramel reached the desired color, I quickly poured in the nam pla and water mixture. The caramel was mad and hissed at me.



I ignored its hissy fit and added some shallots and ginger. I'm not sure if the ginger is traditional; it's a Chinese thing to add ginger to fish. I also added black pepper and lime juice. When the shallots softened, I added the fish to the pan.

Umm, yeah, try not to crowd the pan like so.


It was a simple matter of waiting until the fish cooked. I believe I may have turned them once during cooking. We garnished with some cilantro because we're just a cilantro kind of people.



This was quite a hit at Dear Niece's party!

The caramel sauce was neither fishy nor sweet (for something that was made from the combination of fish sauce and sugar). It had a great depth to it from the caramelized sugar. Yet, it was actually quite delicate and the flavour of the trout came through and shone.

Best thing, this Vietnamese caramel sauce can be used in many different applications: fish, other seafood, beef, chicken, pork, ...

Andrea of Viet World Kitchen has more information on Vietnamese caramel sauce.

Vietnamese food at eatingclub vancouver
Squid with Black Pepper
Trout in Vietnamese Caramel Sauce
Pho Bo (Vietnamese Beef Noodle Soup)
Vietnamese Salmon Steaks with Cucumber, Garlic and Ginger
Pho Ga (Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup)
Vietnamese Chicken Cabbage Salad (Goi Ga Bap Cai) on Sesame Rice Cracker (Banh Trang Me)
Vietnamese Spring Roll (Cha Gio)
Asparagus and Crab Egg Crêpes


Our go-to Bittman books.
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29 comments:

  1. glamah16August 03, 2008 6:24 PM

    That looks fantastic. I thought it was salmon from the color, but I see its trout. Salmon would great too.Im sure it was a hit!

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  2. AnonymousAugust 03, 2008 9:05 PM

    I remember Dale from Top Chef had to go home because of attempting to make this caramel sauce.
    I had no idea there's a recipe for it in Bittman's book. Time to pull it out of the storage bin.

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  3. AnonymousAugust 03, 2008 9:25 PM

    I've never heard of this sauce, but it sounds great. And, the ingredients are staples so it can be whipped up anytime. I'm sure it would be great with many different things.

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  4. BeachloverAugust 03, 2008 9:30 PM

    now I know how to cook my salmon with Vietnamese sauce!! your trout look really good!!yum-yum!!

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  5. CakebrainAugust 03, 2008 9:38 PM

    That Vietnamese Caramel sauce is so versatile too! I've used it with so many different meats and everything tastes so good with it! Lovely looking trout!

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  6. AnonymousAugust 04, 2008 1:10 AM

    That trout looks YUM! (*drool) :-)

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  7. AnonymousAugust 04, 2008 1:38 AM

    You know how elite sports-people visualize their moves before competition? I'm already seeing this with just a squeeze of lime, picked up on a fork, and heading towards my mouth! Yum!

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  8. tigerfishAugust 04, 2008 2:31 AM

    I thought they were salmon at first glance. Looks delicious:)

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  9. Darius T. WilliamsAugust 04, 2008 4:20 AM

    This does look good - although, I'm not sure about such a sweet/savory combo. I'd try it though - but I'd do some pan seared action. I'd do the caramel, but probably foam it and use that as either a drizzle or the base in which I'd sit the fish on.

    But, yours looked good. And yes - cilantro is always in order. Can I join your cilantro club?

    -DTW
    www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

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  10. LoreAugust 04, 2008 5:50 AM

    Now that's a delicious way to defeat that mad hissing caramel ;)

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  11. AnonymousAugust 04, 2008 6:13 AM

    This dish sounds yummy, am bookmarking this recipe! No trout available here though, will have to substitute another kind of fish...

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  12. AnonymousAugust 04, 2008 7:47 AM

    Wow!! It's another hit. I'm gonna try that with the wild salmon fillet I bought from Save-on Foods. It is so simple yet so yummy!!

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  13. fmedAugust 04, 2008 8:08 AM

    Filipino "Humba" is very similar to Vietnamese Porc au Caramel. Some cooks will caramelize the sugar first instead of merely adding it.

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  14. test it commAugust 04, 2008 10:26 AM

    Bookmarked! That salmon looks so good and the caramel sauce sounds really tasty!

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  15. graceAugust 04, 2008 12:54 PM

    holy toledo. this may very well cause me to like trout. i mean, how could anyone resist anything smothered in caramel sauce? is it even possible? i think not. :)

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  16. AnonymousAugust 04, 2008 1:24 PM

    Beautiful, I mean it sounds amazing! Just amazing.

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  17. EsiAugust 04, 2008 2:01 PM

    This sauce sounds soooo good!

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  18. AnonymousAugust 04, 2008 8:20 PM

    Interesting. There are several French sauces for duck that start with a caramel also, i'm curious about trying this one with the nam pla. Sounds really good.

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  19. Wandering ChopsticksAugust 04, 2008 10:07 PM

    You should try making this with catfish. That's the traditional fish for ca kho to. :) Much, much better than trout or salmon. I've made it with tuna filets too.

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  20. AnonymousAugust 05, 2008 12:07 AM

    Amazing - sounds so delicious. What a great way to prepare salmon.

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  21. pamAugust 05, 2008 1:26 PM

    Vietnamese caramel sauce is my favorite! This reminds me that I haven't made it in a while. And I think I've only made it with pork!

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  22. SharonAugust 05, 2008 2:07 PM

    I'm a cilantro gal myself! Just the name of this dish is drool-worthy. Definitely going on my 'to-make' list!

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  23. DragonAugust 05, 2008 2:22 PM

    I thought it was salmon too. I love the thought of caramel in this dish. YUM!

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  24. kickpleatAugust 07, 2008 9:44 AM

    wow, that looks so good! i'm definitely going to try this soon.

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  25. Thinking About FoodAugust 07, 2008 10:21 PM

    That sounds really nice, I am often delivered a whole trout by my fishing brother in law, but it is usually smoked. Next time I shall ask for the uncooked fish to give this a go!

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  26. UnknownAugust 08, 2008 11:43 AM

    I have just made something similar to this. I used salmon instead of trout and I also added shrimp, eggs, and some broccolini. I have took some pictures. They are posted on my facebook.

    http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2008527&l=9f665&id=1466430080

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  27. TS of eatingclub vancouverAugust 15, 2008 4:09 PM

    glamah16, tigerfish & dragon:
    For some reason almost all of the trout I see here are pink-fleshed!

    jude:
    Oh no, we haven't seen the end yet! Hahaha... We get the show via FoodNetwork Canada. Too bad he didn't win!

    ning:
    Supposedly, you don't even have to use fish or seafood. Any kind of protein would work w the sauce.

    wandering chopsticks:
    Oh, catfish! Haven't seen much catfish here. Fresh ones, that is. Maybe will look in the frozen section. ;)

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  28. AnonymousSeptember 15, 2010 8:53 AM

    really tasty.

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  29. TS of eatingclub vancouverOctober 18, 2010 10:08 PM

    Anon:
    Thanks!

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