Vietnamese Caramelized Catfish in a Clay-Pot-Style Braise

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

Catfish steaks braised in a dark, bittersweet caramel sauce with fish sauce, ginger, black pepper and scallion until the liquid reduces to a glossy, spoonable glaze. The whole dish hangs on nuoc mau — homemade caramel sauce — so this recipe walks you through it slowly, with visual cues at every stage so it never turns acrid. No clay pot required: any small heavy saucepan or 3-quart Dutch oven concentrates the braise the same way.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tbsp water, plus 3 tbsp hot water for stopping the caramel

• 1 1/2 lb skin-on catfish steaks, cut 1 to 1 1/4 inches thick (4 to 6 pieces)
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp finely minced fresh ginger

• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
• 3 shallots, thinly sliced
• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, cut into thin matchsticks
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 3/4 cup water, unsweetened coconut water, or light chicken stock
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce (optional, for color)
• 1 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 Thai chile, halved lengthwise (optional)
• 4 scallions, whites cut into 2-inch lengths, greens thinly sliced
• 1 tsp granulated sugar, if needed to balance

• 4 cups hot steamed jasmine rice
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves

Instructions

1. Pat the catfish steaks very dry with paper towels. Toss them in a bowl with 1 tablespoon fish sauce, 1 teaspoon sugar, the salt and the minced ginger. Let sit at room temperature 15 to 20 minutes while you make the caramel and prep the aromatics.
2. Make the nuoc mau: measure 3 tablespoons hot water into a cup and keep it right next to the stove — you will need it fast. In a small heavy saucepan (2-quart is ideal), stir the 1/3 cup sugar with 2 tablespoons water until it looks like wet sand. Set over medium heat and do not stir again.
3. Let the syrup bubble undisturbed for 5 to 8 minutes. It will go clear, then pale straw, then amber. Swirl the pan gently by the handle rather than stirring. When the edges start browning faster than the center, swirl every 15 seconds so it colors evenly.
4. Watch for the exact moment: the caramel should turn the deep reddish-brown of iced tea or cola and give off a faint bittersweet, almost smoky smell (about 340–350°F if you're using a thermometer). Wisps of thin smoke mean stop now. Immediately pull the pan off the heat and stand back.
5. Pour in the 3 tablespoons hot water — it will sputter violently for a few seconds. Swirl until smooth. If it seized into a hard lump, return to low heat for 30 to 60 seconds, swirling, until it re-melts into a pourable, syrupy sauce. Set aside; it should thin out to about 1/4 cup of dark syrup. (If it tastes harshly burnt rather than pleasantly bitter, dump it and start over — 33 cents of sugar is cheaper than a ruined braise.)
6. Heat the oil in a 3-quart heavy saucepan or small Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the garlic, shallots and ginger matchsticks and cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until the shallots are soft and the garlic is just golden at the edges.
7. Add the caramel sauce, 3 tablespoons fish sauce, the water or coconut water, the dark soy sauce if using, the black pepper and the chile. Bring to a simmer and cook 2 minutes so the flavors merge — the liquid should taste aggressively salty-sweet-bitter, since it will reduce and coat the fish.
8. Scatter in the scallion whites, then nestle the catfish steaks in one snug layer, skin side down. The liquid should come about two-thirds up the fish; add a splash more water if not. Bring back to a bare simmer, cover, and cook 12 minutes over medium-low, spooning sauce over the tops twice.
9. Uncover, turn the steaks carefully with a spoon and spatula, and simmer uncovered 10 to 14 minutes more, tilting the pot and basting the fish every few minutes, until the sauce has reduced to a glossy syrup that coats the back of a spoon and the fish flakes at the bone. If the sauce reduces before the fish is done, add 2 tablespoons water; if the fish is done first, lift it to a plate and boil the sauce down 2 to 3 minutes, then return the fish.
10. Taste the sauce. Add up to 1 teaspoon sugar if the caramel edge is too sharp, or a few drops of fish sauce if it needs depth. Grind over a little more black pepper, shower with the sliced scallion greens and cilantro, and serve straight from the pot with jasmine rice and cucumber slices.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

More from Sprig Originals

One-Skillet Blackened Cajun Chicken Pasta

One-Pot Chicken Creole

Dark Roux Seafood Gumbo with Quick Shrimp Stock

Are you this recipe's original author or publisher? Report a problem