Cá Kho Tộ (Caramelized Catfish) with Garlic Bok Choy

Name: Cá Kho Tộ (Caramelized Catfish) with Garlic Bok Choy
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Vietnamese
Ingredients: 1½ lb catfish fillets, in 2-inch pieces; 3 tbsp fish sauce; 8 garlic cloves, minced; 1 onion, sliced; 1 jalapeño or Thai chile, sliced; 4 green onions, cut into lengths; 1 lb baby bok choy, halved; 2 cups jasmine rice; 3 tbsp sugar; 3 tbsp oil; 1 tsp black pepper; salt

DinnerVietnamese45 minServes 4715 kcal37 g protein

Photo: Charles Haynes · CC BY-SA 2.0 · source

A Vietnamese home-cooking classic: catfish braised in a dark, bittersweet caramel and fish sauce until the sauce turns sticky and peppery. Spooned over rice with garlicky bok choy, it's sweet, salty and intensely savory.

Make it part of your week. MealTote sizes this recipe for everyone you cook for, adds it to a weekly meal plan and puts the ingredients on one grocery list split across your stores. Open it in MealTote

Ingredients

1½ lb catfish fillets, in 2-inch pieces
3 tbsp fish sauce
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 onion, sliced
1 jalapeño or Thai chile, sliced
4 green onions, cut into lengths
1 lb baby bok choy, halved
2 cups jasmine rice

From your pantry: 3 tbsp sugar, 3 tbsp oil, 1 tsp black pepper, salt.

Instructions

Rub the fish with salt, rinse and pat dry. Start the rice.
In a heavy skillet or clay pot, melt the sugar with 1 tbsp water over medium, swirling (not stirring), until it turns deep amber, 4 to 6 minutes. Carefully add 1 tbsp oil and half the garlic and stir 30 seconds.
Scatter in the onion, lay the fish on top, then add the fish sauce, chile and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 20 minutes, spooning the sauce over the fish now and then.
Gently turn the fish and simmer 5 to 10 minutes more, watching closely, until the sauce is thick and glossy. Add the green onions for the last 2 minutes and finish with lots of black pepper.
Meanwhile, stir-fry the remaining garlic in 2 tbsp oil over high for 20 seconds, add the bok choy and a pinch of salt and toss until bright and just tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve everything with rice.

Tip: Swap half the water for coconut water (or coconut soda) for the classic southern Vietnamese sweetness. Pull the caramel off the heat the moment it reaches a dark amber; a few seconds more and it turns bitter.