Froggie does Nam - Part 1: Catfish fillets in caramel sauce

I am lucky enough to have been to Vietnam a mere 3 times, and each time the experience was amazing; rich and fascinating culture, helpful and friendly people who would make the country rival Thailand for the title of "Land of smiles" and, of course, awesome food, and probably some of the very best street food in Asia as well. I have said it enough, I like my spice, and the Vietnamese know spicy... I particularly enjoy how the food is always bursting with clean, fresh flavours and makes a very liberal use of fresh herbs. Vietnamese food is probably the best example that healthy food can be (very) tasty as well. Over the next few weeks, I will share some of my favourite Vietnamese recipes, starting today with one of the very few non-spicy ones I know: Catfish Fillets in Caramel Sauce.

Catfish fillets in caramel sauce

Catfish is a staple of Vietnamese diet but may be hard to come by outside of Asia - you can substitute any firm, white fleshed fish for this recipe (such as cod). In Hong Kong, CitySuper in IFC stocks chilled Vietnamese catfish fillets pretty much all year round.

First, make the caramel sauce.

Ingredients for caramel sauce: sugar, fish sauce, shallots and freshly ground black pepper

Heat the sugar and half of the water in a saucepan over medium heat, until the sugar caramelizes. Depending on your taste, you can cook it clear or dark brown but make sure to keep an eye on it at all times, as caramel burns in a second...

Some of my foodie friends say that making caramel is a matter of nerves... Well, it is!

Turn off the heat and carefully add the fish sauce and the rest of the water, very slowly at the beginning so that the hot caramel does not overboil. Put the saucepan back on the stove on low heat, bring to a boil, add the shallots and let simmer until the sauce has the consistency of syrup.

This sauce is one of the base sauces of Vietnamese cuisine, and can be used to make a variety of meat and fish dishes; it needs to be made fresh every time.

Heat up the oil in a pan, add the catfish fillets and fry until the fish looks almost cooked, turning over only once. Sieve the shallots out of the caramel sauce, add to the pan with the fish, sprinkle with the minced ginger and let boil gently until the fish is cooked thoroughly. Sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves and serve on plain steamed rice.

Catfish fillets in caramel sauce (serves 2)

For the caramel sauce
65gr caster sugar
65ml fish sauce
65ml water
4 small shallots, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the fish
1tbsp peanut oil
300gr catfish fillets, cut into thick squares
1 knob fresh ginger, peeled and grated
fresh coriander leaves, to garnish