Ca Kho To (Vietnamese Caramelized Catfish)
What I love most about food is that every dish has a story. Whenever I watch one of my favorite food shows on Netflix, every chef always has a story about how a dish reminds them of their childhood. Like literally every chef! I think it’s because childhood is one of the best times in your life where you don’t really have a care in the world. For me, there are so many dishes like that. On really cold days like today, I dream about Canh Chua and Ca Kho To.
Canh Chua is a sweet and sour tamarind soup, and Ca Kho To is Vietnamese caramelized catfish. They are very traditional Vietnamese dishes that aren’t served very often in restaurants, so if I want them, I need to make them. I haven’t gotten to writing a Canh Chua recipe yet, but I did have time for a ca kho to recipe this week! So here it is!
What is catfish?
Catfish is not necessarily a fish that people speak fondly of. Even me. It’s a scavenger that feeds off of dead fish parts at the bottom of lakes or oceans. That’s why the meat has a natural muddy flavor. Anything you make with catfish has to have strong flavors to counteract its natural essence. That’s why this recipe is perfect. It includes fish sauce, soy sauce, and a few cloves of garlic.
What does kho mean?
Kho is a method of cooking in Vietnamese cuisine where protein such as beef, chicken, or fish is braised in fish sauce and sugar over low heat. Some popular recipes using this cooking method include thit kho, bo kho, and ca hoi kho. Not only does it make food taste so good, but it’s also an easy way to make a tasty dinner in less than an hour and requires very few ingredients.
Making my ca kho to recipe
This ca kho to recipe is so easy to make! And yes you can do this on a weeknight. First you gotta marinate the fish for 10 minutes in soy sauce and fish sauce. Then heat some oil over medium heat. Make sure to use a small pan because you want the liquid to come up halfway up the fish. Add in your shallots and cook for a few seconds. Then add in your catfish with the marinade, coconut water, and a little more fish sauce. Bring the liquid to a boil and lower to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes and then turn the fish over and simmer for another 10 minutes. Top with black pepper and you’re done!
Notes about this ca kho to recipe
This dish is best eaten with white rice. The rice that I have is the Nishiki Premium rice. It’s literally the best! You can also substitute with quinoa for a dinner that’s a little bit healthier. Another thing to note about this recipe is that it is NOT gluten free. To turn this into a gluten free recipe, substitute soy sauce with tamari.
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Get the Recipe:
Ca Kho To (Vietnamese Caramelized Catfish)
Ingredients
- 1 lb catfish fillets, cut into chunks
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce, see note 1
- 2 ½ tbsp fish sauce
- 1 shallot , minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar, see note 2
- ¼ cup coconut water, see note 3
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 stalk green onions, minced
Instructions
- Marinate catfish in the soy sauce and fish sauce for 10 minutes.
- After the fish is done marinating, heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a small pan over medium heat. Add in the shallots and cook until shiny and translucent (about 30 seconds). Then add in the garlic and coconut sugar, and cook for another 30 seconds.
- Add in the marinated catfish, the marinade, and the coconut water. Bring the liquid to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer.
- Simmer for 20 minutes with the pan uncovered. Leaving the pan uncovered will let the fish braise and thicken the sauce at the same time.
- After 20 minutes, flip over the fish and add in the green onions. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the fish every 3 minutes. Once done, top it off with black pepper.
- Serve over white rice and enjoy!
Notes
- Substitute soy sauce with tamari to make this recipe gluten free. Dark soy sauce can also be substituted with regular soy sauce.
- Light brown sugar can be substituted with dark brown sugar or coconut sugar.
- Coconut water can be substituted with regular water.
This is so good
I’m so excited you like it! Definitely one of my favorite classic Vietnamese recipes!
went looking for a catfish recipe that wasn’t fried or dredged in butter (tasty, but not what we needed tonight), and I really liked this! didn’t want to run to the store, so I thinly sliced a leek that was left in the fridge instead of shallots and used the water substitution. still tasted great!
Amazing! I love that you used leeks!
This was amazing!! I don’t know why the recipe only has 4.5 stars. Thank you for sharing this!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for trying the recipe and sharing your experience!
We catch tons of catfish, but we usually just fry them. I was looking for healthier options, and this recipe came up. And let me tell you, it is awesome! I didn’t use dark soy sauce so it looked different (I’ll get it right next time). I had two pounds so I used the 2x option on the recipe and it turned out great. Thank you!
On a day to day basis I often use only regular soy sauce as well! But yes it looks prettier with dark soy sauce. Thanks for making the recipe! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
So good! Reminds me of my grandmas! Will add to my rotation.
I love hearing that! Thank you for making the recipe!
Just to let you know that as an avid catfisherman this notion that they only eat nasty dead crap off the bottom is…well…BS! Just came back from fishing the Tennessee river Thursday with nearly 40lbs worth. All but one were caught on live bluegill. My poles were mixed evenly live bluegill and Kool aid chicken, a popular bait around this part of the south. I also switched up to dead bluegill pcs on these lines. Four channels a blue and a flathead all from live fish. One channel from the chicken bait! None from dead fish! I mostly use live bait and got a freezer packed with results. Don’t believe all that bs about the fishy taste and learn to prep your fish before you freeze it!
Thanks for sharing Greg!
What do you recommend as a side to this dish? I loved the recipe but I do like a good veggie side
Highly recommend this recipe!
Hi Elayne. Glad you enjoy the recipe! Since there’s such an intense umami/salty flavor I would recommend some sort of fresh vegetable like sliced raw cucumbers or pickled vegetable like pickled carrots to balance it out. A simple salad would work too.
This was so fancy looking and tasting yet so easy to make as a quick dinner. Totally tasty catfish and the caramelization came out perfectly. Thanks for a great recipe.
Thank you for making the recipe Aggie! So excited you enjoy it!
This was really good! I didn’t even have the shallot and still very tasty!
Hi Doug. Thank you for trying this recipe! Glad you enjoyed it!
Very tasty and simple to prepare
Yay! Thank you for making the dish!
I had my hopes high for this dish. The smell of the fish sauce was so putrid, I had to spray air freshener to get the overpowering smell out of my home. I hoped the smell would improve as the sauce simmered down, but it didn’t. I tasted the dish once it was almost done and was disappointed it was a little bland. I added more brown sugar and red pepper flakes, but I just couldn’t stomach the fishy taste. It actually makes the catfish taste much more fishy. I read that there are different brands of fish sauce that taste and smell less fishy. The brand I purchased is Thai Kitchen, the only brand my local grocery store carries. I couldn’t be more disappointed.
Hi Amber. I’m sorry this dish did not work out for you.
Going to try! Love catfish, and can buy it readily here where I’m staying awhile! When I travel back to NY, it’s not always available. What fish can I use instead… it almost seems like other meat could also be used? Thank you! Meanwhile catfish is on my store list again!
You can do it with salmon! See my recipe: https://www.cooking-therapy.com/vietnamese-caramelized-salmon/. I actually make the salmon version more than the catfish version.
This is our favorite cat fish recipe! Made it for Christmas the first time and everyone has been raving. Been making this at least once month since.
Omg! This comment made my day! I love that this is something you make once a month!