Cá kho, Vietnamese Caramel Fish

📝 Ingredients

• 600 g frozen hake fillets, thawed
• 3 tbsp caster sugar (45 g)
• 3 tbsp fish sauce
• 150 ml water
• 3 shallots (about 30 g each)
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 280 g jasmine rice
• 3 pak choi (about 200 g each)
• 1 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 spring onions

🍴 Utensils

• Sauté pan
• Frying pan or wok
• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Chopping board and knife
• Tablespoon

📖 Steps

1. The day before, put the hake in the fridge to thaw. On the day, pat the fillets dry with kitchen paper and cut them into 4 to 5 cm pieces. Gently mix them with 1 tbsp fish sauce and half the pepper, then leave to marinate for 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, thinly slice the shallots, chop 3 garlic cloves and slice the other 2. Cut the pak choi into quarters lengthways and rinse well between the leaves, where soil often hides. Slice the spring onions.
3. Rinse the jasmine rice in the sieve until the water runs almost clear, then cook it for 10 to 12 minutes in the large pan of boiling water. Drain and keep warm, covered.
4. Make the caramel: put the sugar and 2 tbsp water in the sauté pan and heat over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes without stirring, just swirling the pan, until it turns the amber colour of strong tea. Don't take it any further: it would turn bitter.
5. Take off the heat and immediately pour in the rest of the water, standing back as the caramel spits, then the remaining 2 tbsp fish sauce. Return to low heat and stir until the hardened caramel has dissolved. Add the shallots and chopped garlic and simmer for 3 minutes.
6. Lay the hake in the sauce in a single layer, add the rest of the pepper and baste with a spoon. Simmer for 10 to 12 minutes over medium-low heat, uncovered and without stirring as the fish is delicate: baste it every 2 to 3 minutes and turn it just once, gently.
7. While the fish simmers, heat the oil in the frying pan over high heat, add the sliced garlic and pak choi and stir-fry for 3 to 4 minutes, until the leaves have wilted and the stalks are still crunchy. Drizzle with soy sauce and toss.
8. The fish is ready when it flakes easily and the sauce coats the spoon like a brown syrup; if it is still runny, lift out the fish and reduce the sauce for 2 minutes over high heat. Serve on the rice, spoon over the sauce, scatter with spring onions and add the pak choi.