Catfish in the Vietnamese style, with a caramelized reduction coating.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 25 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 4 |
Ingredients
- ⅔ cup water, divided
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 2 medium shallots, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ⅓ cup white sugar
- 2 pounds catfish fillets
- ½ teaspoon white sugar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- 1 green onion, thinly sliced
- ½ cup chopped cilantro
Instructions
- Combine 1/3 cup water and fish sauce in a small bowl. Combine shallots, garlic, black pepper, and red pepper flakes in a separate bowl.
- Heat 1/3 cup sugar and remaining 1/3 cup water in a large skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until sugar turns deep golden brown, 4 to 6 minutes. Gently stir in fish sauce mixture and bring to a boil.
- Stir in shallot mixture and cook until shallots soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Add catfish, cover, and cook until fish flakes easily with a fork, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer catfish to a large plate, and cover to keep warm.
- Increase the heat to high and stir in 1/2 teaspoon sugar. Stir in lime juice and add any catfish juices that have collected on the plate. Bring mixture to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until sauce has reduced, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour sauce over catfish and garnish with cilantro and green onion.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 404 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 24 g |
| Cholesterol | 107 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 37 g |
| Saturated Fat | 4 g |
| Sodium | 676 mg |
| Sugars | 19 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Maybe the worst recipe I’ve ever tried. Who puts 1.5 teaspoons of black pepper into a sauce on top of 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes? And the fish sauce did nothing for the overall flavor. I had to rinse one of the fillets so that my wife could eat her’s. Disappointment is an understatement.
used talipia fillets. I deep fried the fish before adding it to the sauce. Added Jalepenoes as well. It’s a little too sweet for me, I’ll just add some salt next time. Delicious overall, feel like I’m eating at a restaurant or a street stall in Vietnam.
Absolutely loved it!!! I always look at other people’s comments and ratings before I make a recipe, just to see if there is any recommended adjustments. The only thing I adjusted was the pepper. I put just one teaspoon instead of 1 tsp and 1/2 teaspoon. Turned out perfect. Great recipe.
The sticky, spicy, and peppery sauce is amazing! It is spicy, but I served it over white rice. I wouldn’t change anything in round 2 myself. Awesome way to cook catfish!
No changes. My kids loved it. I will make this again.
Word to the wise: seriously cut back on the pepper. Also, recipe works on any sort of white fish. So if you don’t have or can’t find catfish, you can substitute.
This was fantastic! I made it last week, and It was the first allrecipes meal I made. I’m making another recipe this week. I am competent in the kitchen, but far from expert, and I was able to make this with no issues. Since it’s just my wife and me, I used about half the fish, but made the sauce per the recipe anyway, which was good because I had just enough. The flavors were fantastic! I used maybe 2/3 of the garlic and red chilis it called for, and that gave it a kick without the heat or garlic being the star of the show. If it could have used anything, I think it would be some chopped peanuts or cashews on top for texture.
It was a nice change of pace. I think I cooked the sugar a little too long because I ended up with some clumps of caramel that were hard to dissolve.
That was amazing! I didn’t have fish sauce so I substituted soy mixed with a little hoisin sauce. I used a mixture of white and raw sugar. I like hots so I added extra pepper flakes. Also I did it have cilantro. After I took the fish out to brown the sauce for finishing I noticed the fish could cook a little more. I added it back to the pot for 2 minutes. I will make this again next time with the fish sauce.
I’ve not tried this EXACT receipe but I have made caramel fish / chicken wings on other ocassions and LOVE it big time… have become a bit of an expert on the caramel sauce since I’ve made it a hundred times now and I luv it BIG time!
Loved tjis recipie. Very easy and full of flavor. My husband doesn’t like fish but he liked this. I gave my kids the fish after cooking in the sauce (without the sauce afterwards) and they both liked it too. Great recipie! Thank you
This is a very simple dish, if all the prep is done, then it takes about 20 minutes. There is a trick not mentioned here; after you caramelize the sugar, the water you add needs to be hot, otherwise that sugar will clump and stick to everything. You can wait until it remelts, but trust me, adding hot water is easier. I also wonder if you need to add so much water at the beginning when caramelizing the sugar, since it really doesn’t start browning until most of the water has evaporated. I found I had to add hot water in small amounts as I cooked the fish, so it didn’t get too thick or burn. I did not have to cook it down at all. I don’t think the green onions and cilantro at the end add too much, other than that a fine recipe.
Didn’t turn out anything like it looks in the picture. It was so mushy and wet. I dried the fish on paper towel before I cooked it too.
Absolutely fantastic. The catfish looked pretty iffy at the market so I substituted haddock. If I made it again I would decrease the pepper- I enjoyed the recipe as is but it had too much bite for my kids. This is a recipe I will definitely be making again!
OhMyGosh! I followed the recipe exactly and this dish does a dance in your mouth and made us all smile so big. It is DELICIOUS! I paired it with some stir fried noodles. For this Southern Boy who mostly fries his catfish in cornmeal, this was a stretch, but NO REGRETS. Give it a try. You will be amazed at how wonderful it is! Promise….
I had some Swai fish (Vietnamese catfish) and I decided to give this recipe a try. It was delicious! A little too sweet, but I will be making this again.
I was afraid this was going to be too sweet but it wasn’t. I didn’t have fish sauce so I substituted Worcestershire sauce (as it is made from anchovies I’ve been told) and it added enough saltiness not to have to add anymore. The deep mahogany color is beautiful and the flavor is like a teriyaki sauce but more complex. I cut down on the cooking time just a bit (about 3-1/2 minutes each side) and it came out fine. I also left out the cilantro but that’s because I thought the taste would overpower the fish.
pretty good….used brown sugar… and white onion from the garden…kids didn’t know if they liked it or not….but then again they aren’t big fish eaters….served over brown rice….cilantro on top was my favorite…..;)…thanks
Wow! Best fish I’ve had in a long time. Thanks for the great recipe! My boyfriend was a skeptic about caramelized fish sauce but it was beautiful! I found the sauce to be a bit spicy for my taste so I think I will reduce the amount of pepper flakes and black pepper the next time. I also used raw sugar instead of white (we try to eat a little more organically around here) and it still worked fine. I also squeezed fresh lime juice onto the final dish in addition to the lime in the sauce. And I don’t think the cilantro is necessary though we used it and it was still good. Beautiful recipe! We’ll definitely be eating this again!
This is definitely a keeper. I substituted the shallots for 1/2 a white onion. I also substituted lemon for lime and did not have any cilantro. It still came out great! Thanks Everret!