Vietnamese Style Caramelized Salmon Food

VIETNAMESE GRILLED SALMON

Steps:

• Prepare the salmon: Whisk the grapeseed oil, ginger, garlic, shallot, lemongrass, lime juice, fish sauce, brown sugar, a pinch of salt and 1/2 cup water in a medium bowl. Place the salmon on a rimmed baking sheet and pour the marinade on top. Turn the salmon so the marinade coats both sides. Cover and refrigerate, 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, make the carrot-sesame dressing: Whisk the fish sauce, rice vinegar, Sriracha, sesame oil, brown sugar, lime juice and a pinch of salt in a medium bowl until the sugar dissolves. Add the carrot, scallions and 1/4 cup water; stir to combine. Set aside.
• Preheat a grill to medium high. Remove the salmon from the marinade, wiping off any excess. Brush the grill grates with grapeseed oil. Brush the skin side of the salmon generously with grapeseed oil, then place on the grill skin-side down. Cover and cook until the skin is crisp and the salmon is nearly cooked through, about 8 minutes. Uncover and cook until the salmon is just cooked through, about 5 more minutes. (Do not flip the fish.)
• Transfer the salmon to a platter and spoon the carrot-sesame dressing on top.

VIETNAMESE-STYLE CARAMELIZED SALMON

Steps:

• Sprinkle salt on both sides of the salmon steaks and set a side. (Note: 1/2 teaspoon of salt is the total amount to use for all the salmon steaks)
• Thinly slice shallot, ginger and tomatoes. Smash the garlic. Remove seeds from the bird's-eye chili. Set aside.
• In a small saucepan, add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Bring to a boil, the sugar will fully dissolve. Lower the heat to medium, continue to simmer. You will see that a lot of bubbles on the surface. The mixture will then turn from clear to yellow, and get darker as you simmer it. When it has a honey color, reduce the heat slightly. Keep watching closely, until it has a dark caramel color, turn off the heat and carefully add 1 tablespoon of water. Swirl the saucepan to combine (add 1/2 - 1 more tablespoon of water if the caramel sauce is too thick) and remove it from the stove. Set aside.
• In a pan over medium high heat, sear salmon steaks for 2-3 minutes each side or until golden. Transfer them to a plate.
• Place a pot that can fit all the salmon in a single layer on medium heat. Add oil and sauté shallots for a few seconds Add garlic and ginger and sauté for a few more seconds until fragrant. Arrange them to cover the bottom of the pot and place tomato slices on top. Place salmon steaks on top of the tomatoes.
• Add 1 1/2 cups of water or enough to cover the fish, add fish sauce, caramel sauce and bird's-eye chili and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer (low - medium low heat). Sprinkle plenty of black pepper and simmer 10 minutes then gently flip the fish. You can taste the braising liquid and adjust to taste, but remember it will get saltier as we continue cooking and reduce the liquid further.
• Continue to simmer for 20-30 minutes, flip the fish one (or two) more time. Occasionally spoon the braising liquid over the salmon. If the liquid reduces too rapidly, you can add a little more water. In the last 5-10 minutes of cooking, watch closely because it may burn. The liquid will reduce, thicken like a sauce. Turn off the heat when there's just enough sauce to coat the bottom of the pot (or sooner if you prefer more sauce).
• Transfer salmon to a shallow serving bowl and sprinkle some more black pepper. Serve with rice.

VIETNAMESE FISH SIMMERED IN CARAMEL SAUCE (CA KHO TO)

Steps:

• In a heavy 2-quart saucepan, cook the sugar over low to medium heat, swirling the pan constantly, until brown and caramelized.
• Remove pan from heat and stir the fish sauce into the caramel.
• It will smoke slightly.
• Return the pan to low heat and gently boil for about couple minutes while stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved.
• Stir in the shallots, chili and ginger.
• Add the fish in the caramel sauce and sprinkle with black pepper.
• Bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan.
• Simmer for 30-45 minutes, turning the fish occasionally and carefully.
• Serve with rice.

PRESSURE COOKER VIETNAMESE CARAMEL SALMON

Steps:

• Using the sauté function, whisk together the oil, brown sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce, ginger, lime zest and juice, and black pepper in the pressure cooker. Bring to a simmer and then turn off the heat.
• Place the fish in the pressure cooker, skin-side up (if there is skin still attached, that is). Spoon the sauce over the fish, cover, and cook on low pressure for 1 minute. Let the pressure release naturally for 5 minutes; then release the remaining pressure manually. Check the fish for doneness by cutting into one of the fillets. If you prefer your salmon more well-done, cook it for another minute using the sauté function.
• Carefully lift the salmon fillets onto a serving platter, flipping them over so the browned caramelized side is facing up. Reduce the sauce on the sauté function until it is thick and syrupy, about 3 minutes. Spoon the sauce over the salmon and garnish it with the scallions and cilantro.

SALMON STEAK IN CARAMEL SAUCE (VIETNAMESE CA KHO)

Steps:

• Heat heavy sauce pan (large enough to accomodate fish without overlapping) on medium high.
• Add sugar, melt and caramelize (you want it brown, but not burnt). Sugar should be brown and very hot.
• Add minced ginger (be careful, it may sizzle if there's water in the ginger) and stir for about 15 seconds.
• Add fish sauce and fresh cracked pepper. Stir.
• Add fish steaks, do not overlap fish to make sure each piece is soaked in the sauce.
• Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes. Do not cover. The sauce needs to thicken into a light syrup. If the sauce gets too thick, add a teaspoon of water at a time to thin.
• Turn fish over and cook for another 4 minutes or until fish is cooked depending on the thickness of your fish steaks.
• Serve immediate with steamed white rice. The sauce is good on the rice.