Ca tram is one of the favorite and popular ingredients for many people to cook. The outstanding feature of ca tram is that it has few bones and firm meat, so it is often used to cook delicious dishes such as steamed ca tram with beer, crispy fried ca tram, ca tram hotpot, sour soup with ca tram… In the winter days, you can also show off your cooking skills with this simple recipe of ca tram simmered with pork belly to warm up your cold days.
1. Ingredients for ca tram simmered with pork belly:
– Ca tram fish: 500 grams
– Pork belly: 200 grams
– Fresh chili pepper: 3 fruits
– Fresh ginger: 1 bulb
– Lemongrass: 3 stalks
– Black pepper: 2 small clusters
– Spices: ½ bowl of brown sugar, ½ bowl of fish sauce, 1 tablespoon of chili paste, 2 tablespoons of seasoning powder, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper, salt, ginger wine.
2. How to make ca tram simmered with pork belly:
Step 1: Prepare the ingredients
– After buying ca tram fish, wash it thoroughly. Then, you need to wash it again with salt and cooking wine to eliminate the fishy smell. Besides, you also need to clean the black part inside the fish’s belly.
– Peel and thinly slice the ginger.
– Peel off the tough skin of lemongrass and rinse it again with clean water. Then, cut it in half.
– Clean the pork belly and cut it into bite-sized pieces.
Step 2: Extract the sugar cane juice
– Divide the prepared sugar cane into 2 parts, put 1 part in a juicing pan to extract the juice. For this part, you can juice it until you see the sugar cane juice turns into the color of grasshopper wings, then add 1 cup of water and bring it to a boil.
Step 3: Simmer the fish with pork belly
– Use a suitable pot for simmering, then place lemongrass and ginger at the bottom of the pot to prevent the ca tram fish from burning if simmered for a long time. Next, add the ca tram fish, pork belly, and season with the spices. To make the dish more attractive, you should also add the whole chili peppers and black pepper to the pot.
– Pour both the extracted sugar cane juice and the remaining sugar cane juice into the pot. Add a little water until the fish is submerged.
– Simmer the pot of fish with pork belly on medium heat for about 20 minutes, then reduce to low heat and continue simmering for another 40 minutes.
After finishing the ca tram simmered with pork belly, the dish will have a beautiful brown color that blends with the thick and savory broth. When eating, you will feel the firm and fragrant ca tram fish as well as the fatty and tender pork belly. This dish is best served with hot rice and loved by both adults and children.
3. Notes when making ca tram simmered with pork belly:
– It is recommended to choose ca tram fish that weigh about 2 to 3 kilograms, slender, firm, and with balanced head-body ratio. Avoid buying too small fish, especially those under 1 kilogram, as they often have more bones and less meat.
– Choose pork belly with a balanced ratio of lean meat and fat to avoid dry or greasy texture.
– During the simmering process, you need to pay attention to the broth and add water when you see it is about to dry out, just enough to submerge the fish’s head.
