How to properly marinate fish: Follow this method for perfectly fresh and tender fish, without any fishy smell

Cá kho is a familiar dish for Vietnamese people. This nutritious dish is loved by many of us when enjoying it with rice. Especially, this dish will be much more appealing if women know how to cook it correctly, making the fish’s fishy smell completely disappear. But it’s not easy to do that. Many people often wonder whether braised fish with fish sauce or braised fish with soy sauce will be more delicious. To solve this question, please refer to the article below.

Advantages of braised fish with fish sauce

When you braise fish with fish sauce, the fish will be more beautiful in color and have the aroma of fish meat. Braised fish with fish sauce is also a habit of people in the South, making the fish delicious, rich in flavor and tempting to eat. At the same time, braised fish with fish sauce makes the fish have a slightly sweet taste, which is perfect for those who like braised fish with a slightly sweet taste.

Advantages of braised fish with soy sauce

When you braise fish with traditional soy sauce, the fish is rich and has the aroma of soy sauce. The soy sauce blends with the aroma of the fish, creating an excellent combination. This way of braising fish is often applied to people in the North more. Because they prefer the rich flavor of soy sauce and do not like the sweet taste. Especially when braised fish with soy sauce and served with boiled water spinach, it will be excellent.

However, whether you braise fish with soy sauce or fish sauce, the dish still has its own delicious flavor, depending on the taste of each family and each region to choose the appropriate way to braise fish.

How to cook delicious braised fish

Ingredients:

– 1kg cleaned fish, remove guts and blood.

– 6-7 stalks of lemongrass.

– Old ginger.

– 5 dry onions.

– Self-brewed fish sauce.

– 10 teaspoons of concentrated fish sauce.

– Boiling water.

– Vinegar (lemon), sea salt.

– 3-5 chillies.

– 5 big shallots.

– 500g pork belly.

Instructions:

– Rinse the fish and soak in water with vinegar or lemon and sea salt to remove the fishy smell.

– Dab the fish dry with kitchen paper or let it dry.

– Marinate the fish with 1 teaspoon of sea salt for about 1-2 hours to make the fish firm.

– Cut the pork belly into thick pieces because it will shrink during the long braising process.

– Pound and slice the lemongrass and grind a part of it. Slice the dry onions.

– Fry the onions, ginger, and lemongrass in oil until fragrant.

– Put this mixture into the bottom of the pot.

– Continue to layer the ingredients: pork belly, fish, ground lemongrass, chillies.

– Pour fish sauce and self-brewed fish sauce over them, evenly covering the surface of the pot.

Should you use self-brewed fish sauce or store-bought fish sauce? It depends on each family. The taste of the dish does not change much. However, when brewing at home, you will feel more at ease using self-brewed sauce, and the braised fish will have a better color.

– Finally, pour 100-degree boiling water on the top of the fish pot.

Braise for 2 hours. At first, use high heat for the fish to boil quickly and the spices to mix evenly. When it boils for about 30 minutes, reduce the heat to low to allow the fish to absorb the spices and become more flavorful. When the pot is almost out of water and the braising sauce thickens, it’s done.