Ca kho is a familiar dish to Vietnamese people. It is not only nutritious but also good for human health because fish is rich in omega 3, calcium, and other nutrients. However, if you don’t know how to cook ca kho properly, it can easily become unpleasantly fishy. But with the following tips, your ca kho will become a delicacy.
Preparing the fish before cooking
After buying the fish, you need to prepare and remove its fishy smell. To remove the fishy smell, you can add some salt to the fish, soak it for a few minutes, and then clean it. By doing this, the fish will be clean and not fishy.
When cutting the fish, you also need to remove the fish guts and the black membrane inside the belly to reduce the fishy smell. After rinsing the fish, use a knife to make a horizontal cut across the body of the fish, about 1cm away from the head and tail. You will see a white tendon exposed. Slowly pull it out until it is completely removed. Doing this on both sides of the fish will greatly reduce the fishy smell.
If you are preparing slippery-skinned fish such as basa, catfish, snakehead fish, or eel, you can pour some hot water into the fish and scrape off the sliminess. This will make the fish clean and odorless.
You can also soak the fish in rice washing water for about 10-15 minutes to reduce the fishy smell.
Marinating the fish
When marinating the fish, you should avoid using too many complicated spices. After cleaning and cutting the fish into pieces and putting them in a large bowl, add a little fish sauce, brown sauce, soup powder, or salt, finely chopped dried shallots (optional) and marinate for about 2 hours.
Marinating for a long time will make the fish firmer and more flavorful. If you don’t have much time, you can marinate for 50 minutes.
Cooking ca kho with which spices?
It is better to use homemade broth to cook ca kho for a more fragrant taste. To make the fish tender and more flavorful, you can add a little pork belly to the dish, which will make ca kho much more attractive. If you don’t have pork belly, you can add a little cooking oil or lard to prevent the fish from drying out and make it more tender.
When cooking, put the fish and accompanying ingredients in the pot. Remember to alternate layers of fish and ginger or pork belly. Add the broth, if the broth is not enough to cover the fish, add warm water and bring to a boil over high heat.
During the cooking process, you can also add 1 tablespoon of pure fish sauce. Pure fish sauce is naturally aromatic and has a strong flavor. It can easily help you eliminate the fishy smell while cooking.
Some people also use pure fish sauce to wash and remove the fish’s fishy smell. Moreover, fish sauce makes the fish meat softer and enhances the taste.
When the fish is boiling, you cover the pot and simmer over low heat for about 40-45 minutes until the fish is tender.
If you like two-layered ca kho, after the above cooking time, you can let the pot of ca kho rest. Before eating, reheat the pot on the stove once again.
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