Yesterday I wondered whether my fish kho (pronounced kah) dish would taste closer to their Vietnamese counterparts, even with Japanese ingredients, if I were to add in some ground pepper, chopped chilis, and scallions.
Well, I did just that, this time using fried tofu (instead of the traditionally used fatty pork shoulder/belly cut) and eggs. I used the usual Japanese soy sauce, tsuyu, and whatever cane sugar (for the coloring) I could find at the local grocery store, added the required ground pepper, chopped fresh chilis and scallions. I also used one more secret ingredient:
***Picture from Aquarius.
Yes, it's a sports drink called Aquarius. Aquarius is not available in the states, but if you visit any local Asian grocery store, you will undoubtedly find its competitor, Pocari Sweat.
***Picture from Pocari Sweat.
While the name may trigger gag reflex for some (a drink called something-sweat? ick!), it really doesn't taste so bad, though in my opinion Aquarius tastes better :P And before you think I'm a mad-scientist-wannabe-cook mixing sports drinks in my food, let me explain that Vietnamese kho dishes require coconut water or frozen coconut juice. Coconut water is becoming a big sports drink trend nowadays as it is a natural source of electrolytes and much better for you than synthetic sports drinks. By the way, did I mention it's yummy and an excellent cure for hangovers?
If you live in Southeast Asia, you have the luck of walking down the street and spend $0.50 or so to have a fresh young coconut chopped right before your eyes and drink instantly from a straw stuck into it. The rest of us make do with $2/12 oz. petra-pak imported mostly from Brazil. The frozen coconut juice, on the other hand, includes the young coconut meat, but it also has added sugar and needs to stay frozen to prevent spoilage. These are the kind served to you at Pho noodle houses when you order a coconut juice.
Zico coconut water in petra-pak
***Picture from Zico.com.
Frozen coconut juice from Thailand
***Picture from Bangkokbest.com.
So what to do when you want to make a kho dish but have no access to fresh coconut water or even the petra-pak/frozen ones? Substitute clear fruit juices, like apple juice. And what if you don't even have that, or as in my case, forgetting to buy juices at the groceries and too lazy to go back? Well, make do with a translucent sports drink! I would guess those blue, red, orange, and purple Gatorade work too, but I can't guarantee they won't color your food in funky ways.
The result (with pickled vegetables leftover from yesterday).
The verdict? It was goooooood. Shockingly good. So good my mum would have been proud. And as you can see, the coloring was almost perfect too. Perhaps more scallions and red chilis (instead of green) would have made it more colorful, but hey, next time. We were hoping to be able to pack a bento for hubby to have lunch the next day but we pretty much inhaled the whole plate.
Here's my recipe for the Vietnamese "Kho" Dish - Braised/Simmer and Caramelized. This is an "open" recipe, meaning you and pick and choose your main ingredients and seasoning and still come out with a variation of the same dish. This open recipe can certainly be made vegetarian with vegetarian soy sauce, tofu, and eggs.
Ingredients:
- Main ingredient option: pick 1, or you can have pork and fried tofu combination. The cat fish can only go by itself so do NOT combine all 3!
1. Pork, shoulder/belly cut, 3/4 - 1 lb., slice into 1x2" chunks.
2. Fried tofu cubes, as many as you like, and they must be fried or you'll get tofu mush for dinner! Vegetarian.
3. Cat fish, 3 medium or 2 large filets, each filet cut into 3 chunks.
- For use with pork and/or fried tofu only: Eggs, 6-8, hard boiled and peeled. If you picked cat fish as your main ingredient, skip the eggs.
- For use with cat fish only: Ginger, 2-inch stub, sliced. If you picked pork and/or fried tofu as your main ingredient(s), skip the ginger.
- Scallions, chopped, as much or as little as you like. My mum, sister, and I like our kho dishes with lots of scallions!
- Optional: chili peppers, preferably red, 3-4, chopped. Will spice up and go well with either pork, tofu, or cat fish!
Seasonings:
- Main seasoning option: pick 1, do NOT combine both!
1. Fish sauce, 4 Tablespoons: goes well with pork, especially well with cat fish, but not so well with fried tofu in my opinion.
2. Soy sauce, 4 Tablespoons: goes very well with pork and fried tofu, but do NOT use for cat fish! Vegetarian (though I would caution you to check your soy sauce ingredients as many Southeast Asian soy sauces are not vegetarian as you would expect them to be!).
- Brown sugar, the darker the better, 2 Tablespoons
- For use with pork and/or fried tofu only: Frozen/canned coconut juice (without the coconut meat) or coconut water, 2x12 oz. cans: excellent with either fish sauce or soy sauce. You can definitely substitute with clear juice or, in a pinch, even translucent sports drink as I did above! I know for a fact clear juice and sports drink will be fine with soy sauce, but I haven't tried them with fish sauce. I can't imagine they will turn out that badly with fish sauce though so you should experiment when you're feeling adventurous. If you picked cat fish as your main ingredient, skip the coconut juice/water.
- Black pepper, generous sprinkles. For a milder dish, use less.
Steps:
- For pork:
1. Bring coconut juice/water (or substitute) to a boil, add pork and cook until coconut juice/water (or substitute) evaporated leaving about half an inch in pot, skim the foamy/fat run-offs to keep the sauce clear.
2. Add fish sauce or soy sauce, brown sugar, and sprinkle on black pepper.
3. Add boiled and peeled eggs. If you're combining pork with fried tofu, add tofu at this step.
4. Simmer (do not boil) for at least 30 minutes, preferably an 1 hour or more, turning the eggs to coat evenly.
5. When the sauce thickened a little, throw in the chopped chili peppers, simmer some more until sauce caramelized.
6. Add the chopped scallions last, baste sauce over to coat scallions well before turning off heat.
- For fried tofu:
1. Combine coconut juice/water (or substitute) with soy sauce and brown sugar, bring to a boil and then simmer for about 15-20 minutes.
2. Add boiled eggs, simmer for about another 20 minutes, turning to coat evenly.
3. Add fried tofu and sprinkle on black pepper, simmer for another 15-20 minutes, again turning to coat evenly.
4. When the sauce thickened a little, throw in the chopped chili peppers, simmer some more until sauce caramelized.
5. Add the chopped scallions last, baste sauce over to coat scallions well before turning off heat.
- For cat fish:
1. Heat some oil in a pot, preferably a clay pot, brown the ginger.
2. Combine fish sauce with brown sugar and black pepper, cook on medium heat until sauce foams up.
3. Dip cat fish chunks to coat, then simmer on skin side for at least 20-30 minutes, basting regularly to coat well.
4. When the sauce thickened a little, throw in the chopped chili peppers, simmer some more until sauce caramelized.
5. Add the chopped scallions last, baste sauce over to coat scallions well before turning off heat.
Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment