Caramelized Catfish
I’ve been blogging for 3+ years now and I am still not completely satisfied with the quality of my pictures. But given where I started from, I sure have come a long way! You will know what I mean if you’ve seen some of my initial posts. Most of the pictures were shot directly from the pan on the stove, using the camera flash as the light source. I have been meaning to update those old posts with new pictures for a while now, but been too lazy to do that. So recently when I came across this very interesting event announcement called “the Repost Event“, I knew I wanted to get in on it. The idea of the event is to re-post one of the very first recipes posted on our blogs, before the blog had built up a solid readership. The initial recipes are usually a blogger’s favorites, so to give those treasures a new life is such a fantastic idea! Thanks Jaya for coming up with this theme!
So here is my repost – Caramelized Catfish. This is one of my go-to recipes, it is quite straightforward, the only complicated part is making the caramel sauce. It doesn’t look complicated when you read the instructions, but very easy to screw up and can cause some serious damage if you are not careful as the melted sugar temperature is like 1000 degrees (I just made up that number, too lazy to look it up right now, but it is VERY VERY HOT). This is my own (Indianized) version of the famous Vietnamese Caramelized Catfish. I haven’t made much changes to the original version I posted three years ago, but I will write it down anyway as I didn’t bother to list out the ingredients or measurements last time.
Make Caramel sauce
Add 1 cup of sugar and 3/4th cup of water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer till the water evaporates. Sugar crystallizes first and then starts melting. Keep stirring till it becomes a thick dark brown liquid. Remove from stove and add some table spoons of boiling hot water, so that it doesn’t thicken too much and turn into sugar candy sheets. This whole process will take about 15-20 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 lb whole catfish cut into steak pieces (sub: catfish filets)
- For the marinade
- -1 tsp red chili powder
- -1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- -salt to taste
- -1 tsp soy sauce
- 3 tbsp Caramel Sauce, recipe above
- 2 tbsp sesame oil (sub: vegetable oil)
- 1 cup chopped shallots
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 Thai green chilies, minced
- 1 tsp red chili powder
- 1 tsp coriander powder
- 3 tsp fish sauce
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 tsp sugar
- Sliced green onions for garnish, optional
Method
Marinate the catfish filets with salt, ground black pepper, red chili powder and soy sauce and keep aside for 30 minutes.
In a deep pan, pour the oil and saute the chopped shallots till soft. Add the minced garlic and chilies and saute for a few seconds. Add the red chili powder and coriander powder to this and saute on low heat till the spices are cooked. Now add the marinated catfish filets and cook, turning the fish pieces occasionally, till the fish pieces turn translucent.
Add the caramel sauce and cook till almost all the sauce is absorbed by the fish pieces.
Add the fish sauce and the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Stir in the sugar, cover and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Remove from the stove, garnish with green onions and serve hot with rice.
This is my entry to The Repost Event hosted by Desi Soccer Mom.
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The picture sure looks great. Worth the D90
I have never tried fish with so much sugar, but it looks too good
Oh no, I truly can not resist your delicious, carameley cat fish. Yum!
@Sandeepa, the sugar is just the 1tsp, other part is caramelized, so it is not a sweet dish at all. Even the 1 tsp sugar is a new addition, as I went a little overboard with the spices this time, so it was just to balance it out.
Yeah thanks to the event we can see this delicous fish dish again. And i think your pics are always beautifull. I have never had fish with a caramelly sauce. Have only has scampis which are sweet and that too sweet came from honey. Love to have a taste of this.
hmm. the first posts are the most innocent ones.:) sugar with fish.. if i didn’t like sweet and sour fish, i would be so scared of this recipe!
Hats off to Jaya on an original “smart” event. I’m still trying to figure out photo taking! I’m in the quandry where my repost dish might have a worse picture than its original. Pah!
Do you use those Lowell lights by any chance?
My aunt makes a caramelized chicken, I never thought of trying it on fish, I just assumed fish was too “delicate” to take the sauce.
I think your pictures looks perfect. You can start being satisfied with them now.
I don’t think I have ever had catfish or any other kind with caramel sauce. It has always been smothered with ginger garlic paste and coated with rava. I like this version plus it looks like a juicy piece of meat instead of fish. I love it.
@ Ann, your pics are fine too. It is your writing that I love.
Your pics are amazing Sig – the earlier ones I dont even remember….This seems like a really nice way of cooking fish – any ideas what Indian fish would go well instead of catfish?
Miri
I hear you on this one too… I took some horrible pictures back then, straight from the pan… no dressing up, no lighting focus…some pictures were even taken half way from my plate itself
or lunchbox.
My pictures are still not good, but I have come a long way for sure
Hi Sig, Love your blog and the pictures… the dish looks really delicious!
Your pictures are sooo good Sig! I will have to stop visiting your blog. u are a big temptresss
Now i will get me some fishes whether Arjun likes it or not. This is one unique recipe.. slurp.
that looks gorgeous, especially those greens. and i totally am with you on the old pics reposting, not yet satisfied with current pics thing
Hi Sig,
Been a silent reader for quite some time. your receipes and the pictures are amazing. Starting a blog is easy..but it really takes determination to continue and to keep the blog alive. Hats off to you.. you are doing a great job.. Belated Birthday Wishes.. and keep the spirit high..
Cheers,
SumSan
Does it taste very sweet with all that sugar? It’s a different kind of recipe.
Jyo, as I said above, most of the sugar is caramelized, so it is not sweet at all.
I’d say you’ve come quite a long way! Looks so tasty!
man this food is perfecthrous. its tasty good sweet and delisions.
:)
Sig,
Although the post is about carmelized fish not mutton ,just to add –
Carmelized sugar adds a nice colour to gravy that is what my father told me once making mutton curry together,He still makes mutton curry and that is something very delicious and it always turn out mouth-watering,baba(father) adds 1-2 tsp of sugar in hot oil before frying the masala for mutton curry.I have picked his tip and it has never failed me.
hugs and smiles