Ca Ngu Kho Thom Braised Bonito with Pineapple
The main reason we put a pause on blogging is that these posts take time to write and edit. However, we’ve been actively posting recipes and step by step stories on Instagram. We’re going to try a new “quick” post method using our instagram feed as a inspiration to a dish and recipe below. In this day in age when we’re all being asked to be teachers and homemakers and whatever imaginable roles thrusted upon us, lets give this a try and see how you all like this! Think of this as a quick phone call to your mom or relative for a recipe, except we’ll provide measurements. But as always, our recipes are guidelines and always season as you go and adjust.
You’ll also notice a new recipe format! There’s much more information, scalable so you don’t have to do any math, and has nutritional information! On the landing page you can jump straight to the recipe and skip the text. Ingredient and equipment checkboxes for easier organization.
So our first go at this is a classic “sweet and sour” braised bonito. Sweet and sour from the pineapples and tomatoes. The bonito is meaty fish that is great in this braise. It’s not as well known as the clay pot ca kho , but its just as delicious.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Bonito 4-5 steaks depending on size of fish
- 1 ts salt
- 1 ts sugar
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 tbsp garlic minced
- 1 shallot minced
- 1.5 cups young coconut water or plain water
- 1 ts fish sauce
- 1 ts nuoc mau optional
- 1 cup pineapple chopped into 2 inch chunks
- 1 tomato quartered
- 2 thai chile optional, chopped
- 1 tbsp cilantro chopped
- 1 tbsp green onion chopped
Instructions
- Marinate the bonito steaks with salt, sugar for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, prep the other ingredients.
- In a large shallow pan or dutch oven on medium heat, add oil and saute garlic and shallots until fragrant. Sear the steaks each side for some color. Add the pineapples and tomatoes and young coconut water. You may have to add more or less depending on this size of your pan, just make sure they just barely cover the fish. If you have some prepared nuoc mau, add that now. Bring to gentle simmer and allow liquid to slowly reduce. When it's reduced by about 1/2, adjust final seasoning with fish sauce, thai chile, fresh black pepper. Turn off heat and transfer to serving bowl and top with cilantro and green onion and serve immediately with rice.
Notes
Nutrition
Ingredients
- 2 lbs Bonito Steaks roughly 4-5 steaks depending on size of fish
- 1 ts salt
- 1 ts sugar
- 1 tbs cooking oil
- 1 tbs minced garlic
- 1 minced shallot
- 1.5 cups of young coconut water or plain water
- 1 ts fish sauce
- 1 ts nuoc mau optional
- 1 heaping cup of ripe pineapple chopped into 2 inch chunks
- 1 large ripe meaty tomato quartered
- 2 chopped thai chile optional
- 2 tbs chopped cilantro and green onion
Instructions
- Marinate the bonito steaks with salt, sugar for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, prep the other ingredients.
- In a large shallow pan or dutch oven on medium heat, add oil and saute garlic and shallots until fragrant. Sear the steaks each side for some color. Add the pineapples and tomatoes and young coconut water. You may have to add more or less depending on this size of your pan, just make sure they just barely cover the fish. If you have some prepared nuoc mau, add that now. Bring to gentle simmer and allow liquid to slowly reduce. When it's reduced by about 1/2, adjust final seasoning with fish sauce, thai chile, fresh black pepper. Turn off heat and transfer to serving bowl and top with cilantro and green onion and serve immediately with rice.
