JULY 2018 • NEBRASKAland 39
Yield: 2 servings
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1 pound of bone-in catfish steaks, skin on
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4 tablespoons fish sauce
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3 tablespoons brown sugar
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1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
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1 large shallot, minced
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3 large cloves of garlic, minced
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1 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
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3 tablespoons caramel sauce (or ¼ cup of water and 2
tablespoons table sugar)
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1 green onion, sliced
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1 can of Coco Rico Soda (coconut soda)
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1 Thai chili, sliced
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1 teaspoon olive oil
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2 servings of cooked jasmine white rice
In a medium-size bowl, combine fish sauce, brown sugar,
garlic, shallot, ginger and black pepper. Add catfish steaks
and marinate for 30 minutes to an hour in the refrigerator.
To make the caramel sauce, heat ¼ cup of water and 2
tablespoons of sugar to a rolling simmer. Mix frequently and
wait until it turns dark brown, but do not burn. As it cools,
the sauce will harden. To soften, add a little bit of water and
slowly reheat. If you can find it, use pre-made caramel sauce
sold in Asian grocery stores for convenience.
Heat olive oil in the clay pot over medium-high heat. Remove
fish from marinade and sear to brown for 2 minutes on each side
in the oil. Sear in batches if pot is not big enough. (Clay pots
seem to heat better over gas stoves.) Place all the seared fish
back into the pot. Pour caramel sauce over the fish, then pour in
coconut soda to slightly halfway up the fish. Scoop out some of
the ginger, garlic and shallot from the leftover marinade and add
it to the pot. Discard remaining used marinade.
Cover and simmer for about 30 minutes. Check to make
sure sauce does not reduce too much to avoid burning. Add a
splash of soda if necessary. Once cooked, adjust seasonings
with more fish sauce and/or sugar. Garnish with sliced green
onion and Thai chili. Serve salty fish with
lots of white rice.
– Jenny Nguyen-Wheatley
See Ryan's additional creamed corn recipe
by visiting magazine.outdoornebraska.gov/
digital.
