Dinner Tonight: Caramelized garlic fish
The extra-savory sauce is delicious on all manner of protein.
Dinner Tonight
October 7, 2026

Caramelized Garlic Fish

Caramelized Garlic Fish
Nico Schinco for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Kaitlin Wayne.

Recipe by Genevieve Ko | Total time: 20 minutes

Mild white fish becomes deeply savory in this quick one-pot meal inspired by cá kho tộ, which the chef Mai Pham described as the “one dish that best represents Vietnamese home cooking” in her 2001 cookbook “Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table” (HarperCollins). Originally from the south of the country, the dish of freshwater snakehead fish (cá lóc) is braised (kho) in a claypot (tộ) with a blend of sugar melted to a dark brown, garlic and fish sauce. Sometimes known as nước sốt (or kho sauce in English), there are countless variations in Vietnam and its diaspora. The sauce is fantastic with tofu, chicken, beef, pork, duck and all kinds of vegetables and seafood. Just make sure you have plenty of rice to soak it up.

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