Nước Màu

The mother sauce of Vietnamese cuisine. Not to be confused with a dessert caramel sauce. Vietnamese caramel sauce is used for many “kho” dishes.

Kho means “to braise“, “to stew“, or “to simmer“. We “kho” everything, from pork to chicken to fish, it is a staple of Vietnamese family dinners.

Master this sauce and you have the building blocks for many delicious Vietnamese dishes.

Ingredients

Sugar: I use white sugar but palm sugar or brown sugar works as well.

Water: Plain water works but you can also use coconut water for extra flavor.

Instructions

Put sugar in the pot and over medium heat start to melt the sugar. Do not stir.

Once you see the sugar start to brown on the outer edges then stir gently by swirling the pot around.

After about 5 minutes the sugar will start to turn into a color similar to brown sugar.

Turn the pot to medium low because the next few minutes the color will start changing fast.

Once the sugar turns into the color of black coffee the caramel is done.

Quickly remove the pot from the heat and slowly add water.

Continue adding the water and swirling your pan around until all the water is mixed into the sugar mixture.

The caramel sauce can be used right away or poor into a heatproof container and store in the pantry for a few months.

Make Vietnamese Braised Pork with Eggs using this homemade caramel sauce.

Vietnamese Caramel Sauce

Amy Le

The mother sauce of of Vietnamese cuisine. This is the base for many "kho" or braised dishes in Vietnam. Master this sauce and you have the building blocks for many delicious Vietnamese dishes.

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Course Fundamentals, Sauces

Cuisine Vietnamese

Equipment

1 Medium Sized Pot

Ingredients

1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Water

Instructions

Put sugar in a pot and turn heat to medium high. The sugar will begin to melt and bubble. Do not stir.
Once you see the sugar start to brown then stir gently by swirling the pot around. Turn the heat to medium low.
After about 5 minutes the sugar will start to brown, changing from a brown sugar color to a black coffee color.
Turn off heat. Slowly add water to the pot a little at a time and gently swirl around to mix. Continue this until you mix in all of the water.
Poor into a heat proof container and let cool.
Once cool, cover and store in pantry for up to a few months.

Notes

The sugar can turn to black very fast and burn. When first making this, it is better to stop the cooking earlier (anywhere between brown sugar to black coffee stage) than to risk burning the entire mixture.

The mixture will bubble alot when adding water so be careful not to let it splatter on to your skin. Caramel gets really hot and can burn.

If the mixture becomes too hard once it cools you can turn the heat back to low and add more water. Mix the water into the hard sugar mixture and it will loosen up.

You will know if you burned the sugar because it will taste bitter once it is cooled. Remember do not taste while the mixture is hot. It will burn you.

Keyword Caramel, Fundamentals, Kho, Sauces, Vietnamese

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