Vietnamese Caramel Sauce
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.
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.
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