Caramel Sauce

If you're going to delve deeply into cooking Vietnamese food, get over your fear of heat and make some caramel sauce! It's not as difficult as you may think. Just get some sugar, water and a saucepan. Once you've mastered it, it will quickly become your stealth ingredient. All you're doing is nearly burning sugar.

Caramel sauce (nuoc mau, pronounced "nook mao") is one of the cornerstones of Vietnamese cooking. It's primarily used in kho dishes to simmer savory foods such as whole fish, pork, shrimp, chicken, eggs and tofu -- homey foods that are the soul of Vietnamese cooking. The color and flavor of caramel sauce are transformative, making food not only look beautifully amber but also delectable.

The term nuoc mau was originally coined in South Vietnam. People in North Vietnam called the same ingredient nuoc hang ("nook hahng"), literally translated as 'merchandising water', probably because it was so often used by food hawkers to enhance the appearance of their wares. Think of how molasses add to the flavor of barbecued foods.

The traditional method of making this sauce requires you to add boiling water to the caramelized sugar, which starts a dramatic reaction that's not for the faint of heart. The point of doing this is to arrest the cooking process so that the sugar doesn't burn to a bitter black stage. I find it easier to place the pan bottom into a sink filled with water and then adding the remaining water to dilute the sugar. The result of both approaches is the same bittersweet inky sauce that's a staple in every Vietnamese kitchen.

Use caramel sauce for Viet kho dishes, or as a little cheat in your marinades for foods that will go on the grill so that they color nicely. Don't put it on ice cream or other desserts. Its sweet, dark coffee flavor will taste yucky bad. Finally, select a light-colored saucepan to monitor the caramelization, and make sure it's clean.

Resist buying the heinous tasting pre-fab caramel sauce at the Vietnamese market that's labeled "coconut thin sauce".  You're better off doing it yourself! The photos below are for encouragement.

Makes 1 cup

1 cup sugar
¼ cup plus ½ cup water

Fill the sink with enough water to come halfway up the side of a 1-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place the sugar and 1/4 cup of the water into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves, about 2 to 3 minutes.

As the sugar melts, the mixture will go from opaque to clear. Small bubbles will form at the edge and gradually grow larger, moving toward the center of the pan. Eventually, bubbles will cover the entire surface. After about 15 minutes, the sugar will begin to caramelize and turn in color. You'll see a progression from cham pagne yellow to light tea to dark tea.

When smoke starts rising, remove the saucepan from the heat and slowly swirl it around. Watch the sugar closely as it will turn darker by the second; a reddish cast will set in (think the color of a big and bold red wine) as the bubbles become a lovely burnt orange. Pay attention to the color of the caramel underneath the bubbles. When the caramel color is that of black coffee or molasses, place the pan in the sink to stop the cooking process. The hot pan bottom will sizzle upon contact and the bubble action will subside.

Add the remaining 1/2 cup of water (there may be a small dramatic reaction) and place t he saucepan back on the stove over medium heat, stirring until the caramel has dissolved into the water. The result will be slightly viscous; flavor-wise, it will be bittersweet. Pour the caramel sauce into a small glass jar and let it cool; it will thicken further. Store indefinitely in your kitchen cupboard.


Recipe from Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Treasured Foodways, Modern Flavors (Ten Speed Press, 2006).

Related recipe:

• Trout Simmered with Orange Peel and Caramel Sauce

Comments

[Michelle]

Cool! Thanks for the detailed photo breakdown of how to make this.

[Kevin]

I'm a huge fan, as previously mentioned, and I really appreciate the photos. I actually posted about it last week! http://kevinkossowan.blogspot.com/2007/09/did-it-again.html

[steamy kitchen]

I was all set to make the caramel sauce...and then realized I STILL HAVE NOT BOUGHT SUGAR. Ran out last week.
Can I use palm sugar or the rock sugar?

[Andrea Nguyen]

I've never tried it with palm sugar but it should work as long as there aren't any impurities in the sugar. Export-quality palm sugar is pretty high quality. Try melting a big hunk of it with water and then see what happens. As for rock sugar, I'm not sure how that would work. There's molasses in it. But it wouldn't harm to try. I'd shoot for 25% more than what the recipe calls for because rock sugar isn't as sweet as regular white sugar. I've used raw can sugar and it was just fine. That's why I think you're okay here.

Do report back on your experiment!

Hey, thanks Kevin for the posting!

[Steamy Kitchen]

btw, I just read your article in the latest Saveur. You write so beautifully and elegantly, really capturing the spirit, hardwork and the humbleness of the family.

xoxo
jaden

[Andrea Nguyen]

Thanks Jaden. The avocado feature was fun and lots of research, but the Hmong farmer story is one that I've wanted to write for years. The Xiongs were exceptional in many ways.

[Anh]

This is cool! I will link to this post when I post any nuoc mau/nuoc hang related recipe from now on. For a non-Vietnamese cook, this process can be daunting you see? :)

[Pikky]

It looks so easy to make and we can't miss this caramel sauce in any of the Tet simmer dish..!!

Thank you

[Pikky]

How long can we keep if we couldn't finish it?
Can we put in the fridge of the remain?

Thank you

[Andrea Nguyen]

Pikky,

Yep, just give it a whirl. It's just sugar and water. You can keep the caramel sauce in the cupboard indefinitely. I have a jar that I just keep replenishing over time. I've never refrigerated it, and it's has never gone bad. However, you certainly can put it in the fridge.

Andrea

[Tam]

My mom usually adds dark soy sauce. The thick stuff that's comes in a jar to her nuoc mau to make it have a more complex sweet taste

[Andrea Nguyen]

Tam, like Indonesian kecap manis? That's a good idea. Usually, I mix a some sugar in with the nuoc mau, along with nuoc mam fish sauce. The quantity of sugar depends on what the dish is that I'm going to simmer.

Your mom has taken an extra step to cut down her work later on!

[Dotty]

Aii! I am a very expeerienced cook but had nothing but trouble with this caramel sauce - I attribute it to the fact I was cooking in the rocky mtn foothills at ~8400' elevation.

In my first attempt, the sugar never dissolved, and withiin moments went from a murky syrup to a glob of crystalized sugar. I quickly added hot water and it became a clear syrup - "a step in the right direction" I thought.

But in a relatively short while, the water again boiled away and I had the crystalized volume again; this time when I added water it simply hardened further.

I was quite disappointed and scrambled to substitute dark brown sugar ~ the closest thing I had in the kitchen. My friends all thought the final dish (Vietnamese Pulled Pork)tasted wonderful ~ so all ended well.

however ~ any tips for high altitudes with the sauce?

[Andrea Nguyen]

Dotty, It may be your altitude, though I'm not 100% sure. I've experienced crystallization when (1) I hadn't cleaned my saucepan well enough or (2) my sugar was old and/or been exposed to moisture due to poor storage.

Sorry you had trouble but you pulled the pulled pork off! If I hear anything, I'll let you know.

[Minh-nhu Nguyen]

Hi Andrea

Just read your book last night ( till 4AM) love the recipes, love the family history which is similar but different to mine.

We're in Australia though!

Vietnamese food is just taking off in leaps and bounds over here as well. Good to have a book that's so grassroots!

keep up the good work
Minh-Nhu
Perth Aus

[Andrea Nguyen]

Minh-Nhu,

Sorry to have kept you up so late. Thanks for the awfully kind words. I'm thrilled that Vietnamese food is thriving in Australia. I must visit some day!

[O.Nguyen]

Hi Andrea! I just got your book a week ago and I've been greedily devouring it... literally!

I gave the sauce a try today, because i'm going to attempt the lemongrass riblets tomorrow and want to marinate them.

I started as you said, with the 1/4 cup water + the sugar, and stirred it until it was opaque. Maybe the heat was too low, but mine took a *lot* longer than yours (about half an hour), before things started happening. First it dissolved into a clear liquid, it bubbled, just as you said. But then... it crystalized! I was distracted for a moment and saw a shell of hard sugar forming over it! I punched through it with a wooden spoon and stirred and it redissolved and worked quite nicely after that. Is there a reason you don't make us stir during the process?

When I tasted it was... sweeter than i thought it was, but then that lovely bitter aftertaste convinced me i got it right. Thanks again for your wonderful work!

[Andrea Nguyen]

Hi O, yep, there are many factors in cooking and yes, it sounds like it could have been your heat. But you got the stuff to caramelize in the end, which is fabulous! You don't want to stir the sugar after the initial stirring because you can introduce alien bits into it and the sugar reacts poorly. However, you can swirl the pan, if there are hot spots.

Glad to know you're enjoying the book so much!

P.S. Your blog at http://Chocolateshavings.com is great! Keep up the beautiful work.

[O.Nguyen]

Hi Andrea,

Yeah that makes sense. I imagine if you stir too much the sugar that crystalises on the sides of the pan at the beginning can get dissolved late in the process and not caramelize... leaving a sauce that is too sweet.

Thanks for visiting the blog! I just posted the riblets (http://chocolateshavings.ca/?p=150) if you want to take a look.

[Dotty]

Hey Andrea - Dotty in Colorado here again.
So I tried to make the Caramel Sauce at 5280'. Same thing happened - a crystallized pan of sugar. Ug.
I looked in a high altitude baking book and found a recipe for Burnt Sugar ~ looked similar so I tried it. Yippee! I was able to make the Caramel Sauce!

It is basically the same as your sauce, only no water with the initial sugar. Just melt it in a pan (takes a while!) and when it gets to that lovely, dark, espresso color add water. It was great.

Just a little altitude/attitude lesson!

cheers
Dotty

[Andrea Nguyen]

Dotty, Whoah! It was the water that made the difference in the Mile High State. Thanks for sharing the insight. I'm sure many others will benefit from your persistence! Love it.

Andrea

[Mary-Anne]

I noticed that you listed la lot as Pepper leaf, wild betel leaf, ye-thoei (Thai)and I always thought la lot and shaa ploo/chaa phluu (Thai) were the same. I use these leaves for Miang kam bai chaa phluu (Thai) and for the Vietnamese wrapped ground meats. I have one small vine potted in the greenhouse window. I am hoping to find additional plants and plant out in the greenhouse under the wood slat tables.

I use this recipe of long time friend Kasma Loha-unchit and have it listed on my site at Bellaonline.com

http://thaifoodandtravel.com/recipes/mkum.html

Mary-Anne, Alamo, CA

[XCB]

is it suppose to taste bitter and slightly sweet?
or sweet and slightly bitter??

most caramel i tasted is in ice-cream. so it always taste sweet..but never bitter.

[best]

Im agree.