Shrimp in a fish sauce caramel

Name: Shrimp in a fish sauce caramel
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: ¼ cup white sugar; 3 tbsp fish sauce; 1 Fresno or serrano chili, stemmed and sliced into thin rings (two if you want it properly hot); 2 shallots, thinly sliced; 4 cloves garlic, minced; 2 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped (or a lemongrass stalk, bottom 6 inches, bruised; both if the shop obliges); ½ tsp ground black pepper, plus a proper grind more to finish; 1 ½ lb extra-large shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed (21/25 per pound); sliced scallions and lime wedges, to serve; steamed jasmine rice, for serving

Sugar taken to the edge of burnt, then doused with fish sauce: Vietnam's sweet-and-savoury backbone, wrapped around shrimp over jasmine rice.

At a Glance

Time

25 min

Adjust servings

Story

Caramel is savoury seasoning in the Vietnamese kitchen. Cooked past golden to the edge of bitter, then hit with fish sauce, it becomes the deep mahogany base of the braised dishes called kho, sweetness and smoke and salt in one glossy spoonful. The pan will hiss theatrically when the fish sauce goes in. Let it. That violence is the sauce being born.

Ingredients

¼ cup white sugar
3 tbsp fish sauce
1 Fresno or serrano chilistemmed and sliced into thin rings (two if you want it properly hot)
2 shallotsthinly sliced
4 cloves garlicminced
2 tsp fresh gingerfinely chopped (or a lemongrass stalk, bottom 6 inches, bruised; both if the shop obliges)
½ tsp ground black pepperplus a proper grind more to finish
1 ½ lb extra-large shrimppeeled, deveined and tails removed (21/25 per pound)
sliced scallions and lime wedgesto serve
steamed jasmine ricefor serving

Method

The loudest 25 minutes you can spend at a stove. One caramel, one skillet, and shrimp that come out lacquered like antique furniture. Cook the rice first, this outruns it.

In a 12-inch skillet, combine the sugar and 2 tablespoons water over medium-high and cook, swirling the pan occasionally rather than stirring, until the caramel is mahogany in color and smoking lightly. Darker than feels polite is exactly right, pale caramel makes a merely sweet sauce.
Off the heat, add the fish sauce and stand back, it will sputter. Return to a boil, stirring to dissolve any clumps.
Add the chilies, shallots, garlic, ginger and the ½ teaspoon pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring, about 30 seconds.
Add the shrimp and cook over high, stirring, just until opaque throughout, a few minutes and no more, shrimp punish the inattentive. Discard the lemongrass if you used it. Cooking for a crowd at the top serving count, reach for your widest pot or work in two batches so the shrimp simmer in sauce instead of steaming in each other.
Finish with a generous grind of black pepper, more than seems reasonable, pepper is half the point of a Vietnamese caramel. Shower with scallions and serve over jasmine rice with lime wedges for squeezing, the acid is not optional here.