Braised fish or pork is such a staple in every family meal that the dishes become a Vietnamese signature. Some people would diversify the dish by adding extra tastes such as tamarind, tofu or pineapple, but the most memorable version, one that can arouse nostalgia, is always the fish/pork braised in a clay pot on a wood-burning stove, topped with some black pepper.

For this traditional style of braising, seasoned fish/pork would be put into a clay pot and cooked until the broth boils. Then the burning firewood would be removed, and the charcoal that’s left inside the stove would take care of the rest so that the dish would be cooked steadily until well-flavored. For many Vietnamese people, the flavors of fish/pork braised in a clay pot on a wood-burning stove are well associated with the good old days, when smoke swirling up from small thatched houses is all part of sweet memories.

And today, with gas stove or infrared stove, the runner-up of the 2013 edition of the cooking show called Golden Spoon Awards shows how to make braised fish and pork that tastes just like the one cooked on wood-burning stoves, thanks to a macrobiotic pot of Minh Long Healthycook range.

Braised goby

Ingredients: 500 grams of goby, green onion, shallot, black pepper, chili, sugar, salt, fish sauce.

Preparation:
Clean the fish and strain. In the countryside, people usually put the fish in a bamboo basket and rub it with banana leaves or bamboo leaves to remove its slime. But in case you cannot find those leaves, use a knife to scrape the fish and then clean it with salt.

Put the macrobiotic pot on the stove and make the caramel first with three tablespoons of water and two spoons of sugar. Cook until the sugar turns light brown, then turn off the stove.

Put the fish into the pot of caramel, add two tablespoons of fish sauce, two thirds of a tablespoon of sugar, a teaspoon of black pepper. Leave the pot for around 30 minutes for the fish to absorb the condiments.

Cook the pot with the lid on for around five minutes before removing it. Lower the heat to minimum and cook for 10 more minutes. Garnish the dish with slices of red chili, green onion and ground pepper to make it more colorful and tasty.

As the pot has high thermal shock resistance and the ability to keep the heat steady, you can directly add cold water (if you want to make the fish really tender) during the cooking process without having to worry if the pot will crack. With this special pot, the water also boils up quickly while the taste is preserved.

When cooked at high temperatures, the pot is resistant to the acidic and alkaline components found in food, especially braised dishes, and they do not release toxic substances like metal pots. Thanks to the infrared wavelength, the braised fish smells good and almost all nutritional elements are well preserved while the cooking time is saved.

Braised pork ribs

Ingredients: 700 grams of pork ribs, green onion, shallot, chili, onion, black pepper, sugar and salt.

Preparation:
Chop ribs into bite-sized chunks and clean them with salt.

Make caramel like what you do for the braised fish above, and then put the strained ribs into the pot, leave them in 30 minutes with the chopped roots of green onion and shallot, two spoons of fish sauce, one tablespoon of sugar, one teaspoon of salt and some slices of chili.

Start cooking on small fire for around three minutes on gas stove, or between 400-600W for three to five minutes on infrared cooker (the temperatures can depend on the cooker’s quality). After five minutes, or when steam starts going up strongly around the lid, turn the heat down to moderate or low (as long as the bottom of the pot is heated entirely). Pork ribs need to be braised for 30 minutes to make them tender.

When serving the ribs, sprinkle some pepper over to make it more flavorful. Unlike braised fish, braised ribs are often served with raw vegetables and tomatoes.

The requirement for both braised dishes is that the broth should be thick and has the caramel color. The fish should be tough enough, aromatic and not stinky, while the ribs should be soft and well-flavored.

How can macrobiotic pot
make braised fish taste good?

The macrobiotic pot of Minh Long Healthycook is made from rare natural materials such as kaolin, feldspar, quartz, clay and other rare mineral elements fired at a high temperature. The product can endure temperature shock from zero to 800 degrees Celsius and thus it is very hard to get cracked. This thermal shock level is considered the pinnacle of the world’s porcelain cookware.

You can make braised fish with this pot frequently and do not have to worry if it gets peeled off or blisters (because the pot is pure porcelain, there is almost no moisture absorption). Thanks to the enhanced infrared wavelength, each piece of pork and fish is cooked deeply and steadily and has eye-catching colors while their nutrients are preserved. Their taste and smell would stimulate the body’s generation of healthy enzymes.