Caramel sauce (nước hàng/nước màu)

Not to be confused with the sweet caramel sauce found in desserts.

Vietnamese caramel sauce is an essential character of Vietnamese cooking, perhaps only secondary to fish sauce. It has a slightly bitter toffee flavour. It is used in many savoury recipes featuring meat or fish, not to add flavours but to give the dish a delectable golden amber colour.

To make Vietnamese caramel sauce, melt 2 – 3 tbsp white sugar in a nonstick saucepan. Once it has turned an amber colour and starts bubbling, carefully pour about 2/3 cups of warm water into the saucepan and stir. Pour the caramel into a bowl or a jar and leave to cool.

You can make a large batch of caramel sauce and store it at room temperature for future use.