Nước Màu is an ultra easy Vietnamese Caramel that uses just 2 ingredients! It’s the perfect way to tướng deepen color and flavor in your favorite braises, stir fries and marinades. This super versatile sauce requires very little effort to tướng make and will last in your pantry for months!
A deep glow for your favorite family side dishes
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Grandma’s Nước Màu is a Vietnamese Caramel recipe you need in your life. It’s incredibly forgiving and for something so sánh simple, you can REALLY amp up your cooking game.
Trust bầm when I say this: Once you make it, you’ll never want your pantry without it. That’s certainly the case in our family kitchen!
Perhaps it’s the way it adds a gorgeously rich caramel to deeply color your most treasured braised side dishes. Or how its gentle toffee undertones sweetens the meal in a way that sugar alone never will.
Now, don’t mistake this for a dessert topping – you definitely wouldn’t want it drizzled over your Sương Sáo (Grass Jelly), Chè Trôi Nước (Vietnamese Glutinous Rice Balls) or Kem Chuối (Vietnamese Banana and Coconut Ice Cream).
Rather, it’s best saved for those savory family side dishes that you have around the dinner table with a bowl of hot steaming rice and great company!
Why this recipe works
- Using brown sugar slabs gives the Nước Màu a rich toffee undertone.
- Cooking it until it develops into a dark amber ensures you have the deepest flavors.
- With the high sugar nội dung, it stores perfectly well for months at a time.
What you’ll need
About the ingredients
We use brown sugar slabs because of its toffee flavor, but you can use any type you lượt thích. White, brown, raw or palm sugar will work well. Just keep in mind that the flavor will vary between each version as well as the cooking times.
The amount of water you add is up to tướng you. Some families lượt thích their Nước Màu on the thicker side, so sánh use less water. Others lượt thích it closer to tướng the consistency of water, which means you’ll have to tướng add more liquid.
How to tướng make this recipe
Melt the sugar in a pot on low-medium heat for 15 minutes or until it becomes a caramel. Once it darkens to tướng a deep brown, slowly pour the water in and stir quickly to tướng combine.
Store it in an air-tight jar for future use!
Pro Tip: As soon as the water touches the caramel, it will start splattering, which is extremely hot and dangerous. Be careful as you add the liquid!
Recipe FAQs
If you cook it for too long, the sugar breaks down and the flavor will change from sweet to tướng bitter. This is commonly seen as burnt caramel. If it’s too close to tướng Black, you won’t be able to tướng fix it.
But if it has just started to tướng darken beyond what you intended, you can try adding more water to tướng bring the temperature back down.
This comes down to tướng the ratio of each ingredient. Add more water to tướng dilute it or use less sugar the next time you make it.
Tips for the best results
- Avoid stirring the sugar as it melts. Sugar tends to tướng size crystals when it’s in liên hệ with a dry area lượt thích the side of a pot. To prevent this, leave the melting be until it has darkened to tướng an amber. If you find the sugar is crystallized on the sides of the pot, put a lid on it to tướng let the steam lập cập down and dissolve them.
- Use a wet brush to tướng dab around the pot just above the cooking caramel. The water in the brush will drip the sugar down so sánh it doesn’t stick to tướng the sides of the pot.
- Put the pot into a cold water bath when you’re done. This will stop the cooking process so sánh that the Nước Màu doesn’t continue to tướng cook until it’s burnt.
Recipes to tướng use it in
Our family cooks using Grandma’s Nước Màu for so many dishes. Find our favorite ways to tướng make use of it right here.
Braising
As a color enhancer and sweetener
In Vietnamese cuisine, the sauce the used for braises to tướng get that gorgeous caramel glow. It adds a touch of rich sweetness that you won’t get from sugar alone. These are our family’s best ways to tướng use the ingredient in side dishes eaten in Vietnam:
Thịt Kho (Pork Belly and Eggs in Coconut Water)
Gà Kho Gừng (Ginger Chicken)
Cá Kho Tộ (Braised Fish)
As a substitute for dark soy sauce
In our Chinese-Vietnamese household, Grandma does a lot of cooking with dark soy sauce. But when in a pinch and there’s none left, she’ll reach for her jar of homemade Nước Màu. Here are some dishes she will happily use it in:
Sea Cucumber with Mushrooms
Chicken Wings and Mushrooms in Oyster Sauce
Marinating
We love infusing our protein with oyster sauce (or any substitute), but sometimes you really want that pop of color and deep flavor undertone. To achieve this, the Vietnamese Wet Caramel is a fantastic ingredient to tướng add:
Bò Lúc Lắc (Shaking Beef)
Bò Xào Xà Lách Xoong (Vietnamese Beef Salad)
Sườn Nướng (Grilled Pork Chops)
Stir Frying
Much lượt thích marinating, you can use the sauce for your weeknight stir fries to tướng subtly sweeten the overall dish with an amber caramel. These are some ways to tướng bring color to tướng your meals:
Eggplant and Pork Mince Stir Fry
Vietnamese Pork Mince
Rice Cooker Rice with Mushrooms and Chinese Broccoli
With so sánh many ways to tướng use Nước Màu, there’s every reason to tướng try it out this week!
Our family’s favorite sauces!
- XO Sauce (XO 酱) – Sharp with umami from luxury ingredients, you’ll love having this flavor-packed condiment in the fridge.
- Ginger Scallion Sauce (薑蔥油) – With just 3 ingredients, it’s our most popular way to tướng dress up any savory dish. It even works well with just rice alone!
- Sa Tế (Vietnamese Lemongrass Chili Sauce) – Enjoy a kick of spices and aromatics with this classic Vietnamese all-purpose sauce.
- Sichuan Garlic Chili Oil – Dip everything in this or simply mix it with your favorite noodle and rice dishes to tướng spice things up!
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Nước Màu (Vietnamese Caramel)
Ingredients
- 350 g / 0.77 lb brown sugar pieces (we get it from the Asian supermarket)
- 1/2 US cup water (or to tướng preference)
Instructions
- Melt the sugar in a pot on low-medium heat for 15 minutes or until it becomes a caramel. Once it darkens to tướng a deep brown, slowly pour the water in and stir quickly to tướng combine.Pro Tip: As soon as the water touches the caramel, it will start splattering, which is extremely hot and dangerous. Be careful as you add the liquid!
- Store it in an air-tight jar for future use!
Notes
- Avoid stirring the sugar as it melts. Sugar tends to tướng size crystals when it's in liên hệ with a dry area lượt thích the side of a pot. To prevent this, leave the melting be until it has darkened to tướng an amber. If you find the sugar is crystallized on the sides of the pot, put a lid on it to tướng let the steam lập cập down and dissolve them.
- Use a wet brush to tướng dab around the pot just above the cooking caramel. The water in the brush will drip the sugar down so sánh the Nước Màu doesn't stick to tướng the sides of the pot.
- Put the pot into a cold water bath when you're done. This will stop the cooking process so sánh that it doesn't continue to tướng cook until it's burnt.
- We use brown sugar slabs because of its toffee flavor, but you can use any type you lượt thích. White, brown, raw or palm sugar will work well. Just keep in mind that the flavor will vary between each version as well as the cooking times.
- The amount of water you add is up to tướng you. Some families lượt thích it on the thicker side, so sánh use less water. Others prefer that it's closer to tướng the consistency of water, which means you'll have to tướng add more liquid.
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