Tuong hot kho nuoc cot dua gives a thick, rich bowl balanced between salty and sweet, and it disappears fast over hot rice. The tricky part is that tuong hot is already salty, so a heavy hand makes it harsh.
The answer is to pick the yellow kind, which is milder, stir fry it with the fried garlic, then pour in the coconut milk and simmer gently for 5 minutes. Cilantro and sliced chili go on at the end for aroma.
This batch weighs about 407g, at roughly 252 calories per 100g.
Method
Peel and mince 3 garlic cloves. Rinse the chili and slice it thin. Trim the cilantro roots, wash the leaves and drain them.
Set a pan over the heat with 2 tablespoons cooking oil, and once it is hot, fry the garlic until fragrant.
When the garlic turns golden, add 200g tuong hot and stir it through with chopsticks.
Add 1 teaspoon kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, 1/2 teaspoon MSG, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 150ml coconut milk, keep braising over medium heat, then taste and adjust.
Once the mixture boils, lower the heat, stir, and braise for another 5 minutes. Turn off the stove, then scatter over the cilantro and sliced chili.
Tips
Yellow tuong hot (fermented soybean paste) is mildly salty with a hint of sweetness, better here than the dark kind, which is sharply salty.
Look for beans that are still soft but not falling apart, rather than a jar that has sat for a long time.
Mash part of the tuong hot while it fries, since leaving every bean whole keeps the sauce from thickening.
Low heat for the last 5 minutes keeps the coconut milk from splitting.
Cilantro scattered after the stove goes off holds on to its aroma.
Need kOBE Monk Fruit Blend?
The recipe above is sweetened with kOBE Monk Fruit Blend, measured 1:1 like sugar. See the product page or send us a message.