Meat, Grills & Lauk · Vietnam

How Many Calories in Ca Kho To?

Also known as Cá kho tộ, Cá kho, Vietnamese Caramelised Fish in Clay Pot, Braised Fish Clay Pot.

Fish steaks braised in a small clay pot with nuoc mau (burnt sugar caramel), fish sauce, black pepper, shallots and a little pork fat until the sauce is dark and sticky. Eaten with white rice and canh chua at every com binh dan quan in the south.

300kcal / 1 clay pot (2 pieces)
A clay pot of ca kho to with two pieces of fish, about 150g of meat plus sauce, is around 300 calories. The fish is 190, the caramel and fish sauce reduction is about 60 because it has 20 to 25g of sugar in it, and the pork fat or oil used to start the braise adds 45. Made with fatty ca basa instead of ca loc it is over 400.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 clay pot (2 pieces) (200g)AmountPer 100g
Calories300 kcal150 kcal
Protein30 g15 g
Carbs14 g7 g
Fat14 g7 g

Where the calories come from

Fish steaks (snakehead or tilapia)150g
190 kcal
Caramel and fish sauce reduction30g
60 kcal
Pork fat or cooking oil5g
45 kcal
Shallots, chili, pepper15g
5 kcal

The real talk

Ca kho to is 300 calories for a normal quan pot and 30g of it is protein, which makes it one of the better lauk on the tray. The published figure is about 120 calories per 100g of braised fish, and a two piece pot holds 150g of fish, so 190 from the fish alone. The rest is the sauce: nuoc mau is sugar cooked to caramel, and a pot uses about 20g of it plus fish sauce, so 60 calories of sauce that you will pour over your rice.

The fish choice changes the number a lot. Ca loc (snakehead) and ca ro (climbing perch) are lean, around 100 calories per 100g cooked. Ca basa and ca hu, the catfish cuts with the belly and skin, are 180 to 200 per 100g because the fat renders into the sauce. Same size pot, 300 versus 420. Ca kho with thit ba chi, where cubes of pork belly are braised in with the fish, is 480 or more.

The meal is the issue more than the fish. Ca kho is so salty and sweet that it is designed to push rice: most people eat 300g of rice with one pot, which is 390 calories, plus the sauce soaked into it. A pot of ca kho, a big plate of rice and a bowl of canh chua is 850. Take a small plate of rice and the same meal is 650 with the same 45g of protein.

How the portions compare

170 kcal
1 piece of fish with sauce
300 kcal
Standard pot, 2 pieces
420 kcal
Pot with fatty ca basa

Ca Kho To variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Ca bong kho tieu (goby with pepper)240 kcalSmall lean fish
Ca loc kho to280 kcalSnakehead
Ca dieu hong kho to300 kcalTilapia
Ca basa kho to400 kcalFatty catfish belly
Ca kho thit ba chi480 kcalWith pork belly cubes

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

How many calories in ca kho to?
About 300 for a two piece clay pot with lean fish, or around 120 per 100g of braised fish. Fatty catfish versions are 400 or more.
Is ca kho healthy?
The fish is lean and high in protein. The downside is the sauce, which has 20 to 25g of sugar and a lot of salt per pot. It is fine as the protein on a rice plate.
How much sugar is in ca kho?
Around 20 to 25g per pot from the nuoc mau caramel, about 80 to 100 calories, though a lot of it stays in the pot if you do not scrape the sauce out.
What fish is used for ca kho to?
Snakehead (ca loc) is the classic; ca basa, ca hu, tilapia and small goby (ca bong) are common. The fattier the fish, the higher the calories.

Related foods

See all Meat, Grills & Lauk calories, ranked ›

Calorie and macro figures are estimates for a typical street stall or quan serving. Actual numbers vary by stall, recipe and portion size. Use them as a guide, not gospel.

Calorie figure based on Long Chau (about 120 per 100g braised fish); component estimate for a 2 piece quan pot. Macros estimated from the ingredients.

How many calories do you actually need?

Free TDEE calculator. Thirty seconds, no sign up.

Use the calculator