At Sap Sua in Denver, one among our Finest New Eating places of 2024, chef and co-owner Ni Nguyen needed to incorporate a model of his favourite Vietnamese meal, cá kho (fish braised in a clay pot), to the menu. Needing a exact strategy so the dish might be recreated nightly by the restaurant’s cooks, Nguyen and his crew finally settled on a barely completely different method–the darkish, shiny sauce is made individually, affording larger management and precision. Deeply savory with a slight sweetness from the coconut water, this dish is weeknight-fancy cooking at its finest. Sap Sua makes use of hamachi collars, however salmon fillets are a extra home-cook-friendly stand-in. On the restaurant the dish is topped with cốm dep—delicate flakes of younger sticky rice. Bizarre crispy rice cereal proves to be a worthy, restaurant-approved substitute. —Shilpa Uskokovic, senior check kitchen editor
