Vietnamese-Style Caramel Shrimp
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Large shrimp are quickly sautéed with garlic and onions and then simmered in a short-cut Vietnamese caramel sauce.
This caramel shrimp recipe was sent to me by one of my readers from San Diego (thank you, Kim!), and I knew right away it was going to be a winner. Large shrimp are quickly sautéed with garlic and onions, then simmered in a Vietnamese-style caramel sauce. Every time I make it, my family literally scrapes the pan clean!
This recipe is a simplified take on traditional Tôm Rim, a classic Vietnamese dish where shrimp are simmered in a deeply caramelized sugar sauce. While the original requires caramelizing sugar to a rich amber hue, this version takes a shortcut by whisking brown sugar into the fish sauce, water, and aromatics, making it quicker but still delicious. The sauce is thinner and less bitter than the traditional method, but it retains the sweet and savory balance that makes this dish so irresistible.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Vietnamese Caramel Shrimp
The key ingredient in this recipe is fish sauce, a dark and pungent liquid used in Southeast Asian cooking. It adds wonderful depth and complexity to a dish. You can find it at most large grocery stores, and don’t worry about buying a large bottle—it keeps forever in the pantry.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by whisking together the fish sauce, brown sugar, crushed red pepper flakes and water in a bowl and set aside.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan and cook the onions over medium-low heat until soft and translucent.
Add the garlic and cook a few minutes more.
Add the shrimp to the pan and cook until just pink and still translucent in some spots.
Add the sauce and simmer until the shrimp are cooked through.
Add the scallions and cilantro.
Stir to combine, then taste and adjust seasoning as necessary. The dish is intensely flavorful, so it goes best with steamed jasmine rice. Enjoy!
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Large shrimp are quickly sautéed with garlic and onions and then simmered in a short-cut Vietnamese caramel sauce.
Ingredients
- ¼ cup fish sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark brown sugar, packed
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined, thawed if frozen
- 3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
- ⅓ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Combine the fish sauce, dark brown sugar, crushed red pepper flakes and water in a medium bowl and whisk until brown sugar is dissolved.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a few minutes more. Do not brown.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the shrimp. Cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp are just barely pink and still translucent in spots, a few minutes. Add the fish sauce mixture, turn heat down to medium, and simmer until shrimp are cooked through, a few minutes more. (Note: the sauce will be thin.) Off the heat, stir in scallions and cilantro. Serve immediately with jasmine rice.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 219
- Fat: 11 g
- Saturated fat: 1 g
- Carbohydrates: 8 g
- Sugar: 4 g
- Fiber: 1 g
- Protein: 22 g
- Sodium: 1789 mg
- Cholesterol: 191 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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This was our first attempted recipe using Fish sauce. Followed this easy and quick recipe exactly as written…absolutely incredible flavors! We served the shrimp over rice with steamed brocolli on the side. The shrimp are easy to overcook and make rubbery. We used 16-20 count shrimp and found the following cook time perfect: Stir the shrimp in with onions & garlic x 1 minute-they start to turn pink-then add the sauce and simmer x 2 minutes only. Then off the heat, add scallions and cilantro-serve immediately. Shrimp were snappy and delicious-not rubbery.
Easy to make; and we added extra shrimp & extra brown sugar, scallions & cilantro to taste. I wanted to say THANKS for the suggestion to pair it with the Jasmine rice!!! Not too salty at all, wonderful meal to put into rotation. THANKS
This is so unbelievably fast and easy. And different from the norm. And I had everything in the pantry, even the fish sauce. (Mostly because I got it to make a quinoa salad that I found on your site as well. 5 Stars on that). Like another reviewer, I too found it a little salty, but not so much that I wouldn’t make it again. Next time I’ll probably add a little more sugar and maybe cut back on the fish sauce. Otherwise, very good.
Gotta say, really liking the recipes I find here. Easy, delicious, and full of ingredients I actually have on hand. I don’t want to go out and buy a ton of things for one recipe. Can’t wait to try more.
This was wonderful. The flavors are scrumptious. It’s easy to make and assemble. I loved it. Will be made frequently. Halved the recipe, some for tonight, some for lunch tomorrow. Mmmm. Next time, I plan to cut the brown sugar amount in half and see how it goes as I’m looking to lower my sugar intake, and I’m fairly certain this will still have great flavor without that much sugar. Make it!!
Delicious!!! I was looking for a low calorie shrimp dish, so I used less oil and when the onions started to stick I added some water. I then added broccoli (because I’m on a diet) and when they started to soften, I added the shrimp, then continued to follow the recipe. I increased the fish sauce, chili peppers, and water because of the broccoli. It was so delicious! I was surprised that this sauce was so flavorful. Truly delicious, a definite keeper!!
This is a delicious dish and was quite quick to make (once everything was prepped). Except for using a pound instead of 2 of shrimp, I followed the recipe exactly as written using the same brand of fish sauce that Jenn did.
I did not find the dish too salty at all, and felt the flavors balanced out very nicely. My husband loved the dish as well.
I made this and only used 2 table spoons of fish sauce and that was more than enough for us, I did however add more chili flakes and some lime. I tried making this for my Vietnamese boyfriend and he asked me what it was because he had never seen it before
Flavor was great but I guess it was my fault for assuming it was something authentic
This dish is authentic except that the skin is usually left on. In Vietnamese it is called TÔM RIM. Just because you are of a certain ethnicity does not always mean that you know all the dishes of that culture.
This dish was super yummy and QUICK – again another good weeknight dinner recipe. I’m excited to try it cold as mentioned in other reviews!
We used Red Boat fish sauce and added fresh ginger (added with garlic) and par-boiled broccoli (added to shrimp for last few minutes) to make a wonderful one dish entree over rice.
Worked late and made this for dinner tonight. Was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to throw together in just a few minutes. It was a great meal to end the day with. 🙂 Loved it right out of the pan. Looking forward to serving as a cold dish as others have mentioned.