Passport & Plate - Amok
Cambodia | Wednesday, March 4, 2015 | 5 photos
Ingredients
Ingredients:
• 450g white fish, such as haddock, plaice, sand whiting or john dory, skinned / or pork fillets / or chicken fillets
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp palm sugar
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
• 400ml coconut milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• steamed jasmine rice
For the amok curry paste:
• 4 fat lemongrass stalks, core roughly chopped
• 20g garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 shallots, roughly chopped
• 25g peeled fresh turmeric or 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp crushed dried chillies
• 25g peeled galangal (or 15gr ginger if you can’t find galangal), chopped
• 2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
• 50g roasted peanuts
To serve:
You can try to make some baskets for the sauce simply using a stapler to turn some banana leaves into little baskets.
How to prepare this recipeHow to prepare this recipe:
STEP 1: Put garlic, galangal (or ginger), turmeric, shallots, lemongrass, peanuts, 2 kaffir leaves, crushed dried chilies and 6 tablespoons of coconut milk in a food processor; blend it until you get a smooth paste.
STEP 2: cut the fish (or the meat) across into 2.5cm-wide strips and set aside.
STEP 3: in a wok (or pan) heat the oil and add the amok paste, fry stirring for a few minutes until fragrant; then add the sugar, fish sauce, 1 teaspoon salt, star anise, kaffir lime leaves and the rest of the coconut milk and remove it from the fire, leave to cool.
STEP 4: stir in the pan with the amok paste the beaten eggs, the fish (or meat) and the remaining lime leaves.
STEP 5: serve the amok in the banana leaves’ little baskets with steamed rice on the side.
Now, I am not sure what the real authentic recipe is: I have found different versions of the recipe, many say the fish/meat is supposed to be steamed with the paste instead of stir fried; I would have to go back to Cambodia and ask locals for the true one. In the meantime, I mainly do follow the one I have first watch on that program on the plane; that one suggests to steam only for a few minutes before serving but not having a steamer, I stir fry only. It tastes lovely enough though!
The story behind this recipeWe were on our flight to Cambodia, watching a culinary TV show on Cambodian food to get in the mood, that’s where I first heard the magic word: amok. “We will have to try that!” we said to each other.
On the first night in Phnom Penh two amok dishes were already on our table; we wondered: how are we gonna survive without this delicacy once back home?!?
We had a lot of amok since then through our trip and it was one of the reasons we were super sad when our Cambodian adventure landed to a finish.
Simple and beautiful presented, it mixes all the main ingredients of the country: lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, peanuts, palm sugar, chilies. I waited a lot before trying to cook it at home, as if I was scared to ruin the memory of a perfect taste and all what it represented.
It might not be the authentic recipe (or me not the perfect chef cooking it!), but the fresh, zesty flavours of South East Asia quickly turn up and that is as if I was given seconds of an out of body experience all the way to lush green rice fields flooded in water, high palm trees and gold pagoda doors. With a spoon of rice and amok I can see the smiles of the people, the brownish colour of the Mekong, the faces of beautiful children wandering around and saying “Hello!!” to us foreigners, water buffalos with huge horns and white skinny cows chewing the grass among stones of Angkor temples. Suddenly I am wandering through chaotic markets, see the colors of food, the spices.. sometimes similar sometimes so different from my home’s and Asia is a never ending source of all that.
Food awakes your senses, keeps memories alive and bright: that is the magic you can get out of it.
