Running Amok in Cambodia

Passport & Plate - Amok Trey - Cambodian fish curry

Cambodia | Friday, March 6, 2015 | 5 photos

Ingredients
Kroueng
20g fresh Galangal
100g (2 large sticks) lemongrass, white part only
20g (2 large cloves) garlic
50g (2) eshallots
2 long red chilies
2 small red chilies
30g fresh turmeric or 1 tablespoon ground
4 double Kaffir lime leaves very finely sliced + 4 extra
2 teaspoons shrimp paste
2 tblspns peanut oil
1.5 tblspns fish sauce
900ml coconut cream, reserving a little for the top
250g Snake or french beans, cut into 3cm batons
2 handfuls spinach leaves, sliced
600g firm white fish*, sliced thinly on the diagonal
3 eggs, whisked

 

How to prepare this recipe
Method
For the Kroueng, roughly chop galangal, lemongrass, garlic, turmeric, eshallots and chillies. Pound in a mortar with a pestle to a fine paste (or chop in a food processor).
Add shrimp paste and pound until well combined and very smooth.
Heat oil in a medium sized saucepan, add kroueng and fish sauce. Cook until fragrant, reduce and cook further 5 minutes on very low heat.
Add half coconut cream and 4 whole kaffir lime leaves. Stir, cooking gently for 10 minutes. Add remainder of coconut cream, simmer very gently for 5 minutes, then cool slightly.
Add the beans and cook a further 5 minutes.
Add fish. Stir well. Simmer 3 - 5 minutes. Reduce the heat. Stir in spinach and allow to cool a little.
Stir in eggs and mix vigorously. Return to the heat and cook gently until the sauce has thickened a little
At this stage, you can transfer the amok to an oven proof dish, drizzle over coconut cream and cook in the oven or in a steamer @ 180C for 25 - 30 minutes.
Alternatively, you can finish off on the cooktop and transfer to a serving dish.
Garnish with a splash of coconut milk, shredded kaffir lime leaves and finely sliced chilli.
Serve with rice.

 

The story behind this recipe
In 2013, my husband Rob & I took our tweenie daughters to Cambodia, Laos & Vietnam on their very first international holiday. We wanted to show them how the other half lived - shake them up a little - ground them. During our 6 week journey, we were charmed by the people, humbled by their histories, captivated by the scenery & entranced by the vibrant flavours of the cuisine. We trekked & stayed in Hmong & Khamu villages in the mountains, never again taking rice for granted. Our tiny, wiry hosts pounded the husks from their home grown mountain rice by foot. We travelled by boat across the Tong le sap from Siem Reap, soaking in the busy river life of the floating villagers. We stayed in small locally run hotels, our travel clothes still boasting coloured cotton, used to identify them as ours in the wash, remind us of an unforgettable adventure. We backpacked student style, eating street food, crispy chilli crickets carried on the heads of the Cambodian women at the bus stops, Phoh sitting on milk crates in the pop up restaurants in Hanoi & BBQ fish at the night markets in Luang Prabang. We were in awe of the temples in Siem Reap, our emotions were stripped bare by S21 & the Killing Fields of Cambodia & we were humbled by the work of the many NGOs & former child soldiers now clearing Cambodia of land mines. Our eyes & hearts were opened. We laughed & cried & came home changed. As I type, I am overcome with emotion. Every time I make this feast, it all comes flooding back & I yearn to return. I couldn’t pick just one dish, so here is our Cambodian, Laos feast - a mix of the simple & the sublime. The Eggplant jeow recipe is courtesy of Poh, our hostess in the remote Hmong mountain village in Laos, & the decadent amok, one of our favourite dishes in Cambodia, we learnt to make in an al fresco cooking school in Siem Reap.