South East Asian Delights

Cambodian Aubergine Curry and Stir Fried Spinach with Nuoc Cham

After last week's Fish Amok success we still had some Kroeung left so it was back to the recipe book for more inspiration. Also, since discovering the price of Aubergines in Lidl, we always seem to have at least one in, so it was with little surprise that the recipe for Cambodian Aubergine Curry leapt off the page.
As with a lot of these recipes the ingredient list was quite substantial, and some items require a flick to the glossary, or to the ingredients or condiments section to see what exactly it is.
We did have most ingredients in for the Aubergine curry, but did have to make a few adjustments (Morrisons doesn't sell Shrimp Paste, and haven't ventured into China town yet to investigate these type of crazy ingredients, and Cambodian Fish Sauce? Sorry, Thai will have to do).
We served it with a side of stir fried spinach with Nuoc Cham, again adapted slightly, as this was normal British spinach and not oriental Water Spinach, and also by accident, the proportions got slightly out.

Ingredients: (Aubergine Curry)

2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 small shallots, sliced
1 dried chilli
1 1/2 tbsp Kroeung
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tbsp mollases
300ml coconut milk
175 ml chicken stock
1 large aubergine, cut into chunks
3 kaffir lime leaves
fresh basil

First of all, fry the garlic, shallots and whole chilli until things start to colour. Then add the Kroeung, fish sauce and mollases and stir fry until they start to colour.

Then stir in the coconut milk, stock and lime leaves.

Next add the aubergines and stir through.
partially cover the pan and simmer for 25-30 mins until the aubergines have cooked through and the sauce has thickened.






Ingredients: (Spinach)

Groundnut oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 green Thai chillis
500g spinach
3 tbsp Nuoc Cham - 4 garlic cloves, 2 Thai chillis, 1 tbsp sugar, juice of 1 lime, 4tbsp fish sauce
Salt and pepper

The spinach was more complicated, since we had to make the Nuoc Cham from scratch. This involved pounding the garlic, chillis and sugar with a pestle and mortar, then adding the lime juice and the fish sauce (which in the book is called Nuoc Mam (Vietnamese) - to confuse matters (not to be confused with Tuk Trey which is Cambodian.) Confused?)

The garlic and chillis were then fried in a wok with the groundnut oil for about 1 minute, then the spinach was added. As it wilts, the Nuoc Cham is added. All of this went in. The measurements for the Nuoc Cham make more than is needed for the spinach stir fry, but hey ho, it didn't offend and meant there was a bit of liquid left over.

The Cambodian curry was lovely. The flavours of the Kroeung coming through, and not overpowering the aubergine. We'd used light coconut milk, but this didn't have an effect on the creaminess of the dish at all.

The spinach (Vietnamese) was lovely and refreshing with the lime juice of the Nuoc Cham coming through, also with a satisfying kick from those chillis. We do like spicy food, but perhaps these two were not best matched. The heat of the chillis in the spinach seemed to overpower the delicate flavours and fragrances of the curry. We will do both of these again, and again. But probably not together.

Fish Amok

It has been a while since we cooked Khmer food (Cambodian). We attempted a meal for parents a while ago, after our trip to Vietnam and Cambodia last year. For us, it was the Cambodian food that was the most memorable of the trip, even though we were in the country for such a short time. We ate in out hotel a couple of times, which also had a restaurant in the town. Other meals were in small restaurants within the Angkor complex.

My favourite dish from Cambodia is their national dish Amok Trei, or Fish Amok. There are a few different recipes and cooking methods written about on the Internet, but our Cambodian and Vietnamese recipe book calls the dish "Steamed Fish in Coconut Custard". Some recipes I have come across don't even involve steaming, and in fact one recipe I saw was from the wall of Angkor Thom apparently, and there was no steaming.

The two examples of Amok I had in Cambodia (above) were quite different. The first was chicken Amok, and was rather liquid. This was served in a coconut, and had a small amount of onion and other vegetables within the dish. The second was fish amok and was served in a banana leaf cup, in which many recipes say that the mixture should be steamed. (Although some just say it should be presented in them). This second version was thicker and again included small amounts of vegetables. Both we very tasty and quite unlike anything we'd ever had before.

The basic flavours of this dish come from the paste "Kroeung". Some times this is called this Cambodian curry paste, other times it is called a herbal paste, but the version I used contained lemongrass, shallots, ginger, turmeric, kaffir lime leaves and loads of garlic. No chilli. Some recipes do add chilli, but I was following the "herbal paste" recipe from the Cambodian and Vietnamese recipe book.

When we tried the dish before, we'd used that book, however the quantities didn't seem to add up. The Amok was very liquid, and the flavour of the Kroeung quite diluted, so I'd researched a few alternative recipes and came up with an idea of what to try to see if it worked.

Ingredients:


3 lemongrass stalks
8 cloves of garlic
Ginger root or galangal if available
1 tsp Turmeric
1 large shallot
3 kaffir lime leaves
2 Birdseye chillis
2 fillets of cod
Half a can of coconut milk
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 eggs

Firstly I made the Kroeung paste. This was 3 lemongrass stalks (I'm never sure how to prepare lemongrass, I know everything says to removed the woody outer leaves, but it is all woody if you ask me!), 8 cloves of garlic, 1 shallot, 3 kaffir lime leaves, a piece of ginger and a teaspoon of turmeric all whizzed up with a bit of water to make a paste.

Next I added about 2-3 tablespoons of the Kroeung to about half a tin of coconut milk along with 2 chopped birds eye chillis. Many recipes for Amok do not have any chilli at all, but some do (and some Kroeung recipes have chilli in but this one didn't). We like the kick, so I added some. Into this mixture went two eggs (double yolkers bought from Marple Food and Drink Festival), 2 tablespoons of fish sauce and two fillets of cod, cut into chunks.

The mixture is then put in a steamer, and for these quantities, steamed for 15-20 mins stirring part way through.
The last time we attempted Amok, we didn't have a bowl big enough for the food that would fit in the steamer so cooked the mixture in a ban marie. Perhaps that method also was to blame for it not thickening last time.
I think I overcooked the mixture slightly as the eggs seemed a little scrambled, but this didn't ruin the dish as all the flavours were still there.


The finished dish was lovely. Very very tasty. The flavours were true of the food we'd eaten in Cambodia, but possibly this version of Amok might not be that authentic. For example I used powdered turmeric instead of fresh turmeric root, and ginger rather than galangal, also I'm not actually sure about the addition of the chillis. (Kerry, can you help on this? Does your Amok have chilli in?) Plus there was not a banana leaf in sight. The fish still held it's flavour and the sauce was definitely thicker than before. We served it with plain rice.

I will modify the proportions the next time we make this. I think there was too much Kroeung to coconut milk as it was rather rich and needed the rice to balance it. I may also try adding a few thin slices of onion and another vegetable maybe. But I think this time was far more successful than last.

Fish Amok or Amok Trei