Cambodia's national dish: silky fish custard steamed in banana leaves with kroeung lemongrass paste and coconut cream.
Fish amok (amok trei) is Cambodia's signature dish and one of Southeast Asia's most delicate curries. Freshwater fish — traditionally snakehead or catfish — is folded into a fragrant paste of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, kaffir lime, and garlic (the holy quintet known as kroeung), enriched with coconut cream and palm sugar, and steamed in cups made from banana leaves until the mixture sets into a soft, savory custard. The texture is the magic: somewhere between a mousse and a curry, fragrant rather than fiery, with delicate noni or morning-glory leaves layered at the bottom. Amok is Cambodia's flag-bearer dish — served at Pchum Ben festivals, wedding banquets, and every restaurant catering to visitors in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh.
Serves 4
Pound lemongrass, garlic, shallots, galangal, turmeric, kaffir lime leaves, shrimp paste, and chilies in a mortar (or pulse in a food processor) into a fine, fragrant green paste. This takes 8–10 minutes by hand.
Real kroeung is pounded, not blended — but a powerful processor with a tbsp of water gets you close.
Heat 3 tbsp coconut cream in a pan over medium. When the oil separates and shimmers, add kroeung. Fry 4 minutes until deeply aromatic and the color darkens.
Add remaining coconut cream, fish sauce, and palm sugar. Simmer 3 minutes. Taste — it should be salty-sweet-perfumed. Cool to lukewarm.
Whisk eggs and rice flour into the cooled mixture. Fold in fish cubes gently — they should be fully coated but not broken up.
Form banana leaf squares into cups by overlapping two perpendicular leaves and pinning the corners with toothpicks. (Or use small ceramic ramekins.)
Place a few noni leaves or spinach in the bottom of each cup. Spoon fish mixture on top to fill three-quarters.
Steam cups over simmering water for 22–25 minutes until set — the surface should be firm but yield slightly when pressed.
Don't oversteam — past 25 minutes the custard goes rubbery.
Drizzle each amok with a spoon of fresh coconut cream. Top with sliced red chili and shredded kaffir lime leaves. Serve with jasmine rice.
Authentic amok depends on kroeung — don't substitute Thai red curry paste, which is harsher and chili-heavier. Make your own or buy a Cambodian-labeled paste.
Use the thickest coconut cream you can find (Aroy-D or Chao Koh) — light coconut milk won't set into a proper custard.
If you can find them, slok ngor (noni leaves) are the traditional bed; the leaves are slightly bitter and balance the rich coconut.
Amok sat (chicken amok): use boneless chicken thigh cubed; cook 5 extra minutes.
Vegetarian amok: tofu and mushroom; use soy sauce in place of fish sauce, mushroom paste in place of shrimp paste.
Open-pan amok: omit eggs and rice flour; serve as a thicker coconut-fish stew over rice.
Best eaten fresh. Refrigerate up to 2 days; reheat by steaming again for 6 minutes — never microwave (the custard separates).
Fish amok dates to the Angkor period (9th–15th centuries), when steaming foods in banana leaves was the dominant cooking technique. The shrimp-paste-and-coconut combination reflects centuries of trade with Indian, Malay, and Chinese cooking traditions across the Mekong basin.
Kroeung is the foundational Khmer flavor paste of pounded lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, shallots, and shrimp paste. There are red, yellow, and green varieties used across Cambodian cooking.
Yes — small ceramic ramekins or steamer cups work perfectly. The banana leaf is traditional and adds a subtle herbaceous note, but is not essential to the dish's success.
You either used light coconut milk instead of thick cream, didn't include the egg/rice flour binders, or undercooked it. Set requires a custard-like ratio of fat and protein plus 20+ minutes of gentle steam.
Authentic Khmer amok is fragrant, not fiery — most versions use no chili at all. The character is herbal and floral from the kroeung, with sweet and salty undertones. Add chili to taste but don't dominate.
Per serving (240g) · 4 servings total
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