Cambodian fish amok (amok trey)

Cambodian fish amok (amok trey) is sometimes described as a steamed fish curry, but this only touches on the wonderful flavors and delicate textures of this dish. It's light, fresh and with amazing bright flavors. Perfect served with rice, or sides of your choice.

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Before we visited Cambodia a few years ago, I had a good few ideas about places I wanted to visit and some of the history I wanted to delve into. But honestly, I didn't really know much about Cambodian food. So, I did a bit of digging and then we tried as much as possible while we were there.

For various reasons, Cambodian cuisine is not that widely known elsewhere, which is definitely a shame. It shares many common ingredients and flavors as neighboring countries, but they come together in their own unique way. This dish is a great example, which I made sure we had a few times on our visit.

What is fish amok?

"Amok" means the process of steaming in a banana leaf which is the traditional way of cooking this dish. It is sometimes simply called "amok" as it is traditionally always made with fish, but you will also see it as "amok trey" or "amok trei" (trey/trei means fish). 

It's a traditional Khmer dish, which dates back to the Khmer Empire (as far back as the 9th century). Though there's some debate regionally whether it's originally from Cambodia or not, since there are other similar dishes, such as Thai hor mok and otak otak in Malaysia and Indonesia (though the Indonesian version is less similar).

But amok is closer to the hearts of Cambodians and is generally considered a national dish. In reality, these days it is more of a special occasion dish or enjoyed in restaurants. Though you do have to watch out for speeded up versions in touristy areas that lose much of what makes the dish special. 

While fish is the main ingredient, this dish is all about the flavors and texture. You might have it with a chunk of fish and a sauce over the top, but more typically, you blend everything together to make almost a mousse (it can be either a little chunky from the fish or smooth). And the texture is particularly light due to being steamed in a banana leaf.

What is fish amok made of?

This dish consists of a few key ingredients:

• White fish - the base is often freshwater fish like catfish, snakehead or goby, but you might also use (and especially if making it elsewhere) fish like halibut, snapper or cod. 
• Coconut cream or coconut milk - you want this to be thick, so coconut cream can be best, or else the thick part from coconut milk.
• Kroeung spice paste - this is the name for traditional Khmer spice pastes that come in a few variations. You'll find this made with both green and yellow kroeung which have slightly different flavors.
• Egg - as mentioned above, this helps the mixture to set slightly.
• Fish sauce, shrimp paste and palm sugar - you add just a little of each as seasonings to help to round out the flavors. Technically, it should be prahok, a fermented fish paste, but belacan shrimp paste is probably closest and easier to find.

One ingredient I have missed out, as it is near impossible to get, is noni leaves. You traditionally add a leaf into the banana leaf before putting the fish mixture in and it helps add a distinct flavor. However there's no real substitute, and it's still delicious without. 

Making the kroeung paste

Kroeung is kind of to Cambodian cuisine what a Thai curry paste is to Thai food. It's a blend of spices - generally fresh rather than in dried form - that come in a couple different variations. You can then use them as a base to a variety of dishes.

For this dish, I have used a yelllow kroeung which you make with lemongrass, turmeric, galangal, garlic, shallot and makrut/ kaffir lime leaves (or zest). While these ingredients may be less common, you can generally find all of them in an Asian supermarket.

You traditionally cut everything finely then crush them together with a pestle and mortar. If you want to speed things up, or don't have a pestle and mortar, you can instead mix in a blender or food processor.

While blenders/food processors do well at breaking up most ingredients, lemongrass and lime leaves can still be tricky. I'd make sure you chop fairly small by hand first anyway. And I would suggest still trying to crush the ingredients together a little after to help the flavors mingle. 

Substitutes and preparing ahead

While most ingredients are pretty easy to find in Asian supermarkets, as I say, you can make a couple substitutions if necessary. If you can't find lime leaves, you could use some regular lime zest instead, though it's not quite the same.

If you can't get either fresh turmeric or galangal, you may find dried powders of each more easily (especially turmeric). Using the dried versions, I'd suggest around ⅓ of the quantity compared to fresh. You may also want to add a splash of water to help the paste along. Ginger is relatively similar to galangal, so is another option to replace that, but the flavor is that little bit different.

If you are using a blender or food processor in particular, you might find it easier to make a slightly larger quantity of paste than you need. If so, you can freeze leftovers for another time. I suggest dividing it into portions and eg freezing in an ice cube tray. Transfer to a freezer bag for longer storage, then defrost a block, or blocks, as you need it.

In terms of the other ingredients in the dish, fish sauce is widely available, and shrimp paste is in most Asian supermarkets. If you can't find the latter, you can always skip and maybe use slightly more fish sauce. Palm sugar is also in Asian supermarkets, but if you don't find it, or prefer, brown sugar is a close alternative.

Making fish amok

Once you have made your spice paste, the rest all comes together quickly and easily. You simply chop the fish and mix it with the other ingredients until everything is well mixed.

Then, you transfer the mixture to the banana leaf boat. It can be nice to decorate the top with a little more coconut cream or milk, and a few shreds of makrut/ kaffir lime leaf and thin slices of either red chili or bell pepper.

Carefully transfer the filled banana leaf to a steamer and steam until the mixture is gently wobbly and cooked through. You should see a change in color in the fish as it becomes opaque as it cooks, and the egg will help the outside at least of the mixture set.

A bamboo steamer over a wok or pot of water is ideal for cooking, but a vegetable steamer covered with a lid will also work. Just be aware, the banana leaf is flexible so you want a fairly flat base for it to sit on.

You typically serve amok with steamed rice, which pairs perfectly to get every last bit of flavor. 

Do you need to use banana leaves?

Since you don't eat the banana leaf as such, it's not entirely essential to the dish, but it does serve a couple of purposes. First, it's slightly better for steaming in than the alternative, which would be foil, as it lets a little more steam through. It also holds together slightly more firmly, I think. Then secondly, it makes for a much nicer presentation. 

Plus, it's not necessarily as hard to find as you might think. While it's more rare to find fresh leaves, you'll find frozen leaves in most Asian supermarkets. Just carefully peel off one from the stack and keep the others in the freezer for another time. It will defrost quickly, then wash and dry ready to use.

Folding the banana leaf boat

There's more than one way to fold a banana leaf - you can start with a square or circle, as you prefer, but essentially you want to fold in four sides and pin the corners you create in against the sides.

Use cocktail sticks/toothpicks to secure the leaves in place. More traditionally, you would use other leaves but these are more practical and readily available. You can either pin each corner separately, as I have here, or if you go more long and thin, you can pin two corners together. 

Once folded, you'll have a little pocket to pour the amok mixture into. Be aware that it will spread and grow a little as it cooks, so it can be good to make it slightly bigger than you might think you need at first.

I realize all the steps about making the paste and the banana leaf boat might make this feel a bit more daunting, but really, it's actually pretty easy to make and very hands off to cook. And more importantly, the little bit of effort is well worth it as this is such an amazingly tasty dish.

Fish amok is a beloved Cambodian dish for good reason - the flavors are bright and aromatic and the texture is both creamy and light. Calling it a steamed fish curry sells short how unique it is. Be sure to make this delicious dish soon.

Try these other favorite seafood recipes:

• Malabar prawn curry (Malabar shrimp, a delicious Goan curry with a slight tang from tamarind)
• Sicilian swordfish with olives and capers (pesce spada alla ghiotta, an easy and delicious Mediterranean fish dish)
• Crab ravioli (a little more effort, but a deliciously simple filling in this filled pasta)
• Plus get more seafood recipes and Southeast Asian recipes in the archives.

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store. 

I've drawn on a few recipes in creating this (as well as based on what we had in Cambodia), in particular this Grantourismo Travels recipe and Changkran Khmer restaurant recipe.

Remember to pin for later!