Dish

Fish Amok

អាម៉ុកត្រី

Khmer steamed fish curry with a mousse-like texture, made with kroeung, coconut cream and eggs and steamed in banana leaf.

Fish amok (amok trei) is a Khmer steamed fish curry with a mousse-like texture, made with kroeung, coconut cream and eggs and steamed in banana leaf.[1][2] It is considered one of Cambodia's national dishes.[2][3]

Cultural context

A banana-leaf cup of fish amok topped with red chilli strips beside a mound of white rice.
Fish amok with white rice, both served in banana leaves, Siem Reap, 2015.

In Khmer, amok means to steam in banana leaf, and trei means fish.[1] Fish amok appears on the menus of nearly every Cambodian restaurant, from luxury dining rooms to simple eateries.[4] It is a dish for special occasions such as ceremonies and weddings rather than everyday meals.[2] It is also served at festivals.[5] The Cambodian chef Chef Nak counts the dish as deeply Cambodian and holding the soul of Khmer cooking.[6]

The flavor is slightly sweet, fragrant and mildly spicy.[5] Compared with Thai curries, amok is more subtle and leans on fresh herbs and spices rather than strong heat.[5] It is usually eaten with steamed rice.[5][3]

Ingredients and preparation

Fish amok is made with freshwater fish such as goby, snakehead or catfish, with yellow kroeung, coconut cream and eggs.[3][7] The kroeung is built from fragrant ingredients such as lemongrass, galangal, turmeric and makrut lime, pounded to release their scent.[6] One traditional version also uses fresh turmeric, dried red pepper, garlic, palm sugar and fish sauce.[2] The mortar and pestle remain the traditional way to make the paste.[8] Food processors have made the work shorter, but pounding releases natural oils and gives a different aroma from a machine.[2]

The fish, kroeung, coconut cream and eggs are mixed and spooned into a banana-leaf cup lined with leaves of the great morinda tree, known in Khmer as nhor and in English as noni.[9][1] To make the cup, the banana leaves are softened in boiling water, folded, and pinned at each corner.[8] The eggs give the dish body and help it set like custard.[7] The mixture steams for about 20 to 30 minutes, until it is firm to the touch but still moist.[3] Fish amok is served in banana-leaf cups or coconut shells.[3][1]

Older cooks in Battambang pound the kroeung, massage it into the fish for about an hour, let it marinate, then steam it in single banana-leaf bowls.[1] They hold that snakehead is the fish for amok trei.[1] Steaming the traditional way can take 25 to 40 minutes, where a curry takes about ten.[1]

History and origins

Fish amok is believed to have been a royal Khmer dish dating back to the Khmer Empire, between the ninth and 15th centuries.[9][2] Its origin is debated. The food writer Phil Lees noted that Thailand makes a nearly identical dish, hor mok, and argued from the name that amok probably came from Cambodia's neighbors.[10] Lara Dunston of Grantourismo calls the Thai dish a descendant of amok trei.[3] The recipe passed down through the generations.[2]

Under the Khmer Rouge, in Democratic Kampuchea (1975 to 1979), much of the knowledge of how to make the dish was lost along with the oral traditions that carried it.[2] Traditional recipes vanished from home kitchens in those years.[4] In the decade before 2017, Cambodians began to rediscover their cuisine, and fish amok is part of that wider work of restoring the country's food heritage.[2] As of 2018, a movement to restore Khmer cooking was under way.[4]

In Australia, the baker Chan Khun, who moved from Cambodia in 2004, was working on a fish curry pie inspired by fish amok in 2018.[11] He and his brother Ryan Khun run Country Cob Bakery in Victoria. Their fish amok pie, made with barramundi and curry sauce, won the champion title of Australia's Best Pie 2023 from the Baking Association of Australia on June 3, 2023.[12][13] More than 300 bakeries entered that year's competition.[14]

Regional and household variations

A halved coconut shell holding a creamy fish curry with herbs, on a restaurant table.
Fish amok served in a young coconut, Siem Reap, 2014. Photo: yashima from Karlsruhe, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0

Cambodian cooks follow no single formula, and the dish changes from place to place.[2] Many families have their own recipe.[4] Home cooks may add egg and steam the dish, while some restaurants leave out both because steaming takes too long.[7] Villagers around Siem Reap make amok trei as a wet curry with the same paste and usually no eggs, and poorer households are more likely to serve it as a curry than steamed.[1] In Battambang, the local version is known as Amok Battambang and is part of daily life.[15] In 2023 Battambang became Cambodia's first UNESCO City of Gastronomy.[16][17] On the coast, including Kep, some restaurants make amok with crab meat or sea fish.[5]

Goby, snakehead or catfish may give way to cod, snapper, barramundi, salmon, whiting or perch, and Swiss chard can stand in for morinda leaves.[3] Many tourist restaurants, especially in Siem Reap, serve less traditional versions with chicken, tofu or beef instead of fish, a store-bought paste, a thinner sauce, or no steaming at all.[1][3] Some restaurants use a commercial paste or thinned Thai green curry paste in place of fresh kroeung.[1] Older Cambodian cooks hold that the dish is amok only when it is steamed, and they see other versions as a threat to culinary heritage and identity.[1] One restaurateur added chicken, beef and tofu amok for diners who did not want fish and because the restaurant needed the income.[1]

Preparations and recipes

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Grantourismo Travels, Ruining Amok, The Corruption of Cambodia's National Dish (2016-04-21)
  2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 Audrey Gillan, Cambodia: the art of amok, National Geographic Traveller (UK) (October 2017)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 Grantourismo, Lara Dunston, Cambodian Fish Amok Recipe for an Authentic Steamed Fish Curry in the Old Style (May 23, 2017)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Eat Well Enjoy Life - Pure Food, Radiant Energy (gluten free), Fish Amok You Can Make At Home - Healthy Flavorful Dish (2018-03-16)
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Cambodianess, Cambodian Amok: A Culinary Delight (2026-03-03)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chef Nak Home Dining, Fish Amok Recipe - Cambodian Steamed Curry by Chef Nak - CHEF NAK
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Silk Road Recipes, Cambodian (Khmer) Fish Amok Recipe (2024-10-09)
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Asia Society, Fish Amok, Cambodia's National Dish (September 19, 2011)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Wikipedia: Fish amok
  10. ↑ Phnomenon, Phil Lees, Amokalypse Now (April 4, 2007)
  11. ↑ SBS Food, Audrey Bourget, A Cambodian migrant is making Australia's best pie (July 10, 2018)
  12. ↑ Broadsheet, Audrey Payne, Australia's Best Pie Has Been Named of 2023 and It's From Victoria's Country Cob Bakery (Again) (June 5, 2023)
  13. ↑ Time Out Melbourne, Leah Glynn, It's official: Victoria is home to Australia's best pie (June 5, 2023)
  14. ↑ Dandenong Star Journal, Sahar Foladi, Springvale bakery best in show (June 11, 2023)
  15. ↑ Khmer Times, Battambang's gastronomy joins the ranks of UNESCO creative cities
  16. ↑ CamboJA News, Phon Sothyroth and Runn Sreydeth, Battambang Gastronomy Delights UNESCO Creative Cities Network – First Cambodian City To Join List (November 2, 2023)
  17. ↑ The Cambodia Daily, Battambang: know all about UNESCO's newest City of Gastronomy (December 4, 2023)
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This page was last edited on 18 October 2026, at 16:50.