Dish
Kroeung
គ្រឿង
Family of pounded Khmer herb and spice pastes that form the flavour base of many Cambodian dishes.
Kroeung (គ្រឿង) is the family of pounded herb and spice pastes that gives many Cambodian dishes their base flavor.[1] Soups, curries, steamed dishes and marinades across Khmer cooking begin with it.[2]
Cultural context
Kroeung is built on eight ingredients: lemongrass, makrut lime peel and leaves, galangal, turmeric, garlic, shallots and, sometimes, chilies.[3] They are traditionally pounded together in a mortar and pestle.[4][5] The chef and author Chef Nak counts kroeung among the foundations of Cambodian cooking.[2] Cambodian homes and restaurant kitchens often make it fresh, and a cook's kroeung is a matter of pride.[6]
Ingredients and preparation
One method begins by pounding the galangal, then adds lime peel and leaves, lemongrass, turmeric, garlic and shallots in turn until the paste is smooth.[2] A food processor may stand in for the mortar, though some cooks hold that slow pounding releases more of the herbs' fragrance.[5][2]
Cooks sort kroeung by color. Red kroeung starts from dried chilies, soaked, and seeded for a milder paste.[6] Green kroeung (kroeung prâhoeur) uses the leaves of the lemongrass as well as the stalk.[7] Yellow kroeung (kroeung samlor m'chou) is the base paste, used in dishes such as samlor machou kroeung, a sour soup made with beef and morning glory or with pork ribs.[7][3]
History and origins
Turmeric, which sets the Cambodian yellow base apart, is one of the legacies of early Indian traders, and Indian curries are among the influences on Cambodian cooking.[3][8] Khmer cooking left its mark on its neighbors: Central Thai cooking shares sour fish soups and coconut curries with it, Isan and Laos have their own versions of prahok, and Khmer Krom cooks brought Cambodian spices and curries into Vietnamese cooking.[9][8] That shared history helps explain the likeness between kroeung and some Thai curry pastes; the Cambodian yellow base is marked by fresh turmeric.[6]
Regional and household variations
Cambodian recipe tradition names five pastes in regular use: yellow, green, red, k'tis and the saraman kroeung of Saraman curry.[7]
Outside Cambodia, cooks adapt. Powdered turmeric may replace fresh, extra garlic may replace galangal, and lime and lemon zest may stand in for the leaves.[10] Nite Yun, the chef of the Oakland restaurant Nyum Bai, notes that kroeung keeps for months in the freezer.[10]
Preparations and recipes
- Chef Nak, HOPE: Delicious, Simple and Fast Cambodian Cooking
- Hand-pounded lemongrass paste built up aromatic by aromatic, made in a batch large enough for several dishes.
References
- ↑ Saveur, Khmer Yellow Curry Paste (Kroeung) (undated)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Chef Nak, Cambodian Kroeung Recipe: Khmer Lemongrass Paste
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Thalias Hospitality, Nikki Sullivan and CG, Gastronomy: Herbs and spices, virtues and unique role in Khmer cuisine (June 1, 2022)
- ↑ Cambodianess, How to Make Khmer Lemongrass Paste, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cookbook The Taste of Angkor (March 22, 2021)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Saveur, Ros Rotanak, Grilled Squid Stuffed With Pork and Kroeung (July 23, 2026)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Grantourismo Travels, Kroeung Cambodian Curry Paste: A Cambodian Cuisine Essential (May 2014)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Grantourismo Travels, Cambodian Recipes to Learn to Cook (August 2020)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Insight Guides, Cambodian food (undated)
- ↑ Thalias Hospitality, Christophe Gargiulo, History and gastronomy: Discover the ancient flavors of the Khmer Empire (March 10, 2025)
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Sunset Magazine, Nite Yun, Cambodian spice paste (kroeung)