Dish
Pleah Sach Ko
Cambodian ceviche of raw beef cured in lime juice with prahok dressing, herbs and peanuts.
Pleah sach ko (ភ្លាសាច់គោ, pleah sach ko) is a Cambodian ceviche of raw beef cured in lime juice with prahok dressing, herbs and peanuts.[1][2] It is popular throughout Cambodia and is eaten at roadside stalls and in fine restaurants alike.[3]
Cultural context
The name describes the dish. Pleah (ភ្លា) is the Khmer word for salads made with raw meat, sach (សាច់) means meat and ko (គោ) means cow, so the whole name means a salad of raw beef.[4] It is also written p'lear sach ko and plea sach ko.[2][3]
In Cambodia it is usually made for weddings and similar celebrations.[5][6]
The salad is savory, spicy and full of herbs.[3] It is sour and hot, and it can be served warm or chilled.[5]
Ingredients and preparation
The beef is sliced very thin and marinated in lime juice for at least two hours, and lemongrass is essential to the marinade.[2][3] It is tossed with thin slices of purple Asian shallot, shaved radish, mint and basil, and topped with crushed roasted peanuts.[1] Prahok, the fermented fish paste at the base of Khmer cooking, is a main flavor in the dish.[3][5] The lime "cooks" the raw beef much as lime cooks the seafood in a ceviche.[3]
Because the beef is served raw, it must be very fresh and well chilled.[2][3]
The Food Dictator's recipe uses 450 grams (1 pound) of finely sliced premium beef filet.[3] Two tablespoons of tuk prahoc are whisked with the juice of two limes and two tablespoons of palm sugar. The beef marinates in this with lemongrass, shallots, onion, basil, saw leaves and garlic, covered in the refrigerator for one to two hours.[3] The rest of the tuk prahoc is whisked with the juice of a third lime and the remaining palm sugar for the dressing.[3] The drained beef is tossed with galangal, kaffir lime leaves, carrot, yellow bell pepper, Fresno chili, long beans, bean sprouts, onion, Thai basil and saw leaves, then dressed. It is garnished with roasted unsalted peanuts, cucumber and cilantro and served immediately.[3] Where the traditional ingredients are hard to find, that recipe uses fish sauce pounded with an anchovy fillet for the prahok, ginger for galangal, lime zest for kaffir lime leaves and green beans for long beans.[3]
History and origins
The origins of pleah sach ko are unknown.[3] It belongs to a Cambodian food culture that includes the cooking of the country's different ethnic groups, while Khmer cuisine means the cooking of the Khmer people.[3] Cambodian cooking is often grouped into peasant, elite and royal food, though the gap between royal and popular food is smaller than in Thailand and Laos.[3] Rice and freshwater fish are at the heart of the Cambodian diet, and a beef salad like this one is usually eaten with rice.[3] The wider tradition shows long contact with Thai, Vietnamese and Lao cooking and with other outside influences.[3]
Regional and household variations
The salad commonly comes in two forms: raw beef cured in lime juice, or a grilled version.[3] In the grilled form, nhoam sach ko, the beef is marinated only briefly, since a long marinade makes it tough, and then seared quickly over charcoal. One cook partly freezes the beef so it slices thin, and the salad is put together just before serving so it does not go limp.[2] Some versions include beef tripe.[1]
Another style pours a clear broth over the lime-marinated beef, made from lime juice, chicken soup base, fish sauce and sugar.[5][6] It adds green eggplant, shallots, garlic, radish, bell pepper, jalapeño and green onion, with saw leaf, lemongrass, basil, mint and cilantro, and crushed peanuts and roasted ground rice usually go on top.[5]
A Japanese recipe uses 250 grams (about 9 ounces) of roast-beef cut, three lemons, Thai basil, mint, red onion, red and green bell pepper, lemongrass, garlic, ginger and fresh red chilies.[4] The beef is dipped briefly in boiling water to clean the surface, sliced about 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) thick and cured in lemon juice for 20 minutes. It is then warmed in a sweet-sour sauce of its juices, garlic, ginger, chili, fish sauce and sugar until about 80 percent cooked.[4] Cabbage stands in for the local leafy greens, and fish sauce stands in for prahok, with anchovy fillets as another option.[4] The same recipe notes that some cooks add MSG and some add roasted crushed peanuts.[4]
Preparations and recipes
- The Food Dictator
- Sliced beef fillet cured in a prahok, lime and palm sugar marinade and tossed with herbs, vegetables and peanuts.
References 6
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Hello Angkor, An Uncommon Guide to Cambodian Cuisine (August 15, 2019)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Grantourismo, Terence Carter, Cambodian Grilled Beef Salad Recipe for Nhoam Sach Ko (July 3, 2020)
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 The Food Dictator, The Hirshon Cambodian Plea Sach Ko Beef Salad (December 13, 2021)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Ndish, プリアサイコー (Pleah sach ko)
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Rainforest Cruises, Cambodian Food: 10 Traditional Dishes You Should Eat (February 15, 2022)
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 SINDOnews Lifestyle, 6 Rekomendasi Makanan Khas Kamboja, Lezat Kaya Rempah (April 7, 2023)
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