Cambodia - Fish Amok Recipe

Here is the recipe and instructions for how to cook Nary's Kitchen - Fish Amok. Thanks to the chefs - Toot and Nary. Enjoy!

Cambodian Fish Amok

Ingredients

100g fish fillet (snake fish or white fish)
15-20g sliced lemongrass (from a stalk)
1 kaffir-lime leaf
1cm cube fresh galangal
1cm cube fresh tumeric (or 1/4 TSP turmeric powder)
1-2cm cube fresh finger root (chinese ginger)
1-2 red-sun dried paprika (or 1-2 tsp paprika powder)
150ml (6-8 tbsp) coconut milk
1/2 tsp chicken stock powder
2-3 garlic cloves
1 tsp white/brown sugar
Pinch of salt
1 tsp boneless Prahok fish paste (or shrimp paste to substitute)
1 Slek-Nhor (use spinach or kale to substitute)
2 banana leaves to make bowl (or ceramic soup bowl to substitute)
A pinch of cornflour

Method

Making the lemongrass paste 

1. Rinse then soak the sun-dried paprika to re-soften for 1 minute

Soaked Paprika

2. Thinly slice the fresh stalk of lemongrass and set aside

Slice the middle section into tiny thin rings

3.  Slice small pieces; kaffir-lime, galangal, tumeric, finger-root and peeled garlic

Rest of the paste ingredients to be chopped

4. Put everything in a mortar; the sliced lemongrass, karrif-lime, galangal, turmeric, finger-root, garlic, soaked paprika, shrimp/fish paste. Pound it for 10 minutes or more with the pestle. Until it becomes a very fine paste (lemongrass paste) then set aside.

All sliced up and ready for pounding

Give it some welly (no this isn't ready yet...keep going...)

...Until it looks like this!

Preparing the fish

1. Finely slice the fish 

Snake fish...or any white fresh fish

2. Put it in a bowl with chicken stock powder, salt, sugar, 1 tbps lemongrass paste, 3-4 tbsp coconut milk. Mix and stir with a spoon until the flavours infuse the fish, then set aside.

Marinade for the fish

Letting the flavours infuse

Making a banana leaf bowl

1. Fold 2 pieces of banana leaf to make a bowl. 

Heat the banana leaf so it blends without breaking, fold it into a box shape,
securing with toothpicks.

2. Pin with a toothpick at the four corners and trim it.

Here's one I made earlier!

Making the coconut cream

1. Pour 50ml (4-5 tbsp) coconut milk into a pot and add a pinch or two of cornflour, then simmer (whilst stirring) over a low flame until it becomes thicker (1 minute or so). You can make this whilst the fish is cooking (see instructions below).

Coconut cream

Assemble and cook

1. Strip off the stem of the Slek-Nhor and tear into small pieces and place in the bottom of the banana leaf bowl. 

Layered up Fish Amok

3. Transfer all the marinaded fish into the banana leaf bowl and steam it for 15-20 minutes (until the fish is cooked).

Steaming the fish (don't forget to put a lid on the pan!)

4. Whilst this is steaming make the coconut cream (instructions above). 

5. Finally once the fish is cooked, add 1 - 2 tbsp of the freshly made coconut cream over the top (whilst still hot) of the cooked fish in the banana leaf bowl and garnish with small sliced kaffir-lime leaf and a few long slices of fresh sweet chilli on top.

Ready to eat!

5. Serve with steamed rice.

Serves 1-2 people.