Name: Steamed Fish in Young Coconut, Khmer-Style
Yield: for 6 as a starter
Cuisine: Asia
Ingredients: 45 g/ 1½ oz turmeric root, chopped, or 1 tsp ground turmeric; 85 g/ 3 oz galangal, chopped; 175 g/ 6 oz lemon grass, soft inner part only, chopped; 4 eggs; 1 tbsp grated palm sugar; 1 tsp salt; 175 ml/ 6 fl oz thick coconut milk; 2–3 fresh trout, each weighing about 350 g/12 oz , filleted and skinned, then cut into strips about 2 cm/¾ in wide; 3 kaffir lime leaves, cut into fine julienne strips; 85 g/ 3 oz chopped shallots; 85 g/ 3 oz chopped garlic (about 1 large head); 2 large red chillies, deseeded and cut into julienne strips; 4 tbsp thick coconut milk; 45 g/ 1½ oz Chinese keys, chopped; 60 g/ 2 oz strands or julienne strips of young coconut flesh; 2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla or nuoc mam); 3–6 dried red chillies, deseeded and chopped

Preparation info

for
6
as a starter

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

New Wave Asian

By Sri Owen

Published 2002

About

The Khmer name for this is amok. Though the dish is a traditional one, it has been adopted as a speciality of the Grand Hotel d Angkor in Siem Reap, which is the ideal base for anyone visiting Angkor Wat and the monuments to the greatness of the ancient Khmer empire. At the Grand, they actually cook and serve this in a young coconut A wide hole is cut in the top and the coconut water poured off; it makes a delicious drink in the tropical heat. The undisturbed young flesh adds its flavour to