NATIONAL DISH OF CAMBODIA
AMOK



The Fish:
Any type of fish will do, but catfish would be best. You can buy precut catfish medallions 
and use about 4 medallions for this recipe. Or you can get a medium size whole fish and
cut them crosswise about 3 or so inches thick. You're suppose to marinate them in a
little salt and pepper or something, but there's no need to because the sauce is good
enough.

The Sauce:
3 kaffir lime leaves
4 garlic cloves 
2 shallots
1 small onion
1 large chile
1 small chunk of galanga root 
3 lemon grass stalks
1 tablespoon of turmeric powder
1 can of coconut milk

Add these later:
A tablespoon of Kapi*
A tablespoon of fishsauce (Squidbrand is best)
A tablespoon of sugar
Salt & pepper

If you can't get kaffir lime leaves, then the zest of one lemon might do. Don't worry
about finely dicing your ingredients because you're going to blenderize them anyways. 
Dice garlic, shallots, onion, and place in blender. For the chile you can try canned green
chiles or a large Anaheim or Ancho type and cut that into a few chunks. Take a small
chunk of galanga root about 1 inch and slice that too. To prepare the lemon grass remove
the outer layer until you get to the soft part. And then slice those and add to blender.
Don't forget the turmeric powder. Then turrn on the blender and slowly pour in one can
of coconut milk. Puree all of it and stop depending on how chunky you want it to be. Make
sure it's smooth and even textured.
*Fermented Shrimp paste.  Instead if Kapi, you can use Prahok instead, but add it to the
blender.

Next take a small pot and add your sauce to it and put over medium heat. This may 
sound simple but it's tiring on your hands. Add sugar, fish sauce, salt and pepper and kapi.
No MSG please! Use a whisk to mix it around, it helps breaks up the kapi. Stir and stir and
stir until it's thick like hmm..a little thicker than spaghetti sauce. You can switch
between the whisk and a wooden spoon to scrape the bottom of the pot. Watch out..as it
gets thicker the sauce is going to bubble and pop and you need to really scrape and stir or
else the bottom will burn. So turn the heat down. Until you get it to the consistency you
want it, you can now stop.

The Wrapping:
Banana leaves or Foil
Any leafy, edible green

If you don't have banana leaves, you can try using foil instead. And I bet it'll be easier.
But banana leaves adds a little flavor and you can't get that out of foil. If you use banana
leaves make like a box or krathong and you can close the ends with a toothpick. Make one
for each fish medallion . If you use foil just take a piece and fold it in half. Line the
bottom with your favorite greens. I used mustard greens but any green is delicious such
as spinach, napa, bok choy, choy sum, romaine lettuce etc. Then ladle in your sauce and
put the fish in and then more sauce on top. If you used foil seal the edges. If you used
banana leaves and made a krathoang then that's it, you can leave the top exposed.

The Steaming:
Very simple, just use a steamer. And let it steam for about 20-30 minutes. Then you're
done. Now you can enjoy it with rice. 


Please report any bad links..Thanks, Buzz


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