46. Cambodia

PAN-FRIED CHIVES CAKE DUMPLINGS

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INGREDIENTS:

!FOR THE DOUGH:

• 1 cup of rice flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch (plus more for dusting)
• 2 tbsp glutinous rice flour
• 1/2 -1 cup of water
• Pinch of salt
• Parchment paper (cut into 10 pieces of 4x4-inch squares)
• Canola oil (needed for brushing the cakes, and pan frying )

!FOR THE FILLING:

• 1 lb of chives
• 5 cloves garlic (peeled and finely minced)
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Shao xing wine
• Dash of white pepper powder
• 2 Tbsp of cooking oil

!SAUCE:

• 2-3 red chilis (seeded if you want)
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 Tbsp sugar

INSTRUCTIONS:

!PREPARING THE FILLING:

1. Preheat a large skillet/wok. Add canola oil. Add in the garlic and stir-fry for about 10 seconds, add the chives, soy sauce and wine. Cook until the chives are wilted. Season with dash of pepper. Have a taste and add more soy sauce if needed
2. Remove from the heat and let it cool completely while you prepare the dough

!PREPARING THE SAUCE:

1. Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small sauce pan and cook until the sugar is melted. Remove from the heat
2. !Preparing the dough:
3. Mix all the flour together in a mixing bowl. Add in salt and stir to combine them. Add in about 1 cup of the water and stir to combine. It should be a thick batter consistency
4. Transfer the wet dough into a medium-size sauce pan and cook over low heat. From this point on, you must not leave the dough unattended. You need to continue to stir until the dough start to develop that translucent sheen, may take somewhere around 10-15 minutes or longer. It will get very sticky towards the midst of cooking it, but should be more manageable towards the end of cooking. Remove from the heat when it's ready
5. Dust your work surface with some corn starch. Place the cooked dough on the dusted surface and knead the warm dough. Try to manage with as little starch as you can so you won't have starchy tasting chives cake later. Knead until you get a clean non-sticky dough
6. Divide the dough into half and then half again until you get 10 equal balls of dough. Cover with a plastic wrap or damp kitchen towel and let them rest for about 15 minutes
7. Dust your work surface with just a little bit of corn starch. Pick up one dough at a time, flatten the dough with your palm and then pick the flatten dough up and use your fingers to stretch the dough into a 4 to 5-inch circle, be gentle not to tear the dough

!WRAPPING:

1. Prepare your steamer and let the water boil and then lower the heat as you wrap the chives cake. Bring the water to boil again when you are ready to steam
2. Place about 1 Tbsp of the filling into the middle of the dough. Fold the edges towards the middle and you can even make pleats on them if you want. Pinch to seal. Lay every piece on a parchment paper you have cut. Repeat with the rest of the dough and filling. Depending on how big of a steamer you have, you may need to steam in batches. I steamed mine once I have 4-5 chives cake wrapped up. I did this in 2 batches. Steam for about 15-20 minutes or until the cakes turns translucent. Brush each cake with oil. Set aside to cool down before proceed to pan-frying. If you are not pan-frying it, then you can let it cool down a bit and then enjoy the cake with the sauce

!PAN-FRYING:

1. Let the steamed cakes to cool down completely before pan-frying to prevent sticking to the pan.
2. Preheat a medium to large pan until it gets very hot. Add in about 2 Tbsp of cooking oil into the pan. Carefully place the chives cake into the pan and let it pan-fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side or until they are golden brown

RECIPE NOTES:

You can even store the extra steamed chives cake by placing them in an air-tight container or zip lock bag and freeze them for about 1 week. When ready to pan-fry them, they go straight from frozen to the pan (DO NOT THAW THEM). It may take a bit longer to cook them to golden brown, but it works. I've tried them. 

You can also add spinach. 

FISH AMOK 

INGREDIENTS

• 500 grams of white fish (goby, snakehead or catfish preferable; or snapper, whiting, cod, perch), skinned, boned and thinly sliced
• 3 tbsp yellow kroeung (herb/spice paste – see recipe here)
• 2 dried red chillies, soaked in water until soft, seeded and drained or a tsp of red chilli paste
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 2 tsp palm sugar
• ½ cup first press coconut milk or tinned coconut cream
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 pinch of salt
• ¼ cup nhor/noni leaves (morinda citriforlia), shredded
• 
  Garnish
• 1 tbsp first press coconut milk or tinned coconut cream
• 1 tsp kaffir lime zest or finely sliced lime leaves
• 1 medium sized red chilli or red capscium, finely sliced

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Prepare the yellow kroeung as per the recipe on the link above, and add the red chilli and pound well into the mixture. If you don’t have a mortar and pestle you can blend it all in a food processor.
2. Combine the kroeung, fish and other ingredients, but not the noni leaves. To taste chunks of fish only lightly combine, but for a smooth texture, desirable by some cooks, combine well by stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon or spatula.
3. Test your level of seasoning by frying a spoon of the mixture (or zapping it in the microwave). It should be well balanced and taste a little fishy, a little salty, slightly sweet, a tad spicy, and rich and creamy. Adjust as necessary by adding a pinch of salt or sugar, fish sauce, or even a little chilli.
4. Place a few noni leaves on the bottom of your ramikens, coconut shell or banana leaf baskets. If using banana leaf baskets, make ahead of time (see below).
5. Add the mixture almost to the top and use a spoon or spatula to flatten out, drizzle a teaspoon of coconut cream and sprinkle some finely sliced kaffir lime leaves on top. Save some for a final garnish.
6. Steam for 20-30 minutes then check. The fish amok should be cooked through and firm to touch but still retain a moistness. It should not be dry. When it’s almost done add the rest of the coconut cream on the top and steam for a few more minutes.
7. Garnish with the remaining kaffir lime leaf slices and finely sliced red chillies or red capsicum if you don’t like chilli.
8. Serve immediately at the centre of the table with rice on each guest’s plate and they can help themselves as they might a curry if eating family style. If you’ve made smaller individual portions for each guests then serve rice at the centre of the table or in small dishes on the side.

Sach Moan Cari Ang Chomkak (Grilled Curry Chicken on a Stick)

Country: Cambodia
Course: Main
Makes: 4 servings 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• 1 green onion, minced
• 2 tbsp minced lemon grass (I grated mine)
• 2 tbsp curry powder
• 1 tbsp honey or light brown sugar
• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil (to prevent drying)

Directions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
2. Place the chicken strips on skewers and pour the rest of the marinade over. Cook on a grill over low heat until the chicken is golden brown all over (I just put mine under the broiler. They really do need an open flame.)
3. Serve with mango salsa on the side.

Tirk Salouk Swai (Mango Salsa)

Country: Cambodia
Course: Garnish
Makes: 4-6 servings 

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted and diced
• 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 green onion,chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 hot chili peppers, chopped

Directions:

1. Put all the ingredients in a blender and pulse until creamy.
2. For a chunky salsa, just mix the chopped ingredients together in a bowl.

Green Mango Salad

Ingredients

• 2 very large green (unripe) mangoes, peeled and cut into 2-by-1/2-inch batons
• 1/2 large sweet onion, sliced lengthwise
• 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

• • How to Make It

    Step

    In a bowl, toss the mangoes, onion and jalapeño with the lime juice. Season with salt and pepper and serve right away.

     Make Ahead

    The mango salad can be refrigerated for up to 1 hour.

     Notes

    One Serving 52 cal, 0.2 gm fat, 0 gm sat fat, 13 gm carb, 1.6 gm fiber.

     Serve With

    Grilled chicken or shrimp or crab. 

Pumpkin Coconut Custard

Ingredients

• 1 ‏pumpkin (medium size)
• 6 ‏egg yolks
• 2 ‏cups coconut milk
• 1 ‏cup palm sugar
• 1 ‏teaspoon salt

This delicate dessert is served on very special occasions and celebrations but often makes a perfect sweet treat for a heart warming result any other time.

Directions

1. Using a sharp knife, carve the top off pumpkin to remove seeds and fibres in the center. Keep the top for the cover later. Rinse off pumkin and leave to dry.
2. In a sauce pan on low heat, gently whisk egg, sugar, salt and coconut until well combined. Avoid creating air bubbles.
3. Pour mixture into pumpkin and cover with the carved top.
4. Place pumpkin in a steamer in a large pot and seal to simmer 1 hour on low to medium temperature or until pumpkin flesh feels soft enough to spoon out of the pumpkin (use a knife to check that it comes out clean). Alternatively, bake in the oven for 40 mins at 180 degrees celcius.
5. Leave to cool completely for at least 45 mins as this will also allow custard to set in the pumpkin.

TIPS

1. Serve and slice like a cake.
2. Best prepared the day before and can store in the fridge for up to 2 days

CAMBODIAN COFFEE 

SUPPLIES:

• 8 oz brewed coffee (we are fans of our french press and Chemex! In fact, we don’t own an auto coffee maker!)
• 4 0z. sweetened condensed milk

TO MAKE CAMBODIAN COFFEE:

1. Open can of sweetened condensed milk and place the open can in a pot with water (it should come about 1/3 to 1/2 way up the can).  Bring water to a boil.
2. Pour coffee into a mug, and then pour the sweetened condensed milk on top. Be sure to admire the layers at this stage!
3. Stir before you drink. Enjoy!

You can poor it over ice if desired. 

(Good Eats: BANANA SPLITSVILLE )