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1
Pound the Kroeung
10 Mins
Room temperature, ~22°C (72°F)
Put the sliced lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, garlic, shallot, soaked dried chillies and torn kaffir lime leaves in a stone mortar with a pinch of salt. Pound with the pestle until a coarse, fragrant green paste forms, with no long fibres left.
Add a spoon of water if the paste sticks to the pestle — it helps the grinding without thinning the soup later.
Done when: A coarse green paste that smells of lemongrass and lime leaf.
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2
Simmer the Broth
10 Mins
Medium heat, ~180°C (350°F), simmer ~95°C (203°F)
Stir the prahok into 100 ml of hot water, mash it, and strain out any bones or stringy pieces. Pour the water into a pot, add the kroeung paste and fry for 3 minutes until fragrant, then add the fish sauce, palm sugar and the remaining 700 ml of water. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Frying the kroeung first wakes up the aromatics — a raw paste tastes grassy, a fried one tastes deep.
Done when: A fragrant, pale-green broth, gently simmering.
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3
Add Coconut Milk and Vegetables
15 Mins
Gentle simmer, ~95°C (203°F)
Pour in the coconut milk, then add the pumpkin, eggplant and long beans. Simmer for 12 minutes until the pumpkin is just tender — the vegetables should hold their shape, not fall apart.
Start with the hardest vegetable first; the pumpkin needs the longest, the beans the shortest.
Done when: Pumpkin tender to a fork, eggplant soft, beans still bright green.
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4
Add the Fish
10 Mins
Gentle simmer, ~95°C (203°F)
Slide the catfish chunks into the simmering soup and cook for 6 minutes without stirring hard, until the fish turns opaque and flakes easily. Fish is done at 63°C (145°F) inside — overcooking makes it fall apart into the broth.
Do not stir once the fish is in; nudge the pot gently instead, so the chunks stay whole.
Done when: Opaque fish that flakes at a touch; 63°C (145°F) inside.
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5
Thicken and Finish
10 Mins
Gentle simmer, ~95°C (203°F)
Stir in the toasted rice powder and the spinach, and simmer for 3 minutes until the broth thickens to a rustic, spoon-coating body. Taste and adjust with a little more fish sauce or palm sugar — the soup should taste savoury, faintly sweet and deeply herbal, never sharply salty.
Sprinkle the rice powder in slowly while stirring, or it clumps.
Done when: A thick, golden-green soup that coats the spoon.
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6
Rest and Serve
5 Mins
Low heat, ~80°C (175°F)
Rest for 5 minutes off the heat, then ladle into deep bowls. Serve hot, with the toasted rice powder dusted over the top if you like.
Five minutes of rest lets the rice powder finish thickening the broth.
Done when: A steaming bowl of thick, fragrant soup with vegetables and fish visible.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Ladle into deep bowls while steaming hot, and serve with jasmine rice — the soup is thick enough to eat with a spoon and a bowl of rice beside it.
Cambodia
1h
