Fish Amok: Cambodia's Gentle Coconut Curry That Sets Like a Custard

Next stop on the regional tour from Food From Northern Laos is Cambodia, and its national plate. Fish amok is the dish travellers tend to learn first — gentle, aromatic and comforting — and it does something most curries in the region do not.

Instead of a loose, soupy curry ladled over rice, amok is steamed. Pieces of freshwater fish are folded into a coconut mixture scented with kroeung, the Khmer herb paste of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, makrut lime, garlic and shallots. A little egg helps the mixture set as it steams in a small banana-leaf cup, so the result lands somewhere between a curry and a custard, eaten with a spoon.

Traditionally the fish is snakehead or catfish, but the full post notes that any firm white fish works at home. It is served as the calm centre of a shared meal, with plain white rice and sharper, saltier dishes around it. The home recipe steams gently for 20 to 25 minutes — never a hard boil, which would break the set — and finishes each cup with coconut cream, makrut lime leaf and red chilli.

Full story: Food From Northern Laos — http://www.foodfromnorthernlaos.com/2026/10/fish-amok-cambodias-coconut-curry-in.html