Country 29: Cambodia: Fish Amok

I've only had a few countries in Asia (namely Bhutan and Brunei) so I've been eager to move further into this continent - especially considering the amount of African food I've been cooking recently (nothing against African food, it's just more difficult to find something that we can both eat!)

Asian food is by the far the most complicated for my partner. As I've mentioned previously, he's the nut-free element of this project. He has allergies to peanuts, all tree nuts, and sesame. This makes cooking Asian food extremely difficult, and it is unfortunate but most likely that he will not be able to travel Asia extensively due to his restricted diet. Because it's not just if the ingredient is present in the meal, it's also if the meal has been cooked in peanut or sesame oil - and to avoid these in Asia is obviously difficult.

Cooking at home is easier as I can just substitute different oils - I generally cook with vegetable or sunflower oil if something calls for peanut oil, and I don't feel like sesame oil is that necessary in a lot of my cooking so I don't have that to hand either (although I still have a nearly-full bottle of rose water which I'm not sure if I'll ever use again - thanks Bahrain!)

This recipe actually called for no specialty oils and was completely allergen-free which I thought was fantastic! It was also absolutely delicious, plus I do believe that fish amok is Cambodia's national food which is always exciting. More often than not I'm not able to have the national dishes of a country because they tend to have meat in them, so it's great that I was finally able to adapt one for my meal!

This was superb. Really really delicious. We had one portion of leftovers which I generously gave to my partner for lunch the following day (because I'm the best girlfriend ever). I did cheat a little, in that I used pre-made curry paste, but I don't feel like that's too much of a big deal, plus it's so easy to source that I figured why not.

Also, another cause for celebration: this one actually includes green beans in the dish so I feel like I was getting in one of my 5 a day - excellent news considering I don't tend to eat that many vegetables in this project. Something to work on for sure.

My recipe below is an adapted version of this one here.

Cambodian Fish Amok
Serves 3

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons green curry paste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• Zest of 1 lime
• 200mL coconut milk
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• 1/2 cup rice
• 100g green beans, halved
• 200g filleted white fish (I used seabass, but monkfish or halibut would also work), sliced into chunks
• 1 red chilli, diced

Instructions

1. Heat the oil over a medium heat in a saucepan and fry the onion until translucent and softened (about 10 minutes). Add the curry paste, turmeric and lime zest and stir fry another 3 minutes, until fragrant. 
2. Pour in the coconut milk and 100mL water, the sugar, and the fish sauce. Boil for 3 minutes then reduce heat and simmer for another 5 minutes. 
3. Meanwhile, put the rice into a saucepan and add 1 cup of water. Bring to boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover with a lid, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the water is absorbed and rice is cooked. 
4. Add green beans to the curry, cook for 5 minutes, then add the chunks of fish. Cook for another 3-5 minutes until the beans are tender and fish is cooked. 
5. Ladle the rice into bowls and top with the curry. Garnish with red chilli and lime wedges.