Samlor Kor Ko, also known as Cambodian green curry and translate in Khmer as “សម្លកកូរ.” This delectable soup is considered one of the Cambodian national dishes in Cambodia, and it comes with a beautiful story about this soup.
The ingredients include lemongrass paste or kroeung (green curry paste), fermented fish, fish sauce, toasted rice powder or ground toasted rice, and a variety of meats and vegetables. For this recipe, we use fish and pork belly as preferred meat choices.
WHAT IS THE STORY OF THIS SOUP? WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL NAME? WHY WAS THE NAME CHANGED?
Note: the following storytelling is just a short brief from the original one.
Once upon a time, there was a prince named Kuch Monoreach who went to explore the forest. He met a family, and the family has cooked this 100 flavors soup for him. He enjoyed having the soup and said “delicious!”
When cooking the soup, he noticed that they kept stirring every time they added ingredients and vegetables; therefore, he decided to change the name to Samlor Kor Ko, Ko means stir.
HOW TO PREPARE THIS DELICIOUS SOUP?
1. VEGETABLES
- Green papaya: Shred using a knife or a food shredder.
- Pumpkin: cut into bite-sized.
- Eggplant: Peel and cut.
- Green jackfruit: I got a can, but fresh works best. Rinse and cut into bite-sized.
- Yardlong bean: Rinse and cut 3 inches long.
- Green banana: Slice into bite-sized pieces.
- Baby eggplant: Remove from the stem, rinse and drain.
- Baby spinach: If you get a package of baby spinach, they are usually pre-washed. However, I prefer to rinse again before cooking.
- Moringa leaves: remove from the stem, rinse and drain.
2. MEATS
Basa Fish
For this recipe, I used basa fish that I could only find at the grocery store. However, fish of any kind would be delicious. Catfish, chicken, and pork ribs are frequently used in making this soup.
Pork Belly
Leave off the pork belly if you prefer a healthier option. It helps to flavour the soup and tastes delicious.
3. GREEN PASTE
Lemongrass Paste
Traditionally, we use mortar and pestle to pound lemongrass (including the leaf), galangal, kaffir lime leaf or zest, garlic, shallot, and turmeric into a fine paste.
If you use the blender, adding water helps to make the blending process easier and faster.
4. ROASTED RICE
Roasted Ground Rice
Drain after rinsing under running water until the water is clear, then roast the rice until golden brown over medium heat. To create a fine powder, use a grinder or pound in a mortar and pestle.
5. FERMENTED FISH
Prahok
Fermented fish is a common element that people use in most Cambodian soups and sauces. Its flavour is salty and adds umami to the dish.
Clean with water to remove excess salt, and finely chop into a paste.
Video
Samlor Kor Ko
Ingredients
Method
- Green papaya, peel the skin and remove the seeds, then rinse well. Cut into a smaller piece which make easy to shred with a food shredder or just use a knife.
- Pumpkin, rinse thoroughly after removing the skin and seeds and cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Eggplant, peel the skin off, rinse it with water, and then chop it into bite-sized pieces.
- Green jackfruit, If you buy green jackfruit in a can, wash it thoroughly in water before chopping it into little pieces.
- Yardlong bean, pinch off both sides and cut into 3 inches long, then rinse and drain.
- Green banana, thinly slice and set aside.
- Baby eggplant, remove from the stem and rinse, then drain.
- Combine all the vegetables together and set them aside.
- Baby spinach, unpack and give a thorough water rinse, and then drained. Place aside.
- Moringa leaves, remove the leaves from the stem, give them a thorough water rinse, and then pat dry. Place aside.
- Note: for baby spinach and moringa leaves will be put into the soup at the very last.
- Thinly slice lemongrass that includes the green leaf part. Usually, you may get the green leaf part from your grown garden. However, we use what we only could get from the Asian store.
- Cut the garlic and shallot into small pieces if desired so that they can be blended or pounded more quickly.
- Thinly slice galangal.
- Slice the turmeric after peeling off the skin. Put on a glove to keep your fingers from getting stained.
- Thinly slice the kaffir lime leaves, and start making the paste.
- The lemongrass should be added first, then the remaining ingredients, garlic, shallot, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and turmeric should be added one at a time, and pounded until paste forms.
- Alternately, you may use a blender and add water to the mixture to make it smoother and easier to process.
- Rinse jasmine rice 4-5 times or until the water is clear. Then soak in the water for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, drain.
- Roast the rice until golden brown over medium heat, then transfer to a grinder and grind until powdery.
- Clean with water to remove any extra salt, and finely chop into a paste.
- Cut the fish into 1 1/2 inches long or get a pack of cut fish from the Asian store. Rinse well with water and drain. Set aside.
- Pork belly: bring 1 liter of water to a boil, and place the pork belly into it. Cook for 15-20 minutes or longer, then cut into bite-sized. Set aside. (For raw pork belly, thinly sliced).
- Place a large pot over medium heat, add the cooked or raw pork belly, stir, and wait for the fat to release.
- Add chopped fermented fish and stir to combine.
- Stir in the lemongrass paste until it begins to fragrance.
- Then start adding the seasoning, salt, palm sugar, and fish sauce, and stir.
- Add the fish and stir to coat them with the lemongrass paste "kroeung" and cook for 2 minutes on both sides (half-cooked only). Then take the fish out for later.
- Add 500 ml of water to the pot and stir in the mixed vegetables except for baby spinach and moringa leaves, cover and cook for 2 minutes.
- After 2 minutes, add another 750 milliliters and stir.
- Put the half-cooked fish back into the soup and gently stir (try not to break the fish).
- Add roasted ground rice, and gently stir.
- Last but not least, add the baby spinach and moringa leaves and stir thoroughly.
- Bring the soup back to a boil, turn the heat off, and it's ready!
- Serve with rice and a small bowl of fish sauce with sliced chili pepper on the side.
- Since we added roasted ground rice to the broth, I occasionally like it without the rice.
- Enjoy!
[…] spice pastes. There are three types of lemongrass paste, one is made for green curry, for example, Samlor Kor Ko, Cambodian Lemongrass Sour Soup, the second is made for red curries such as chicken curry, beef […]