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Khmer food: Svay bok Trai cha-aa

8 March 2014 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

(Smashed grilled fish) I’m always discovering new Khmer dishes I haven’t tried yet. My colleague brought some of this the other day for her lunch. The photo doesn’t capture it well, but it’s a very tasty dish (for those not turned off by pungency, that is)!

It’s made of fish (grilled river catfish was used here), smashed in a mortar and pestle with grated green mango and spices. I asked Sopheap to make it and watched. Into the mortar with the mango went chopped red and white onion, a little garlic, salt, peanuts, some fish sauce and herbs that they call chee (gee?), for which I don’t know the English names. (I’ll add to this post when I find out.)

Similar to it is the more famous green papaya/mango salad. This salad has river crab, often added raw then smashed into the other ingredients. But svay bok trai cha-aa uses fish. They lend a lot of pungency to the already multiple layers of flavor. It won’t go into the family’s recipe rotation very often, because the flavors are a bit strong for the kids right now. But it’s definitely a good lunch option! (I just have to make sure to stock Menthos in my desk!)

Filed Under: Life Tagged With: Cambodia, cuisine, fish, food, Khmer, mango, svay bok trai cha-aa

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Those little feet pitter-pattering about rule our lives lately. But on the occasional free moment I get to tap out scatterbrained bursts of consciousness about raising toddlers in Cambodia, traveling with them and working abroad. These posts are my personal updates to friends and family. But since you’re here, have a look around. Thanks for stopping by…

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