Dish of the day · Dishle #20 answer · July 1, 2026

What Is Fish Amok? Cambodia's Steamed Curry Mousse

Fish Amok is Cambodia’s signature dish, a soft curry mousse made from freshwater fish folded with coconut cream and an aromatic herb paste called kroeung, then steamed gently in a cup of banana leaf until it sets like a savory custard. The name comes from the Khmer word “amok,” which describes this very method of steaming a thickened curry in leaves. Locals often call it amok trey, meaning simply “steamed fish,” and you will find it on nearly every menu aimed at visitors to Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

A short history

Fish amok is often tied to the royal kitchens of the Khmer Empire, the civilization that built Angkor Wat between the ninth and fifteenth centuries. Cooks there are said to have refined the dish for the court, and its delicate texture still carries that air of occasion. There is a friendly debate across the region, though. Versions of leaf-steamed fish curry also appear in Laos, Thailand, and parts of Cambodia’s neighbors, and food historians enjoy arguing about who shaped whom. What most people agree on is that amok became a point of pride in Cambodia, served at festivals and family celebrations, and treated today as something close to a national dish. Cambodia even features it on tourism posters.

What’s in it?

The heart of the dish is kroeung, a pounded paste of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, kaffir lime leaves, garlic, and shallots. That paste is mixed with coconut cream, fish sauce, palm sugar, and egg, then gently combined with chunks of mild freshwater fish, traditionally snakehead or catfish. A handful of shredded noni or spinach leaves usually lines the bottom of each banana-leaf cup. Cooks balance salty, sweet, and citrusy notes carefully, since the curry is meant to taste rounded rather than fiery. The egg and coconut are what give amok its signature soft, mousse-like set. Recipes vary cook to cook.

How do you eat it?

Amok arrives still in its banana-leaf cup, sometimes with a spoonful of thick coconut cream and a few sliced chilies on top. You eat it warm, scooping the soft curry straight from the leaf, usually with a side of steamed jasmine rice to soak up the sauce. It is a fork-and-spoon dish rather than a hands-on one. Restaurants often steam it in a real leaf cup for the table, while busy home kitchens may use a bowl instead. Either way, the rice and the gentle, custardy curry are meant to be eaten together, slowly.

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