Making Dteuk Dtray Bpa-aim with Neng

Battambang province, Cambodia - October 18, 2013 - Another fantastic Cambodian condiment recipe, dteuk dtray bpa-aim (sweet fish sauce).

Starting with ingredients. a) dteuk dtray (fish sauce), b) son daik dai (peanuts)

c) ombul dtoom (ripe tamarind)

c) k'dteum baran (onion - just a little bit), d) k'dteum sor (garlic - not this much)

e) s'leuk k'dteum (spring onions), f) madte (chili)

Now the recipe. 1) Crush the peanuts.

2) Add the tamarind and 3 or 4 spoonfuls of sugar, depending how sweet you want it.

3) Mix that up a little.

4) Cut up the chili, garlic, and onion.

5) Mash.

6) Add to the fish sauce.

7) Stir.

8) Garnish with chopped spring onion, and that's it.

It is eaten with fresh greens...

... and grilled fish.

We also ate it with some quails and sour morning glory soup.

How to Make Ombul Bok - Battambang's Legendary Tamarind Paste

Battambang province, Cambodia - September 2, 2013 - Ombul bok, or tamarind paste, is one of the most legendary condiments of the Asian continent, and Battambang is renowned for the deliciousness of this delicacy (amongst other things). It has a sour and spicy flavour and can be eaten with almost anything: steaks, plain old rice, vegetable dishes, but it is most commonly eaten with fish. Neng is going to teach us how to make it. Let's start with the ingredients.

a) Ombul k'chey - Unripe tamarind

b) Gom-bpOOh - Small river shrimp

c) Jii krahorm - Sweet basil

 

e) Skor - Sugar (mine currently infested with ants). You will also be needing f) fresh chilli, and g) Knorr, or some kind of chicken stock seasoning

Okay moving on with the instructions. First put the tamarind into the mortar one by one because they are quite hard...

Then smash 'em.

Once they're all smashed take the paste out...

...and squeeze all the juice out of it.

So it should look like this.

Add the chicken powder and sugar. You can continue doing this liberally as you make it according to taste. Mix it up.

Next add the shrimps.

Smash 'em up.

Add the sweet basil.

Smash it up.

Add the chili whole.

Smash it up. Harder this time. Make sure it is broken up and spread around so it's not too spicy.

And that's it! You're finished.

If you plan on making it (or rather if you can find the ingredients), feel free to be liberal with the amounts of stuff you put in. It is also often made with crushed peanuts. There are many different styles, and creativity in Cambodian cooking is encouraged.