Another Cambodian comfort food. I think pickled lime ណាំងូវ (Num Ngov) is an acquired taste because I recall growing up not liking the smell so it was hard for me to take a step forward and eat the darn soup. But as time goes by I got used to it and became a fan of Pickled Lime Chicken Soup ស្ងោរម៉ាន់ណាំងូវ (Sngor Mon Num Ngov). I crave it even more when I moved away from my Parents. I love it most during cold winter days or when I’m feeling under the weather just like some people crave Chicken Noodle Soup when they are sick.
I believe you can purchase pickled lime at some Asian Supermarket however it’s very easy to make it yourself. About 3 years ago I got a whole bunch of limes for dirt cheap so I decided to pickle them. The longer you keep it, the better it gets (at least in my opinion). One pickled lime goes a very long way!
Enjoy my recipe for Pickled Lime Chicken Soup. I have made this with a variety of chicken (black, game hen, regular whole chicken) and each one has it’s own uniqueness and equally delicious. You can either cook the chicken in bite size pieces or cook it as a whole and then remove and hand shred the meat and discard the bones which is how I made it today.
Pickled Lime Chicken Soup (makes 2-3)
(Sngor Mon Num Ngov) ស្ងោរម៉ាន់ណាំងូវ
Ingredients
2 chicken leg quarters
1 pickled lime
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled and mash (amount adjust to your liking)
2 stalk green onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 tablespoons sugar
5-6 tablespoons fish sauce (adjust to taste)
5-6 dried chilies (optional)
3 cups of water
Method:
Bring a pot of water to a boil and add chicken and garlic and dried chilies if using. Cook chicken throughly, skim off foam if necessary. If you are using bite size chicken, proceed to the next step. If you want to remove the meat from the bone, now is the time to do so. Remove cooked chicken from the pot and allow to cool before picking off the meat. Then return it back to the pot.
Add sugar, fish sauce and pickled lime. Break the pickled lime into pieces to release the flavors into the soup. Continue to cook and mix it all in another 2 minutes. Taste and adjust sugar and fish sauce accordingly.
Turn off the heat and add the green onions. The soup can be enjoyed as it or eaten with steamed rice.
omg all this time i’ve been making this w/o the pickled lime! i used fresh lime juice instead. my mom has a big jar of pickled limes in the kitchen and she never told me that i’m supposed to use that. no wonder her soup always tastes better than mine! thanks for sharing!
I’ve been doing research about teochew food and I learned that Nam Ngou is a teochew dish. The teochew name for it is Nam Ngou Teung [ ][ ]湯. Which means lemon brine chicken soup. It’s interesting to learn the origin of Cambodian food. I learned that most of the Cambodian food is originally Chinese.
Can you use pork instead of chicken?
well, I tried it and it’s not that bad, i think it came out pretty well, I used boneless pork ribs.
Actually, fresh lime can also be used but then it wouldn’t be called Pickled Lime Chicken Soup. I would just call it Chicken Soup with Lime. I’ve made a blog with recipe for that one you. Take a look here.