What prompted me to make this dish was the beautiful bright red radishes that were on sale this week at the market. I’ve never worked with these beautiful things before but I bought it anyways because it was only .50 cent per bunch. Then I remembered that my Mother had use it in several of her salad recipes. I went to my cookbook collection and settled with  The Elephant Walk Cookbook.

As I flipped through The Elephant Walk Cookbook I came across the recipe for Lime-Marinated Beef with Bean Sprouts and Mint. Author Longteine De Monteiro & Katherine Neustadt stated in the book “I fear that this recipe has been lost to the younger generation, and I would like to help restore it.” Her message did get across to me. My recipe is adapt loosely from this cookbook. I added a few additional ingredients, tweaked the measurements to fit my taste and also adjust my method of cooking the raw beef.

To be honest this was my very first time making it on my own plus eating this classic dish even though my Mother made had made it several times when I grew up. Mostly for my Father and his friends when they come over to practice traditional music for Cambodian weddings. This was way back in the late 80s. Now the gathering are smaller and less often. Perhaps it’s because the thought of eating raw beef doesn’t sound appealing to us kids even when we were told that it is technically cooked once it’s been cut into paper thin slice and marinated in lime juice. Still, we shook our heads and turned away. Instead we made fried eggs and poured soy seasoning sauce on top to go with our hot steamy rice. Which is what I did (again) as a back-up plan when I made this.

I was hesitant to taste my salad at first even when I used a different cooking method. But after a bite with my eyes tightly close, man oh man, it was G-O-O-D. Now I wish I had done it a long time. This dish is fairly easy to make and most of the cooking time goes to prepping. IMO, the meat can be prepared in many ways. You can grill it before making the salad or pan fry it after marinating. It’s is totally up to you. That is one of the perks of cooking your own dish.

Cambodian Lime-Marinated Beef Salad (makes 2-3 servings)
(Plear Sachko) ភ្លាសាច់គោ
adapt from The Elephant Walk Cookbook

Video Tutorial:

Ingredients
½ cup lime juice
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon small stalk lemongrass, very thinly sliced
½ tablespoon finely chopped garlic
½ lb boneless top round, sliced as thinly as possible against the grain
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons Pahok juice (optional)
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
3 radishes, skin slightly peeled and thinly sliced
1 jalapeños, thinly sliced (optional)
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1/3 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons peanuts, roasted and coarsely chopped

Method:
Partly freeze the beef to make it a bit firm. This will enable easy handling and ease of thinly slicing the beef.

Combine half of the lime juice with 1 tablespoons of sugar, the lemongrass and half of the garlic in a medium bowl. Mix well, then add the beef, tossing to coat evenly, and set aside to marinate at room temperature for 25 to 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the fish sauce, water, Pahok juice (if using) and the remaining sugar in a large mixing bowl. Mix until the sugar dissolves completely, then add the remaining lime juice, shallots, and the remaining garlic. Set aside.

Drain the beef, pressing gently with your hands to remove as much liquid as possible. At this point, you can either proceed with the next step, or like me, take it another step forward by bringing about 4 cups of water to a rolling boil and then add the beef to cook for just one minute. Remove and strain.  Allow it to cool to the touch and press it gently to remove excess liquid.

Return the beef to the mixing bowl and add sliced radish, jalapenos, bean sprouts, mint, basil and half the chopped peanuts.  Toss well. Transfer to a serving plate.  Garnish the salad with sprinkles of peanut and serve.

Countryside Sour Soup (Somlaw Machue Srae) សម្លរម្ចូរស្រែ is another classic Cambodian dish. To the best of my knowledge I believe this soup got it’s name because of the ingredients that were available to rice paddy farmers in the countryside. Fish and rice paddy herbs (Ma-Om) ម្អម ​were abundance to the locals. They are easily accessible because they can be found in the rice paddy. You can also use holy basil (maress prov) ម្រះព្រៅ ​or regular Thai basil (chee krohorm) ជីក្រហម. A variety of vegetables can used in this soup such as water spinach (trokoun) ត្រកួន, taro stem (kdard) ក្តាត, young banana tree stems (derm jake) ដើមចេក, tamarind leaves (troeuy ompil) ត្រួយអំពឹល or lotus root (mum chook) មើមឈូក like what I am using. I got these fresh lotus stems from the Asian Supermarket in Stockton while visiting my Parents. The beautiful colors was what caught my attention. Although as you can see from the image that once it’s cooked it doesn’t maintain these pretty color. You can also use the jar one that has been cleaned and soak in brine.You can use any type of fish you want. What I have here are small catfish that my Mother had fished and cleaned for me.   This soup cook very quickly so make sure you prep everything in advance.

Ingredients
4 small fish or 2 big fish steaks
½ lb lotus root
1 tablespoon tamarind soup base (Knorr)
½​ tablespoon pickled fish (prohok)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
4 kaffir leaves
½ cup holy basil leaves
4 cups of water
2 chilies (optional)

Method:
If using fresh lotus stems like I did wash and peel the outer skin. Cut into 1 inch pieces and set aside. If using the one from a jar, just drain and give it a quick rinse.

Put kaffir leaves in a pot with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add pickled fish and carefully add the fish. Continue to cook until the fish is just about done.

Next add tamarind soup base and sugar. Taste first before adding the additional 1 teaspoon salt because pickle fish and the soup base has some salt content in them already. Sour should be the main flavor.

Once you are satisfy with the flavor turn heat off and add the fresh herbs. Stir to combine then ladle into a bowl. Garnish with chili peppers and serve with steamed rice.

Roasted Pickle-Fish with Ground Pork (Pahok Kop) ប្រហុកកប់ is a classic Cambodian dish.

It has been 6 years since I started cooking on my own but it wasn’t until recently that I’ve craved classic Cambodian dish such as this one and Steamed Fish Eggs with Ground Pork (Pa’ork Pong Trey) ផ្អកពងត្រី. My parent enjoy fishing  during their past time. When a nice big stripe bass is caught she would clean and preserve the fish eggs to make Steam Fish Eggs with Ground Pork, like a custard. Fresh and cooked vegetables are then dipped into the custard.  I will have to check with my Mother if she has any preserved fish eggs this season.  Until then I will try to calm my cravings with this delicious Roasted​ Pickle-Fish with Ground Pork. The authentic version use Krosang as the sour agent. I don’t have that so I substitute it with tamarind base powder. If you don’t have holy basil, you can use Thai Basil instead. Dip it with your favorite fresh or cooked vegetables. My tomatoes and Japanese eggplants are loaded in the garden so this was another great opportunity for me to enjoy them.

Ingredients
10 banana leaves
½ ground pork
½ lb oyster mushrooms
5 tablespoons lemongrass paste (kroeung)
1 tablespoon ground pahok
1 tablespoon sugar
½ tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon tamarind base
a handful of holy basil leaves
5 toothpicks (to hold parcels)
assorted fresh vegetables to serve

Method:
Prepare banana leaves by washing each of them in hot water. This will make it stronger. Use a paper towel or kitchen towel to wipe it clean. Set aside.

Wash mushrooms and squeeze out excess water. Shred them into pieces with your fingers and set aside.

In a motar & pestal (or a large bowl) combine ground pork, kroeung, sugar, salt, and tamarind base. Lightly pound so the ingredients are all mixed together. Add shredded mushrooms and basil leaves. Use a spoon/fork to fold it into the mixture.

Lay two sheets of banana leaves together. Scoop up mixture and place it in the center. Fold the side like a parcel and secure with toothpick. Repeat this step to make a total of five parcels.

Place on a hot grill and grill until the banana leaves starts to burns. Serve with your favorite fresh or cooked vegetables along with steamed rice.