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Today’s travel photo is of some tasty chicken amok served in a coconut in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Amok is a traditional Cambodian coconut curry, and every one that I tasted while travelling through the country was completely different. When I ordered this one at a little restaurant in Siem Reap, I was surprised when it came out served inside a coconut, as all of the others that I had tried so far had just been in a bowl. I thought that perhaps this is the traditional way of serving it. Bowl or coconut aside, it certainly was a tasty dish, and it was washed down nicely with a 50 cent glass of Cambodia Beer.
Hi Dean – it looks delicious, but unfortunately the restaurant is being naughty by calling it ‘amok’ – that looks like a chicken curry. In fact, ‘amok’ is a fish dish. The correct name is amok trey/trei and traditionally Cambodians only made it with goby fish. To make it, the best cooks first marinate the fish in a paste called kroeung, which is the basis for many dishes, including curries, and later they will combine it with fresh coconut cream/milk, and then steam it, generally in banana leaves. The finished dish has a mousse-like texture although some writers liken it to a souffle, but it’s something in between. It definitely doesn’t have a curry texture, nor chicken, potatoes, onion, etc. Some restaurants in Siem Reap began replacing the fish with other ingredients (chicken, vegetables, pork, even tofu!) at the request of travellers, but locals don’t consider these dishes to be amok. But, as I said, it still looks delicious. Hope you enjoyed your time in Siem Reap. I’m a travel and food writer and I live here with my writer-photographer husband and we absolutely love it.
Hi Lara. Thanks for the correction! Indeed, a lot of places do use “Amok” for a lot of different curries. I’ll have to try a traditional Amok next time. Do you find that Siem Reap is the best place to live in Cambodia? I quite liked places like Kampot and Kratie, but I guess they aren’t as big.