Recipe: Khmer steamed pork prohok
As a child of immigrant Khmer parents, I have always loved eating my Mom’s home cooked dishes. But as many others have experienced, bringing a lunch box to school or to the office with what others called “stinky” made me carry a lot of shame.
Now as I have grown older, I have realised that my mother also continues to age and I don’t know enough recipes to be okay with that. All the dishes I used to feel embarrassed about now evoke joy and excitement. Complex flavours from fermentation and herbs are what make Khmer cuisine fun!
All the knowledge still mostly lives inside of my Mom’s head. Measuring ingredient? Never heard of that.
I am here to change that. Grab your ingredients, let’s eat!
How to eat this dish
When you prepare prohok, make sure to have your rice servings ready as well! This dish is usually eaten with a serving of Jasmine rice and heaps of crunchy veggies such as cabbage, Thai eggplants, cucumbers, etc.
Ingredients
Makes for 10-15 servings
4 pork chops
2 strips of pork belly
2 tsp sugar
1 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon powder
1 squirt fish sauce
5 eggs
3 heaping tbsp creamy pickled gouramy fish paste
1 head of garlic
4 Chilies (optional)
Equipment
chopping board
food processor
knives
heat resistant dish
large pot where the heat resistant dish fits/steamer
small heat resistant object to put inside of the pot
bowl to whisk eggs in
Instructions
Peel the garlic cloves and add it to a large heat resistant bowl/dish. Put the bowl aside.
Cut all meats into smaller portions so they can be added to the food processor later and add it to the same bowl with the garlic. If you don’t have a food processor, cut the meats into smaller pieces so that you can later mince everything together.
Grind the garlic + meat in a food processor until the mixture reaches a minced consistency. I usually leave some chunkier pieces of meat for texture.
If you don’t have a food processor, put the meat + garlic on a sturdy chopping board. grab 2 knives (1 in each hand) and start chopping. It will take a while, but it’s certainly a great workout!
Add the mixture back into the heat resistant dish.
Crack and whisk all eggs and add that to the minced meat + garlic. Mix until everything is well combined. no chunkier piece of meat should be left uncoated.
Mix in all dry ingredients + fish paste and fish sauce (sugar, chicken bouillon powder) do not add salt - there's already enough coming from other ingredients. Be cautious about the pickled gouramy fish paste - the more, the saltier!
Mix until everything is well combined and until the sugar has dissolved.
Get a large pot , fill up about 1/4 with water and add a smaller bowl inside. Otherwise, get a steamer where your meat mixture will fit inside
Turn up the heat to medium-high.
This step is optional: Put the chilies atop of your meat mixture and put the whole dish inside your pot to steam.
Cover your large pot with a lid and steam your prohok for 30min.
Bonus: if you want to adjust the taste, grab a tiny portion the pre steam. Adjust the flavors in the big bowl before adding it back into the steaming pot
Serve with crunchy veggies and rice and you’re good to go!
Enjoy and lead your dreams,
Soso