Khmer. Paste. Served at Mekong (#5 and #6).

Kroeung

Cambodian lemongrass paste

Kroeung is a Cambodian paste of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, garlic, shallots, and makrut lime leaves. This recipe is adapted from Chef Nak's yellow kroeung in NHUM and is used in the fish amok and sach ang marinade.

Use only the tender, pale part of the lemongrass stalk to keep the paste smooth.

Makes
Makes about 300 g.
Do ahead
Keeps up to 4 days in the fridge. Freeze it in labeled packs for longer.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 90 glemongrass, pale inner stalk only, sliced thin across the grain. Trim the root and green tops and peel off the woody outer layers. If the knife saws instead of slicing, peel another layer.
  • 39 gfresh galangal, peeled, sliced thin
  • 15 gfresh turmeric, thinly sliced
  • 60 ggarlic, peeled
  • 90 gshallots, peeled
  • 6 gmakrut lime leaves, midribs removed, finely shredded

Method

  1. Put gloves on; turmeric stains. Slice everything first.
  2. Pound the galangal and makrut lime leaves first, then add the lemongrass, turmeric, garlic, and shallots. Pound until smooth, with no long fibers.
  3. If you still see threads, blend the paste with 2 tbsp coconut cream, then push it through a fine sieve. Throw away what won't pass.

Notes

  • Fresh turmeric stains, so wear gloves and use a plastic board.
  • If you can't find galangal, substitute 25 g of fresh ginger and increase the lemongrass to 100 g. Ginger gives the paste a warmer, spicier flavor; it won't taste the same as galangal.
  • A fresh batch beats a frozen one. If you freeze it, portion it first (the amok uses 150 g), freeze it flat in a zip bag, thaw overnight, and pound one fresh lemongrass stalk and one makrut leaf into the thawed paste.