Salor machu kreoung kbal trey.
(Khmer hot sour fish head soup. )

Spicy hot and sour soup with fish head is Khmer ethic food.
Khmer Krom likes red snapper, salmon or snakehead fish head for this soup. Basa or catfish head don’t have as much meat or flavor comparing other fish.
Back home, some Khmer Krom use tamarind or lime juice for sour flavor, some people cook with small green fruit that resembling to gooseberry calls "pung-rur" in Khmer, or another sour fruit names “kro-xang” in Khmer.
For vegetables, some people like water spinach, young tomato vines and chili pepper leaves for this soup, and some people like their soup very hot. But most Khmer will agree that hot sour fish head soup is delicious.
Khmer hot sour fish head soup is one of my favorite child hood foods. Ever since I was a young child, every times my family make hot sour fish head soup; they always add fish eggs. My aunt used to puts different kinds of fish eggs in the soup just for me. :-)
Cooked snakehead fish eggs has light yellow color, and cooked basa fish has blue color .
Here, you can get fish head at most Asian markets, and they will cut the fish head to any size order.
My aunt just taught me the best way to clean eel, basa or catfish is by rubs it with baking soda( tradition way rubs with ashes), and rinses under cold water.
• Ingredients :
  • 2 Medium fish head or 1 large fish head. Your choice any kind of fish. Cut chunks for large fish head. Cleaned.
  • ½ lb. Fish eggs. (Option). Rinsed under cold water. Drained.
  • 5 Cup water.
  • ½ Cup minced lemon grass.
  • ½ Teaspoon turmeric powder, or 3 pieces fresh turmeric roots.
  • 3 Slices fresh galanga root, or frozen galanga root,
  • 1 Tablespoon fish sauce.
  • 1 Tablespoon creamy style pickle fish pahok.
  • 2 Kaffir lime leaves.
  • 1 Tablespoon sugar.
  • 2 Tablespoons tamarind juice.
  • 3 Cloves garlic. Minced.
  • 6 Chopped hot chili pepper, or to your taste.(Option).
  • 2 Taro stalks. Peeled and sliced.
  • A handful sweet basil leaves.
  • A handful chopped rice paddy herb.
  • 1 Tablespoon roasted rice powder.
  • 2 Tablespoons cooking oil.
  • Procedures :
    Cleaned and washed fish head thoroughly with cold water. Drained.
    Blended lemon grass, galanga, turmeric, kaffir lime leaves and chili pepper together by pounded with mortar pestle, or with food processor.
    Pre-heat a soup pot, when it hot add cooking oil and sauté garlic to light brown.
    Add mixed spices, stirs and pour water in to the soup pot.
    Add fish head and fish eggs, cook till fish head tender,then add taro stalks.
    Seasoning with tamarind juice, fish sauce, pahok, roasted rice powder and sugar.
    Top with rice paddy herb and sweet basil leaves.
    Serve hot with rice.
  
  Enjoy.
  
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  Copyright by Mylinh Nakry.