Earlier in 2015, I had the good fortune to travel to Cambodia to go to a close friend that lives there. I had a long stay, so had a lot of time to discover Phnom Penh and also the surrounding locations— and consume lots of food!
Lots of people in Phnom Penh purchase their food from the markets. I saw both live and also freshly killed hens, fish that were still twitching, a very poignant fermented fish called prahok, and baskets loaded high with all kinds of fresh produce like lemongrass, makrut (kaffir) lime leaves, child (pea) eggplant, banana flowers, morning glory, and water spinach.
It was all so vivid, disorderly, thrilling, loud, and untidy! The good news is, I was able to get a food preparation lesson from a chef in Phnom Penh who helped me learn more regarding all the active ingredients I saw out there as well as instructed me some of the basics of Cambodian cooking.
I have actually adapted this recipe for Coconut Shrimp Stew to some degree considering that obtaining all the ingredients that I learned to prepare with in Phnom Penh verified difficult here in the States. I’ve left 2 typical ingredients in the recipe: lemongrass and also fresh turmeric extract.
You can usually find both of these active ingredients in the fruit and vegetables section of a well-stocked healthy foods store or an Asian market. Lemongrass appears like a long, thick shoot and also turmeric looks like a smaller sized, much more orange-hued variation of ginger. If you can’t discover them, substitute the enthusiasm of one lime as well as one lemon, plus additional lime juice to preference, for the lemongrass as well as substitute ground turmeric for the fresh turmeric extract.
Additionally keep an eye out for kaffir lime leaves, which you might discover near the lemongrass and also turmeric extract. These are optional for this recipe and include a brilliant scent to the soup, yet the recipe will certainly be just as scrumptious without them.
This stew makes a quick weeknight supper, particularly if you are using shrimp that has actually currently been peeled and also deveined. You’re finest off acquiring frozen shrimp classified IQF, or Individually Quick Frozen. (The «fresh» shrimp in the seafood situation has actually normally been previously iced up, defrosted, as well as has actually currently been in the instance for an indeterminate quantity of time.) Icy shrimp can be swiftly thawed in a dish of awesome water.
In my time in Cambodia, I discovered that Cambodian food resembles Thai food in lots of methods, but it is much more refined and not fairly as spicy-hot. This stew is a perfect example of the food from this region.
So take a trip! See the world! Or at least, taste it in this scrumptious shrimp stew.