Amok (dish)

Amok

Amok trei – Khmer fish amok
Type	Curry
Place of origin	Cambodia
Main ingredients	Curry, banana leaves
Cookbook: Amok  Media: Amok

Preparing Thai ho mok pla for steaming

In South-East Asian cuisine, "mok", "amok" or "ho mok" refers to the process of steam cooking a curry in banana leaves, or to the resulting dish. Thick coconut cream and galangal are classic ingredients, added to a wide range of possible kinds of leaves and staple ingredients. Amok is a major national culinary tradition in Cambodia, and also popular in Laos and Thailand. The Thai version uses the same Thai curry paste as red curry.^[1][2] Amok is thick soup cooked with fish, meat, vegetables,eggs and coconut milk. It is a common dish served at restaurants. The most common types of amok are made with fish, beef, or chicken as the main proteins. Amok can also be eaten with rice.^[3][4]

The base dish or process is locally referred to as:

• ห่อหมก  [hɔ̀ː mòk] in Thai
• ຫມົກ [mók] in Lao
• ហហ្មុក [haː mok] in Khmer

A wide variety of ingredients can be used to prepare amok dishes. The main ingredient will usually give its name to the dish:

• fish - ហហ្មុកត្រី [haː mok trəj] in Khmer; ຫມົກປາ [mók paː] in Laotian; ห่อหมกปลา [hɔ̀ː mòk plaː] in Thai
• tofu
• bamboo shoots - ຫມົກຫນໍ່ໄມ້ [mók nɔ̄ː mâj] in Laotian (often with minced meat inside)
• chicken
• eggs - ຫມົກໄຂ່ [kʰāj] (often with minced meat inside)
• algae - as in the Laotian ຫມົກໄຄ [mók kʰáj] (with Mekong weed).

See also

• Amok trey, a specific Khmer recipe of this dish
• Homok, Thai version and pronunciation of almost identical dish
• Otak-otak, similar fish dumpling, a Nyonya Peranakan cuisine common in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia
• Pepes, similar Indonesian dish wrapped in banana leaf
• Botok, similar Indonesian Javanese dish wrapped in banana leaf

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amok (dish).

• highheelgourmet.com: Thai Hor Mok recipe