Nom Banh Chok

Nom banh chok is a beloved Cambodian dish that is also known as "Khmer noodles" in English. It is a typical breakfast food that you'll find sold early in the morning by women carrying it on baskets hanging from a pole balanced on their shoulders.

This noodle dish usually consists of noodles that is pounded out of rice, topped with a fish-based green curry gravy made from lemongrass, turmeric root and kaffir lime. Also in the dish are fresh mint leaves, bean sprouts, green beans, banana flower, cucumbers and other greens that are heaped on top. There is also a red curry version where it is usually reserved for ceremonial occasions and wedding festivities.

How to Make Nom Banh Chok

Ingredients

For the lemongrass paste

200 g young lemongrass stalks (about 15-16 stalks) trimmed and sliced

2 cm cube of peeled and roughly chopped galangal

3 cm cube peeled and chopped fresh turmeric

4 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, halved

Peel of half a kaffir lime, chopped

2 cm cube peeled and chopped Cambodian rhizome

For the curry

300 g fish fillets, poached

3 tablespoons lemongrass paste

2 tablespoons roasted chopped peanuts

500 ml fish stock


250 ml coconut milk

250 ml coconut cream

1 teaspoon prahok (Cambodian fermented fish paste)

2 tablespoons fish sauce

salt to taste

1 tablespoon palm sugar

To accompany the curry

400 g dried weight thin rice noodles, cooked al dente

2 small cucumbers, cut into matchsticks

half a banana flower, soaked in cold water acidulated with kaffir lime juice then thinly sliced just before serving

200 g bean sprouts

2 pieces of water lily root, peeled and thinly sliced

To garnish

red chillies

few Thai basil leaves

Instructions:

First, prepare the lemongrass paste. Using a food processor, blitz the chopped lemongrass into a paste. Add the remaining ingredients and 4-6 tablespoons cold water and blitz again until well combined. According to the original recipe, this paste will keep refrigerated for one day only, so take what you need for the recipe and freeze the rest in individual containers. This quantity of ingredients produced 12 tablespoons of neon-yellow paste which I froze in 3 tablespoon portions.

Next, poach the fish in the stock until just cooked – for thin fish fillets this will take just 2 or 3 minutes. Leave to cool a little then drain off and reserve the stock to add to the curry and skin the fish fillets making sure no small bones remain in the flesh as you do so. Set aside.

Prepare the raw vegetable accompaniments and garnish, leaving the banana flower pieces in iced acidulated water until the last minute as they discolour very quickly.

Weigh, measure and set out all the curry ingredients and necessary kitchen equipment so you can complete the curry quickly without overcooking the rice noodles and fish.

About 20 minutes before you plan to serve the curry, take the banana flower from the iced acidulated water, dry it and shred finely. Add to your serving platter of accompanying raw vegetables.

Next, soak the dried rice noodles in hot water for about 15 minutes until they soften to just al dente. Keep an eye on them as overcooked rice noodles have an unpleasant mushy texture.

You are now ready to complete the curry. Place the cooled cooked and de-skinned fish fillets with the 3 tablespoons lemongrass paste and peanuts into the bowl of a food processor. Blitz to a coarse paste. Set aside. Put 500ml fish stock, the coconut milk, coconut cream and prahok into a medium saucepan and bring to the boil, stirring frequently to mix. Add the reserved fish paste, fish sauce, salt and palm sugar, and simmer for 5 more minutes, mixing to incorporate.

To serve, put a large handful of vegetables into each person’s bowl. Add a portion of cooked rice noodles then ladle the fish curry over the top. Garnish with finely sliced deseeded red chillies and a scattering of Thai basil leaves.