Prahok - why ....?
- Petrol Head
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Such contemptible disrespect comparing that foul, unhygienic, provincial mess to the hallowed angels choir that is Stilton.
Haha - my money’s on Playboy
Having grown up with surströmming, one would have to be a pussy not to like prahok. You'd easily clear a room for Khmers if you were to open a can of surströmming.
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I did burgers with prahok during the brief Umami Period at Garage. Seaweed was also involved.Playboy wrote:There is something seriously wrong with your taste buds, food should not be purple - next you will be putting beetroot on your burgers, and we all know how that ends ...jm wrote:Mắm tôm. Good purple shit.Jock Jock wrote:Okay, fucking pungent purple shit anyway
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Last edited by jm on Thu Oct 06, 2016 12:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Don't blame me I voted for Sanders
There is prahok and there is prahok.
There is the prahok sold in markets, that foul smelling rotting fish packed in plastic disused chemical pails. The fish are beheaded, salt liberally applied, and left to nature to do its work. It attracts flies and depending where the prahok is fermented, attracts flies that could have been feeding on cow manure or a thousand other things you wouldn’t want to see, much less touch with a 10-foot pole.
And there is prahok, made by the matriarch of one of the super-rich family. Each year they would ferment a couple of tons of this stuff, for their own consumption, and as giveaways to friends, business associates and families. Their prahok is a much coveted gift for the lucky recipients for its refined taste, absence of smell associated with the market prahok.
The fish is bought fresh, is first thoroughly washed free of debris and dirt, head cut off and gutted, then filleted and deboned. Then, and only then, is it salted and put in drums to be fermented. The drums are covered to keep flies away. The process is strictly supervised.
When fermentation is completed, the finished product is packed in plastic containers.
Just yesterday we had prahok for lunch. The prahok is still identifiable as fish, much unlike the starch mash that looks like a clump of the Nigerian staple, Ogi. Fresh cucumber, angle beans, long beans are served to eat with the prahok. I eat it with damn anything. I could swear it tastes, and looks, just like the canned Portuguese anchovy in oil that I buy from Bayon, the only difference being the prahok is just a tad less salty.
There is the prahok sold in markets, that foul smelling rotting fish packed in plastic disused chemical pails. The fish are beheaded, salt liberally applied, and left to nature to do its work. It attracts flies and depending where the prahok is fermented, attracts flies that could have been feeding on cow manure or a thousand other things you wouldn’t want to see, much less touch with a 10-foot pole.
And there is prahok, made by the matriarch of one of the super-rich family. Each year they would ferment a couple of tons of this stuff, for their own consumption, and as giveaways to friends, business associates and families. Their prahok is a much coveted gift for the lucky recipients for its refined taste, absence of smell associated with the market prahok.
The fish is bought fresh, is first thoroughly washed free of debris and dirt, head cut off and gutted, then filleted and deboned. Then, and only then, is it salted and put in drums to be fermented. The drums are covered to keep flies away. The process is strictly supervised.
When fermentation is completed, the finished product is packed in plastic containers.
Just yesterday we had prahok for lunch. The prahok is still identifiable as fish, much unlike the starch mash that looks like a clump of the Nigerian staple, Ogi. Fresh cucumber, angle beans, long beans are served to eat with the prahok. I eat it with damn anything. I could swear it tastes, and looks, just like the canned Portuguese anchovy in oil that I buy from Bayon, the only difference being the prahok is just a tad less salty.
- violet
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^ gee yet another reminder to never delve too thoroughly into the source of, or process of creating, food in Cambodia.
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- Plutarch
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lurcio wrote:I'm not going to trash talk the stuff (shit I love Marmite) but after an embarassing moment last night where in company I dipped a piece of meat without realising it was Prahok and immediately vomited and more than 12 hrs later I still haven't managed to eat anything I thought I'd ask this question to try and take my mind off the continuing feeling like I should go and vomit some more.
I get that it's my body's automatic reaction to thinking it has been poisoned but why do I love anchovies but hate prahok?
Does anyone here actually like the stuff?
And most importantly is there anything I could eat / drink to make the (memory of the?) taste fuck the hell off?
This Prahok sounds interesting(minus the vectors and all).
I've ate two things that I could not get the taste out for a couple days, first one was Japanese Shiokara - raw squid in it's pulverized guts, I didn't puke but could not get that taste out for days, my gf's boss sits and eats that shit drinking sake or beer, it's like their pretzels or peanuts. The second was a garlic martini, which sounded like a good idea at the time.
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If you are into sour fruit like green mangoes and stuff they make excellent dipping sauce, mix it fresh green chillies. Most Khmer home cook authentic food required Prahok as paste for flavor. Dont let the smell put you off, buying at the market can be a hit and miss having them flies buzzing around and lay eggs on it. In short, prohok is equivalent to cheese in the western world. Just for reference for inspire prahok maker, use jar clay and let let it sit in the dark for at least 2 weeks to get the maximum taste out of it.
EVERYONE BOW DOWN TO HIS MAJESTIES phat kunthea™
I don't know who decided that prahok is like cheese. Someone unfamiliar with cheese I'm guessing. I like them both and rarely have difficulty telling them apart.phat kunthea wrote:If you are into sour fruit like green mangoes and stuff they make excellent dipping sauce, mix it fresh green chillies. Most Khmer home cook authentic food required Prahok as paste for flavor. Dont let the smell put you off, buying at the market can be a hit and miss having them flies buzzing around and lay eggs on it. In short, prohok is equivalent to cheese in the western world. Just for reference for inspire prahok maker, use jar clay and let let it sit in the dark for at least 2 weeks to get the maximum taste out of it.
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Don't blame me I voted for Sanders
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jm basically what i was saying is cheese...and butter are essential in the West for making food, i am simply drawing a comparison that it is akin to Prahok for Khmer people for sauce, ingredient, flavor ect. Much like the Vietnamese people needed fish sauce for most of their cooking.
EVERYONE BOW DOWN TO HIS MAJESTIES phat kunthea™
- spitthedog
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Soy sauce is basically fermented beans with mold though. Same same but different no?
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