🇰🇭 Cambodia · a Khmer sour soup with a Vietnamese counterpart, canh chua; sources differ on which came first

Samlar machuCambodian sour soup

Name: Samlar machu (Cambodian sour soup)
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 4 servings
Cuisine: Cambodia
Ingredients: 600 g (1.3 lb) catfish or snakehead, bone-in chunks; 1.5 litres (6 cups) water, or light fish stock; 2 stalks lemongrass, bruised; 3 cm (1 in) galangal, sliced; 4 kaffir lime leaves; 4 cloves garlic, crushed; 3 shallots, sliced; 50 g (2 oz) tamarind paste, about 3 tbsp, to taste; 1 tbsp prahok (fermented fish paste), optional; 3 tomatoes, in wedges; 150 g (1 cup) fresh pineapple chunks, optional, for the sweeter youn style; 2 red chilies, sliced; 2 tbsp fish sauce; 2 tsp palm sugar, to taste; 200 g (7 oz) water spinach, cut in 6 cm / 2.5 in lengths; Thai basil, cilantro and sawtooth herb, a handful, torn; steamed jasmine rice, to serve

The Cambodian family of sour soups, built on tamarind or other souring agents, often with a lemongrass-galangal-turmeric paste (kroeung), fish, beef or chicken, and vegetables such as water spinach, eaten at everyday meals with rice.

Origin and history

Samlor machu is a staple of everyday Khmer cooking: samlor means soup and machu means sour. Sources describe it as a category of soups, mostly soured with tamarind, with regional forms rather than one fixed recipe. Its closest counterpart is the Vietnamese canh chua, and the sources do not settle which came first.

Make it at home

Makes: 4 servings
Total time: 45 min
Hands-on: 30 min

Ingredients

Metric US

600 g1.3 lb catfish or snakehead, bone-in chunks
1.5 litres6 cups water, or light fish stock
2 stalks lemongrass, bruised
3 cm1 in galangal, sliced
4 kaffir lime leaves
4 cloves garlic, crushed
3 shallots, sliced
50 g2 oz tamarind paste, about 3 tbsp, to taste
1 tbsp prahok (fermented fish paste), optional
3 tomatoes, in wedges
150 g1 cup fresh pineapple chunks, optional, for the sweeter youn style
2 red chilies, sliced
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tsp palm sugar, to taste
200 g7 oz water spinach, cut in 6 cm / 2.5 in lengths
Thai basil, cilantro and sawtooth herb, a handful, torn
steamed jasmine rice, to serve

Method

1. Bring the water to a simmer with the lemongrass, galangal, lime leaves, garlic and shallots and cook for 10 minutes.
2. Stir in the tamarind and the prahok if using, and taste: the broth should be clearly sour.
3. Add the fish and cook gently for 8 minutes, without a rolling boil, until just opaque.
4. Add the tomatoes, pineapple and chilies and simmer 5 minutes.
5. Season with fish sauce and palm sugar, balancing sour, salty and a little sweet.
6. Add the water spinach and cook about 1 minute, until just wilted. Take the pot off the heat.
7. Stir in the herbs and serve hot with rice.

Notes

Samlor machu (soup, sour) is a category of sour soups rather than one recipe. The clear fish form here is samlor machu trey, an everyday family dish eaten with rice, in contrast to amok, which is usually kept for restaurants and special occasions.
Named forms: machu kroeung is built on a paste of lemongrass, galangal and turmeric with beef ribs or tripe; the Khmer Krom form has tomato, pineapple, catfish and lotus root; the Siem Reap form has bamboo shoot and small freshwater shrimp. The pineapple version of the fish soup is sometimes called machu youn.
Prahok adds depth but is optional; a spoonful of fish sauce makes up for its absence. If you skip it in the kroeung version, a little anchovy paste is a common stand-in.
A comparable soup, canh chua, is eaten in Vietnam; one travel page calls samlor machu Vietnamese in origin without evidence, so no origin is claimed here.
Best eaten the day it is made.

Adapted from Cambodge Mag, Samlor machu trey, Zaffaron, Samlor machu kroeung, and Indochina Value, Samlor machu.