About this recipe
Kroeung is the aromatic foundation of a great deal of Cambodian cooking — a fresh paste pounded from lemongrass, galangal, turmeric or fingerroot, kaffir lime, garlic and shallots that flavours curries, soups, stir-fries and grilled dishes, including several in this chapter. The word kroeung means, roughly, 'ingredients' or the set of aromatics, and there are several kinds: a basic yellow kroeung (kroeung samlor), a green kroeung, and a red kroeung made by adding dried red chillies. It resembles the curry pastes, rempah and bumbu of neighbouring cuisines and shares the pounded-aromatic technique with them, but its particular balance — lemongrass-forward, often with fingerroot and kaffir lime, and not necessarily chilli-hot — gives it a character of its own. Making it fresh is worth the effort; it also freezes well.
Recipe facts
- Yield
- About 1 cup (240 ml)
- Prep
- 20 minutes
- Cook
- None (raw paste)
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Spice
- Mild (yellow) to medium (red)
Allergens The base paste is plant-based and vegan. If shrimp paste (kapi) is added, it contains shellfish. Gluten-free. Vegetarian and vegan unless shrimp paste is included.
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
Yellow kroeung (base)
- 4 stalks lemongrass, tough outer layers and tops removed, tender core thinly sliced
- 2 in (5 cm) fresh galangal, peeled and thinly sliced
- 2 in (5 cm) fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced, or 1 tbsp (9 g) ground turmeric
- 2 tbsp chopped fingerroot (krachai), if available
- 6 kaffir lime leaves, centre ribs removed, finely sliced
- Zest of 1 kaffir lime, if available
- 8 cloves garlic, peeled
- 5 shallots, peeled and chopped
- 1/2 tsp (3 g) salt, to help the pounding
To make it red kroeung (optional)
- 6 to 10 dried red chillies, seeded, soaked in warm water until soft, and drained
For extra depth (optional)
- 1 tsp (5 g) shrimp paste (kapi); omit for a vegan or if not desired
Equipment
- Heavy mortar and pestle (traditional and best), or a small food processor
- Sharp knife and cutting board
- Airtight jar or freezer container for storage
Method
- Prepare all the aromatics: slice the lemongrass, galangal, turmeric and fingerroot thinly, and finely slice the kaffir lime leaves. Removing the tough parts now saves the paste from being stringy.
- Start the pound: put the sliced lemongrass and the salt in the mortar and pound to a rough pulp. Add the galangal and pound until broken down, then the turmeric and fingerroot.
- Add the kaffir lime leaves and zest and pound until they disappear into the paste.
- Add the garlic and shallots last and pound to a moist, fairly smooth paste. This takes patience; keep going until there are no coarse fibres.
- For red kroeung, pound in the soaked, drained dried chillies until fully incorporated and the paste turns orange-red.
- For extra savoury depth, pound in the shrimp paste at the end (omit for a vegan paste).
- Use straight away, or pack into a jar with a thin film of oil on top, or freeze in portions.
From the foundations
The book pairs this recipe with the following, from the sauces, sambals and pastes that open the collection.
The Complete Edition
Kroeung (Lemongrass Paste) sits in the Cambodia chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Cambodia chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.