Cambodian Sour Soup With Pork, Pineapple and Coconut Milk Recipe

5 from 2 votes

Cambodian Sour Soup With Pork, Pineapple and Coconut Milk Recipe

This Cambodian sour soup with pork, pineapple and coconut milk recipe makes versatile dish that you could serve as a soup by thinning it out with stock or water or as an almost curry-like stew by letting it simmer longer and reduce right down. Serve with rice.

Prep Time45

Cook Time1 30

Total Time2 15

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Cambodian / Khmer

Servings:

Calories: 574kcal

Author: Lara Dunston

Ingredients

1 large pineapple
6 tbsp yellow kroeung
3 tbsp vegetable oil
300 g pork shoulder chopped into small bite-size pieces
1 tsp prahok can use 1-2 tbsp fish sauce
1 bunch pea eggplants around 32-40 or 8-10 per person
1 tbsp palm sugar
400 ml coconut milk
1 tbsp tamarind juice
3 cups water or stock we prefer stock
1 bunch Thai basil
1 small red chilli finely-chopped, optional

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Make the Khmer yellow herb/spice paste called Kroeung Samlor Machou (see recipe link, above).
Prepare the pineapple: depending on the size, cut the pineapple in half or one-third from the top. Peel the top part of the pineapple and chop it into bite-sized cubes. For the remainder of the pineapple, which you will use as a bowl, scoop out the pineapple meat and chop into similar size pieces and set aside.
Heat 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a pan and fry the pork, prahok or fish sauce (optional) and 3 tablespoons of kroeung until the pork has some colour. When done, transfer to a soup or stew pot.
Heat another tablespoon of cooking oil and pan fry the pea eggplants, continually turning them, until they begin to brown and even char a little. Transfer to the soup or stew pot.
Add the coconut milk, pineapple, palm sugar and the rest of the kroeung (3 tablespoons) to the soup/stew pot and stir everything until well combined.
If you’re making a soup, add the cups of water/stock and simmer on low heat for at least one hour, stirring and tasting occasionally until the pork is tender. The water will give you a lighter soup, the stock a richer and more intensely flavoured soup. If you decide to make a curry-like stew, skip the water/stock, simmer on low heat, stirring and tasting occasionally until the pork is tender.
Add the tamarind juice when you think the pork is done, taste. It should be balanced, both sweet and sour. If it’s missing something, add a pinch of salt and taste again. If you want some bite, finely chop the small red chillies, and add those.
When the pork is tender, you’re ready to serve. It won’t all fit in your pineapple bowl, so pour as much as you can into the pineapple, garnish with Thai basil, and set at the centre of the table.
You could distribute the rest between small individual bowls for your guests, garnishing each with basil. Or you could simply serve from your pineapple bowl and top it up with the rest as needed.
Serve with a big bowl of steamed rice and a small dish of finely-chopped chillis.

Nutrition