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Cambodian Outside of the Pot Soup Recipe – How to Make Chrouk Krao Chhnang. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.
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5 from 2 votes

Cambodian Outside of the Pot Soup Recipe – How to Make Chrouk Krao Chhnang

This Cambodian 'outside of the pot soup' recipe – also called 'out of the pot soup' and 'outside the pot soup' – makes Chrouk Krao Chhnang, a light salad of a soup, often eaten cold, that is made for the hot northern Southeast Asian 'summer' of March-April, when the region experiences some of its hottest temperatures.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time10 minutes
Total Time40 minutes
Course: Sharing
Cuisine: Cambodian / Khmer
Servings: 4 Sharing
Calories: 120kcal
Author: Lara Dunston

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS

  • 50 g small salted fish outside Cambodia, opt for anchovy, chopped into small pieces
  • 100 g grilled smoked dried fish or fried fish, torn into 2-3 cm pieces
  • 2 medium-soft 5-minute boiled eggs quartered
  • 1 small purple shallot finely sliced
  • 1 medium cucumber sliced
  • 1 firm ripe tomato sliced
  • 1 garlic clove finely chopped (optional)
  • 2 cups fish or vegetable stock or fish consommé or boiled water
  • light fish sauce 2 tablespoons (or to taste)
  • 1 small lime squeeze of juice (or to taste)
  • pinch salt or to taste
  • pinch sugar or to taste
  • fresh herbs: mint leaves essential, Thai basil and saw-tooth coriander (optional)

Instructions

  • Heat your stock or consommé or put the water on to boil. If you’re using a stock that you’ve made and had in the freezer then you’ll need to bring it to a boil for at least 3 minutes to kill any bacteria. If you’re using a store-bought stock, follow the directions. Then turn off the heat and let the stock sit while you prep the rest of the ingredients. While many Cambodians use water we think a good clear fish consommé or fish stock works best, whether it’s home-made or store-bought. Just remember: if serving cold use water and seasoning; stock or consommé need to be served warm.
  • Prepare the rest of the ingredients and split between the bowls. Tear apart or finely chop the small salted fish and place them in the bottom of the bowl. In Cambodia, there are myriad options, but outside Cambodia, you may wish to opt for anchovies.
  • Tear apart the smoked dried fish and place in the bottom of the bowl. You may not be able to get this fish outside Southeast Asia and if you can it may not be to your taste so experiment with this. Try fried fish or poached fish.
  • Slice your 2 medium-soft eggs into halves or quarters, depending on the size of the bowls you’re using. We like to do our eggs for 5 minutes, but do boil them for longer if you like them done more. You could arrange them in the bowl as we’ve done above. Some Cambodian cooks prefer to group each ingredient together while other Cambodian cooks prefer to combine the whole lot.
  • Evenly distribute the finely sliced small purple shallots between the bowls.
  • Evenly distribute the medium-sliced cucumber between the bowls. Note that some Cambodian recipes call for julienned cucumber, while others finely chop the cucumber. We like rounds.
  • Evenly distribute the medium-sliced tomato slices between the bowls. Again, some recipes call for the tomato to be finely chopped, others use quarters of a similar size to the eggs. We like round slices.
  • Optional: sprinkle the finely chopped garlic clove over the fresh ingredients, ensuring even distribution. Note that this is optional as raw finely chopped garlic in a soup such as this is not to everyone’s taste.
  • Pour your stock or consommé into the bowls OR if opting for boiled water add the light fish sauce, then squeeze the juice of a small lime or lemon into the stock, add a pinch of salt, and a pinch of white sugar, then taste. It should be balanced, but if it’s not to your taste, then add a little more of any of those ingredients (fish sauce, lime juice, salt, sugar) until it suits your taste.
  • Allow to cool down to room temperature before gently pouring into each bowl, evenly distributing. Now you could also do as Cambodians do and add ice cubes.
  • Lastly, generously sprinkle your fresh herbs on top of each bowl. Mint leaves should dominate this dish, but if you like Thai basil and saw-tooth coriander, then roughly chop those leaves and feel free to add those, however, leave them until the last minute so they don’t brown.
  • Provide a caddy or dishes of your condiments on the table: salt, sugar, fish sauce, fresh lime quarters, and a bowl of fresh herbs. Some people also like to add pepper to this dish.
  • Serve immediately. Taste then add garnishes/condiments to suit.

Nutrition

Calories: 120kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 12g | Fat: 4g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 108mg | Sodium: 1371mg | Potassium: 447mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 465IU | Vitamin C: 12mg | Calcium: 73mg | Iron: 1mg