Recipe
Samlor Machu Kroeung (recipe)
Sour beef and morning glory soup in which beef is marinated in yellow kroeung, seared, then simmered with stock, greens and sour seasonings.
This recipe for Samlor Machu Kroeung, a Cambodian sour beef soup with morning glory, follows the version Lara Dunston published on Grantourismo.[1] In Khmer the soup is called samlor machou kroeung sach ko. It is a green, vegetable-driven broth, eaten for lunch or dinner and traditionally shared at the table.[1]
The soup is built on yellow kroeung, the herb and spice paste that the recipe counts as the most basic and versatile of the five main Cambodian kroeungs; green kroeung can also be used.[1] The beef marinates in the paste before it is fried. The recipe serves four as a main dish, or six to eight in small bowls alongside other dishes.[1]
Ingredients
- 6 tbsp yellow kroeung
- 300 g beef tenderloin, sliced into two-bite pieces
- 3 tbsp cooking oil
- 4 cups beef or vegetable stock
- 300 g morning glory (water spinach, trorkuon in Khmer)
- 2 tbsp fish sauce and/or 1 tbsp prahok (fermented fish paste)
- 1 tbsp tamarind paste, optional
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tbsp palm sugar, or brown sugar
- 5 small red chilies, for garnish[1]
Method
The yellow kroeung is made ahead as a separate recipe. The published recipe allows 45 minutes of preparation and 30 minutes of cooking.[1]
- Remove any old leaves from the morning glory, then wash and drain it. Chop the leaves and stems into lengths of about 3 centimeters (1.2 inches).
- Combine the beef with the yellow kroeung and marinate it for 15 minutes.
- Fry the beef and kroeung quickly in the oil, then move them to the soup pot.
- Add the stock, with all the morning glory leaves and half the stems. Beef stock gives a meatier taste; vegetable stock gives a greener flavor.
- Blend the remaining morning glory with a little stock or water and add it to the pot.
- Season with the fish sauce and/or prahok, the tamarind paste if using, the salt and the sugar, adding half of each first and tasting before adding the rest.
- Simmer for 30 minutes, which keeps the green color and flavor.
- Serve with a dish of finely sliced red chilies on the side.[1]
The soup can also be made without meat, with green beans, round eggplants or carrots added. Tamarind is the souring agent, and cooks in Cambodia also use the seeds of krasaing (wood apple) in its place.[1]