Fish Amok in Melbourne

Long ago, in the time of the great kings of Angkor, a poor fisherman lived beside the Tonlé Sap lake. He had a small boat, a worn net and very little else. When word came that the king would pass through the villages, every family hurried to prepare a gift. The rich brought gold, silk and fine carvings. The fisherman had only his morning's catch.

Not wanting to bow before his king with a plain fish, he went to his wife's kitchen and began to work. He pounded lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, kaffir lime and garlic into a fragrant kroeung, the way his mother had taught him. He folded it through coconut milk with the tender white fish, shaped banana leaves into little cups and steamed them gently over the fire until the curry set soft and silky.

When the king arrived, the fisherman knelt and offered one small banana-leaf cup. The courtiers laughed at so humble a gift. The king tasted it, fell silent, and asked for another. "What is this?" he said. "Only fish from the lake," the fisherman answered, "cooked with what our land has given us."

The king declared it fit for a royal table. From that day the fisherman's dish was cooked in the palace, and his recipe travelled from kitchen to kitchen, from mothers to daughters, across Cambodia.

Today, Fish Amok is Cambodia's signature dish, and ours. At ANGKOR it is a fragrant steamed coconut curry made with aromatic kroeung, prepared with the same care as a gift for a king.