First, I don't raise fish; what I described is what other villagers do. The fish that are caught to feed the pond fish have nothing to do with admirable practices, it is simply a part of their tradition and they are motivated by poverty more than virtue and of course the availability of fry. Since aquaculture is relatively new in our village, it exists at a small scale level and is presumably local, by which I mean within Cambodia, however it is possible that Vietnamese middlemen purchase them too for consumption in their country, but not overseas. After all these middlemen are quite active in purchasing much livestock in our village And what do they do in dry season? They eat a hell of a lot less fish and little amok! Please remember that prahok(both the name of the preserved fish and the dish) are caught in the middle of wet season to help sustain their protein needs during dry season. I do intend to get involved in aquaculture, but I am tending to consider tilapia as my fish of choice.
Amok is commonly made out of whatever fish they catch that day. Simple. We aren't talking the semantic differences between Kobe and Waygu beef here people. And Lew, lucky you to live in Tassie. But don't ever walk into your local fish and chip shop and just order fish and chips. Chances are the fish will be farmed Basa, even in tassie!
And Lew, lucky you to live in Tassie. But don't ever walk into your local fish and chip shop and just order fish and chips. Chances are the fish will be farmed Basa, even in tassie!
I am lucky to live in Tasmania, but like everywhere else global market forces largely dictate what you plate up for dinner. Over the years I've been involved with most aspects of the wild fishery in the state from abalone, lobster, scallops and finfish.
A quarter of the world's wild abalone is sourced from here and it all ends up on the Asian market. It's the same with lobster and with local markets competing with Melbourne and Sydney wholesalers the cost of finfish has gone stratospheric, subsequently most Tasmanians don't eat wild fish. It's unaffordable. And....the corner fish and chip shop of our childhood has all but disappeared.
Sadly if you can't catch your own fish here these days you either put up with a combination of farmed Asian fish or locally reared salmon. I usually just settle for a nice leg of juvenile wallaby with home grown veg.
Some interesting replies here folks. I will be back in Cambodia in a couple of weeks and looking forward to tucking into some more Amok within 3 hours of getting off the plane, antibiotics, growth hormones and all!
Lew - its a small world - I have have been doing salmon farming and oyster farming in southern Tas for most of the last 15 years since I left school.
hotdigr said, "Amok is commonly made out of whatever fish they catch that day. Simple." That's probably true in ptomaine palaces in Sihanoukville, but definately not in our village.
looking forward to tucking into some more Amok within 3 hours of getting off the plane, antibiotics, growth hormones and all!
Enjoy your holiday.
I generally consume most things when away but I do draw the line with the imported product from countries with dodgy farming practices when home.
Lol @ Sanity. Mate as you correctly inferred, I live in Sihanoukville which is on the sea, where proper, salt water fish that weigh more then 200 grams are caught . We eat REAL fish ( and even fresh prawns, crabs, lobsters, squid, oysters. That's why when you village dwellers make your once in a decade trip here you ALL take home a 20kg box filled with real seafood) here, not shitty tilapia or Mekong catfish. Ptomaine palaces, is that what you call restaurants in your little village? Come to the big city one day and experience REAL food for a change!
Dale, if you want good, fresh seafood that isn't contaminated or farmed, Sihanoukville is the place to go in Cambodia!
I worked on the snapper boats out of Brunswick Heads in Northern NSW for a few years, so I do know good fish from bad fish!
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