Cambodian Fish

Was just wondering what kind of fish is most commonly used for the popular dish Amok Trey?
I think its a freshwater fish generally - is it a species of catfish?

This article says mekong catfish or snakehead fish:
http://www.bestcambodiatours.com/cambodia-travel-guide/Amok-trey.html

What they call 'catfish' in the Mekong when it is imported into the USA is called Basa or Basa Swai and has become very popular for firmness...and its price.
There are those who have serious questions about the conditions under which the fish are raised:
http://theaquaculturists.blogspot.com/2010/11/catfish-farming-on-mekong-river-delta.html
A friend who is savvy on the endangered fish is equally concerned about the fish from questionable environments, and has told me to to use them if possible. (But I think it's often the fish of choice for local Mexican fish tacos...)
Here's the background on the snakehead fish:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakehead_(fish)

Depending on your concerns, if it's for your own health I'd say the snakehead. If for ecological reasons, the catfish.
If you're thinking of duplicating the recipe when you come home, use any firm white fish..hake, cod, etc.
Hope this helps, others may have better comments.

An interesting post, but I am not sure what fish in Vietnam have to do with amok in Cambodia. The local names in Cambodian for the fish are trey(fish)chhdau and trey ros("s" has gentle "h"value. Almost all are raised by aquaculture in Cambodia. They are aggressive meat eaters and it is ill-advised to raise other species with them. For those who feel that meat poses a health threat, you can order pork amok, chicken amok, beef amok and god forbid vegetarian amok None of these are of course the real amok.

The traditional method calls for steaming the fish and ingredients in a coconut shell, however many restaurants skip this crucial step(a good amok takes time)and stir fry the ingredients in a wok. I hope that helps. Living in Cambodia I have no idea about the dangers of imported fish to the US.

Personally I wouldn't eat any fish raised in SE Asian aquaculture farms. You can't really blame the farmers as they're working to a regulatory framework of guidelines and permissible practices for that particular country with a view to get their product to market in the shortest possible turnaround time. That means growth hormones and chemicals generally banned in the west. Do so at your own risk.

The recipes I've read for Amok Trey mention fish (and some specific ones, as mentioned) and they show the dish being cooked in coconut leaves (lining a basket or such), not the shell. One recipe says the dish can be made without the leaves if unavailable but they add to the flavor in a unique way.
It was looking up the fish suggested for the recipe ('catfish') that led me to the article on aquaculture.
Lew, I am always cautious about eating fish which are bottom feeders...for me it's not what they're being fed, it's what in the water in the rivers...for the same reason I wouldn't swim in such water. If I buy catfish, I want to know where it's from and what the conditions are.

for me it's not what they're being fed, it's what in the water in the rivers...

It should. What one country allows in terms of chemical additives in the growth cycle of their product, others vehemently disallow. Then there's the issue of fish farms themselves adhering to regulated guidelines. The policing and incentive just isn't there.

Last time I passed through Bangkok the drug squad were in the process of winding up raids on fish farms that netted large quantities of illegal growth hormone.

First, about the recipe. The leaves don't cut it. Coconut milk from the flesh is a necessary ingredient as are palm sugar, galangal, lemon grass, tumeric, garlic, peanuts and I don't know what else since my Cambodian wife cooks it for me. The bowl is of course there for purposes of steaming.

Now to related issues. The fish that I mentioned are raised locally in our village and they are NOT bottom feeders or catfish as I mentioned. They are fed small fish which are trapped in fine mesh nets in rice fields or other flooded places when the Mekong overflows. This is of course illegal since it leads to the depletion of fish species. They are NOT fed growth hormones. As a side note pigs are fed "chemically enhanced" food. When my wife and her family raised pigs slightly after the Vietnamese Occupation it took the pigs a year to reach a weight of around 100 kilos. With the new food, they reach that weight within four months or less.

Are the fish you raise for your own consumption or export, sanity?

And while your efforts at harvesting wild food for your fish are highly commendable, and one that you certainly wouldn't find here in Tasmania or anywhere else in western aquaculture practices, what happens when the Mekong isn't in flood during the dry season?

Lew ... Mr Aquaculture and Organic drover mood food !

I hate to give you more things to worry about but ... since you seem concerned about growth hormones in fish. You do realize that these are used in pork and poultry in SEA and literally with no safeguards?! Secondly pesticides are used in both quantity and types on vegetables here in SEA and especially ones coming from China that would be illegal in the west? Recently local markets pulled broccoli which came from China and had some chemicals (pesticides or from water?) that we too dangerous, even for Thailand. I assume something had occurred which the authorities knew of but which neglected to make the english language news.

don't want this to bother you but .... : )

I must go back and reacquaint myself with the contents of the OP. I'm sure he was on about fish. Could be wrong, but it'll be the first time this year if I am.

And I couldn't care in the slightest what dodgy toxic gloop passes for farm fodder as I make a point of not sourcing food from SE Asia when I'm home. But of course, when in Rome ....

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!

Whenever I drive up the NSW north coast I always pull into the Brunswick Heads fish co op for a serve of crumbed calamari and a coke zero. Yummy. It's a perfect riverside setting for a snack and some de stressing.
Now where's Tasmania? Somewhere near Alaska?