Cambodian · soup

Samlor Korko (Stirring Soup with Prahok and Toasted Rice)

Samlor Korko (Stirring Soup with Prahok and Toasted Rice) reads umami 8.5, funk & ferment 6.8 and salinity 6.3 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Cambodian soup, about 1 hr 32 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 10.0 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 6.0 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 1.3 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 3.2 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 5.3 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 1.7 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 8.5 · Funk & Ferment 6.8 · Salinity 6.3 · Richness 5.2 · Marine & Briny 4.9 · Sweetness 4.7 · Fruity 4.4 · Smoke 2.9 · Floral 1.7 · Earthy 1.3 · Sourness 1.3 · Bitterness 0.8 · Herbaceous 0.6 · Nutty 0.5

What's in it (14)

• pork ribs — 500 g
• water — 1500 g
• yellow kroeung paste — 44 g
• prahok — 30 g
• steamed jasmine rice — 33 g
• vegetable oil — 27 g
• papaya — 250 g
• pumpkin — 250 g
• long beans — 150 g
• thai apple aubergines — 150 g
• moringa leaves — 60 g
• fish sauce — 30 g
• brown sugar — 13 g
• salt — 5 g

Time & effort: about 1 hr 32 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 39.5 kcal, 3.8 g protein, 1.7 g fat, 2.2 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. Toast the jasmine rice in a dry pan over medium heat for 8 minutes, shaking, until deep gold, then grind coarsely. This is the only thickener in the soup and it also carries a distinct roasted smell that is half the character of samlor korko.
2. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat and fry the kroeung for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring, until it darkens slightly and smells sweet and lemony rather than green.
3. Add the pork ribs and turn them in the paste for 5 minutes so every piece is coated.
4. Mash the prahok with 4 tbsp of the water, push it through a sieve to leave the bones behind, and add it to the pot with the rest of the water. Prahok is Cambodia's fermented freshwater fish, sold in tubs and mashed to a grey paste; it is the country's salt and its umami, and it is strong enough that it is almost always cooked rather than eaten raw. Bring to a boil, skim, then simmer 45 minutes until the pork is tender.
5. Add the toasted rice powder and stir well; it will thicken the broth to the body of a light gravy over the next few minutes.
6. Add the vegetables in order of hardness: papaya and pumpkin first for 10 minutes, then aubergine for 6 minutes, then long beans for 5 minutes. The name korko means to stir, and the point of the dish is a soup of many vegetables stirred together rather than a clean broth, so stir often and let some of the pumpkin break down.
7. Season with fish sauce, palm sugar and salt, then throw in the moringa leaves and cook just 2 minutes until they wilt. Serve at once with rice. The finished soup should be thick, earthy and faintly bitter from the moringa, with very little heat.
8. Substitutions: kabocha can stand in for the pumpkin.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Komatsuna no Ohitashi (Mustard Spinach Steeped in Dashi) — Japanese
• Pinakbet (Braised Mixed Vegetables with Shrimp Paste) — Filipino
• Thit Kho (Caramelized Braised Pork and Eggs) — Vietnamese
• Saba no Shioyaki (Salt-Grilled Mackerel with Grated Daikon) — Japanese
• Pad See Ew — Thai

Keep reading: what umami, funk & ferment, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.