Pharok

pharok - www.healthnote25.com

Prahok (ប្រហុក) is a typical Cambodian dish of minced fish (usually fish cork) salted, fermented, and wrapped in banana leaves.

Prahok can be made into side dishes, or as a seasoning flavored cuisine like terasi. Prahok is one of the methods of food preservation when Cambodia enters the dry season, when fresh fish is scarce. Prahok is usually eaten as a main dish, served with white rice and vegetables such as long beans, cucumbers, and eggplant.

Because of its salty and strong taste, prahok is commonly used as a flavoring spice in Cambodian cuisine, such as added in soups or sauces. The Cambodian phrase which reads, "without prahok, without salt", refers to a tasteless, flavorless, or bland cuisine, while demonstrating the importance of the prahok role in Cambodian culinary arts.

Because it is made by fermentation process, prahok has strong aroma, sting, and less tasty, similar to the smell of shrimp paste in Indonesia. The phrase of Cambodia; "mouth prahok", referring to someone who likes to speak dirty (dirty), this refers to prahok that smells not tasty.

Because it is easy to store and durable enough, mature prahok is usually a food donation ration for victims of natural disasters such as floods or droughts. Prahok can be cooked by means of baked, steamed, boiled, or fried.

Prahok is rarely served raw for health and hygiene reasons - cooking prahok means killing dangerous microbes that may grow and live in prahok. In addition, raw prawok is not durable, easily rotten, and the aroma is less delicious.