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"Prahok" is an essential reserve food for Cambodian farmers in rural areas because it is a kind of fermented food that can be stored for a long time. There are many Khmer dishes that use prahok as an indispensable ingredient, such as Kor Ko and Teuk Kreoung. Apart from being an ingredient, Prahok can also be made into a separate dish, by adding some ingredients to your liking, such as grilled Prahok, Prahok Ktis, Prahok Kreoung, raw Prahok, sour prahok, etc.
Making prahok for ready-to-eat food has been a tradition for a long time. Most of the villagers, especially the residents living near the rivers, canals and lakes, during the low water season, which is the rich fish season, that is, from the month of Bos to the month of Phalkun or the month of Chet, they often travel by cart to the river to do fishing or buy fish to make Prahok. Therefore, there is rarely a family that does not make prahok, although some people are short of money, they try to make Prahok as much as they can afford; while some even borrow money from others to make Prahok. Some locals buy fish to make at home, while others stay by the river until the Prahok is ready before returning home. Not only Prahok makers but also fishermen have to stay there to fish day and night as it is a lucrative opportunity. Therefore, as long as it is the season for Prahok fishing, they often see many shelters along the river.
Most of the fish used to make Prahok are small fish, such as Riel fish or Lihn fish. But some rich people also use big fish like Ros fish, Chdor fish, Kha Ek fish, Sorn Dai fish ... to make Prahok. It is a kind of meat Prahok (boneless Prahok) that is delicious and expensive.
There are only two main ingredients for Prahok: fish and salt. First, the fish has scraped off the scale, the head is cut off, the abdomen is removed, and then the fish is placed in a Jeal or Kom Broang or jar. Prahok makers will step on it with their bare feet to remove the scale fish and fish oil in a nearby river or stream. Cleaning by stepping on it is an important step because if the fish oil is not completely removed, Prahok will smell bad and be unable to eat. Therefore, the washing process must be done several times until the fish is white. This cleaning requires a lot of water and this is also the reason for those who make a lot of prahok to stay by the river to easily wash the prahok.
After washing, the fish are extracted and placed in a bamboo basket with small cells to keep the fish dry. When the fish is dry, the fish is salted. Spilling salt is not done all at once, it is done three times. First fermentation leaves it overnight to harden the fish. The next day, they put the fish under the sun for two hours. Then it is salted for the second time and then left to soak for 4-5 days, then it is salted for the third time and stuffed into a jar or jar using Ang Re, pestle. In order to make the Prahok stuffy and not cracked, you have to take a bamboo stick and snap it on top and pour salt water in. It is usually stored for 5-6 months before the Prahok tastes good and smells good. For the sellers, they shorten the storing period to 1-2 months old, which is caused the Prahok smells stinky and doesn’t taste good when it is cooked.
When we take Prahok from the jar to eat, we have to press it back and sprinkle more salt on it so that it does not absorb air. Properly made Prahok can usually be stored for up to 4 or 5 years.
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