Khmer Krom Khor (Cambodian Caramelized Chicken and Egg Stew)
My mother is an amazing cook. True, I may be a bit biased, but I’m not the only one who’s lauded her culinary skills and talent for creating mouth-watering dishes day after day for our food-obsessed family.
While she’s capable of preparing a wide range of dishes originating from various countries—Italian pastas, spicy Thai noodles, Chinese barbecue pork and dumplings—it’s her Cambodian and Vietnamese dishes that my sister and I drool over the most. She’s been giving us mini Cambodian/Vietnamese cooking lessons lately, in hopes that our family’s future generation will be afforded the same delicious home-cooked meals that we grew up with.
Last weekend’s lesson was Khmer Krom Khor, a caramelized pork or chicken and egg stew. So good.
Khmer Krom is an ethnic Cambodian group living in the lower part of the Mekong Delta in southern Vietnam, which was once part of the Khmer empire. Khmer Krom Khor is similar to the Vietnamese dish, Thit Kho.
Continue to recipe.
Ingredients
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon mushroom seasoning
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper, plus more to taste
3-4 garlic cloves, smashed and roughly chopped
1 1/2 to 2 pounds chicken or pork, cut into 2-inch chunks
4-5 pieces sliced ginger, cut into 1/6-inch thickness
6-8 hard-boiled eggs
Directions
1. Heat sugar and vegetable oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Stir occasionally as sugar caramelizes, about 10-15 minutes.
2. Add mushroom seasoning, fresh ground pepper, garlic, and chicken into the caramelized sugar. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes. Stir in sliced ginger, and cover for about 5 minutes.
3. Once the chicken has cooked through, add the hard-boiled eggs. Stir and cover for about 5 minutes.
4. Season with fresh ground pepper to taste.
5. Serve immediately with white rice.
Serves 4.
Tasting Journal 