Ang Dtray Meuk — Grilled Squid with Fish Sauce & Lime
អាំងត្រីមឹក
Whole squid grilled over charcoal and glazed with fish sauce, lime, and garlic — the smoke-and-sea skewer of every Kampot and Kep beach grill.
By Cambodian Cookbook Kitchen · May 19, 2026
កំពត Kampot, Kep & the CoastRecovery era, 1979–1993
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 8 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Beginner
Along the Kampot and Kep waterfronts, when the light goes gold and the fishing boats come in, the beach grills fire up and the smell that carries is squid over charcoal. Ang dtray meuk — whole squid, skewered flat, glazed with fish sauce and lime — is the most democratic thing on the coast: sold for a few thousand riel by women fanning coals in oil drums, eaten off the skewer by workers, students, and tourists alike. The grills came back in the recovery years, when the markets reopened stall by stall and a cart, a bag of charcoal, and the day's catch were enough to start a business. It remains street food in the purest sense — cooked in front of you, handed over hot, eaten on your feet.
The cooking is almost nothing, which is exactly why it is easy to ruin. Squid is protein that sets in two minutes and toughens in three, so the fire must be hot and your patience short. Score the bodies so they curl and drink the glaze, skewer them flat so they turn as one, and brush the fish-sauce-lime-palm-sugar mix each time you flip so it lacquers dark at the edges. The sugar is what gives you that catch of char; the lime keeps it from cloying. Pull the squid the moment it turns opaque, slice it into rings, and dip it in the glaze you held back. A saucer of tuk meric alongside, and you are eating the coast exactly as it eats itself.
Squid cooks in the time it takes to say so — two minutes a side, then off. Every extra minute over the coals trades tenderness for rubber, and the coals always win.
ពាក្យពីចុងភៅ · A word from the kitchen
Ingredientsគ្រឿងផ្សំ
Serves 4
០ of ៨ gathered
The squid
The glaze
Methodវិធីធ្វើ
Step 1: Score and skewer
Score the squid bodies in a light crosshatch on the inside — shallow cuts, barely through the surface — so they curl handsomely and take the glaze. Thread each squid lengthwise on a pair of skewers so it lies flat and turns as one piece over the fire.
Step 2: Mix the glaze
Stir the fish sauce, lime, palm sugar, garlic, oil, and cracked pepper until the sugar dissolves. Reserve half for dipping; the sugar in the rest is what lets the squid catch and lacquer over the coals.
Step 3: Grill hot and fast
Over hot charcoal, grill the squid two minutes a side, brushing with glaze each turn, until the flesh turns opaque white and the edges char and curl. That is the whole cook — squid asks for high heat and a short memory.
Step 4: Rest, cut, dip
Let the skewers rest one minute off the fire, then slice the bodies into rings. Serve with the reserved glaze and, if you have it, a saucer of tuk meric. Eat standing up by the water, which is where it belongs.
ឧបករណ៍ · The tools
Equipment
Granite mortar & pestle
ត្បាល់THE Cambodian tool. Kroeung is pounded, never blended — the stone bruises fibre and oil out of lemongrass and galangal in a way a blade only chops. Buy the heaviest one you can lift.
Shop on Amazon →Carbon-steel wok
ខ្ទះFor char kroeung, loc lac, and every fast fry — a well-seasoned wok gets screaming hot and moves food fast, the whole point of a stir-fry. Flat-bottomed for a home stove.
Shop on Amazon →Charcoal grill
ចង្ក្រានអាំងCambodian grilling is charcoal grilling — sach ko ang, grilled fish, skewers. The smoke is half the flavour, and a small clay or steel grill is all you need.
Shop on Amazon →Fish grill basket
ចង្អេរអាំងA hinged wire clamp that holds a whole fish or a raft of small ones over the coals and lets you flip everything at once without tearing the skin.
Shop on Amazon →
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Questions from the kitchen
How do I keep grilled squid from turning to rubber?
Heat and speed. A ripping-hot fire and two minutes a side sets the protein before it toughens; a lukewarm grill slowly boils the squid in its own juice into an eraser. When the flesh goes opaque and the edges char, it is done — trust that and pull it.
Fresh or frozen squid?
Frozen squid is genuinely fine here and often more tender than not-quite-fresh; thaw it fully and pat it bone-dry so it chars instead of steams. On the Kampot coast it comes off the boats that morning, but a good freezer is no shame anywhere else.
What sides go with it?
A plate of raw herbs and cucumber, steamed rice, and a sour dipping sauce — tuk meric for the coast, tuk trey for a table. At the beach grills it is simply squid, lime, and cold beer, which may be the correct answer.
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