Kho Trey
ត្រីខ
Kho trey is southern home cooking at its plainest and best — fish braised slow in palm-sugar caramel and fish sauce until dark, sweet and deep.
By Cambodian Cookbook Kitchen · May 20, 2026
តាកែវ Takéo & the SouthChenla era, c. 550–802
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Beginner
Not every dish carries a temple or a festival on its back. Kho trey is the plain weeknight cooking of the southern provinces — Takéo, Kampong Speu, the flat wet country where sugar palms outnumber people and a fish from the canal plus a lump of palm sugar makes dinner. Kho is a braising method the whole Mekong delta shares, Khmer and Vietnamese kitchens alike: caramelize sugar dark, hit it with fish sauce, and let a protein simmer down in the resulting sweet-salt syrup until it glazes. What makes this one southern-Khmer rather than anything else is the sugar itself — the smoky, savoury teuk t'not tapped from the palms outside the door, doing work that cane caramel cannot quite imitate.
The whole art is in the caramel, and the whole caramel is a single nervous minute. You want the palm sugar taken one shade darker than instinct allows, right to the edge where sweet turns almost bitter and picks up a whisper of smoke — then fish sauce, aromatics, a little coconut water, and the fish laid in to braise slow until the sauce clings. There is nothing clever here and nothing to hide behind, which is exactly why Khmer cooks judge each other by it. Get the caramel right and kho trey is one of the great cheap dinners on earth: dark, glossy, deep, and gone in the time it takes to eat a second bowl of rice.
The caramel wants to go one shade past what feels safe — just short of bitter is where the whole dish lives. Pull the pot off the heat the moment it darkens.
ពាក្យពីចុងភៅ · A word from the kitchen
Ingredientsគ្រឿងផ្សំ
Serves 4
០ of ១១ gathered
The fish
The braise
To finish
Methodវិធីធ្វើ
Step 1: Season and rest the fish
Rub the fish chunks with salt and pepper and let them sit while you build the caramel. Bone-in pieces hold together through the braise and give the sauce body; skin left on crisps slightly at the edges and is welcome.
Step 2: Make the palm caramel
Melt the palm sugar in a heavy pot over medium heat with a splash of water, swirling until it darkens to a deep mahogany and smells of caramel and just barely of smoke. This is the make-or-break minute — too pale and the dish is flat, too far and it turns bitter.
Step 3: Bloom the aromatics
Slide in the garlic, shallots and whole chillies and stir them through the hot caramel for a minute until fragrant. Pour in the fish sauce; it will hiss and seize, then loosen. Add the coconut water and bring to a simmer.
Step 4: Braise the fish
Lay the fish in a single layer, spoon the dark sauce over it, and let it braise uncovered at a low bubble for twenty-five to thirty minutes. Baste now and then and turn once. The sauce reduces to a glossy, clinging glaze and the fish takes on its colour.
Step 5: Reduce and finish
When the sauce coats the back of a spoon and the fish is dark and tender, cut the heat. Scatter spring onions and a little more cracked pepper over the top. It should taste sweet, salty and deep all at once — serve it with a mountain of plain rice and nothing else.
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 →Clay pot
ឆ្នាំងដីThe earthenware pot for kho — caramel-braised pork or fish. Holds a low, even heat that keeps a braise gentle and carries it to the table still bubbling.
Shop on Amazon →
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Questions from the kitchen
What fish works best?
Anything firm that will not fall apart in a braise — catfish and snakehead are the southern classics, but mackerel, kingfish and even thick tilapia steaks are excellent. Bone-in, thick-cut pieces survive the simmer and give the sauce more to work with than delicate fillets.
Is kho the same as a Vietnamese caramel braise?
They are close cousins that share the delta between them, and the technique of caramel plus fish sauce is common to both kitchens. The Khmer version leans on the smoky palm sugar of the south rather than cane caramel, which gives it a rounder, more savoury depth. Neighbours cook alike; the sugar tells you which side of the river you are on.
Can I braise pork or egg this way?
Absolutely — kho is a method as much as a dish, and pork belly or hard-boiled eggs take the same palm caramel beautifully. Give pork a longer, gentler braise until the fat goes silky. The sauce is the constant; the protein is whatever the house has.
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