Nhoam Krewan Samut — Coastal Seafood Herb Salad
ញាំគ្រឿងសមុទ្រ
A bright, herb-heavy Khmer salad of poached prawns and squid tossed with green mango, herbs, roast peanuts, and a fierce fish-sauce and lime dressing.
By Cambodian Cookbook Kitchen · May 24, 2026
កំពត Kampot, Kep & the CoastRecovery era, 1979–1993
- Prep
- 30 min
- Cook
- 5 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Beginner
Nhoam — the great Khmer family of tossed, herb-heavy salads — turns up everywhere in the country, but the coast gives it the sea. Nhoam krewan samut is built on poached prawns and squid, shredded green mango, a fistful of torn herbs, and a fish-sauce dressing sharp enough to stand up straight, and it belongs to the recovery years as much as any dish here: when the markets came back stall by stall after 1979, a salad was something you could assemble from a little of this and a little of that, no oven, no fuel, just a knife, a lime, and whatever the boats and the garden gave up. It is food for the hottest afternoons, when nobody wants to stand over a fire and everybody wants something loud and cold and alive.
The whole craft is freshness and timing. Poach the seafood so gently it stays sweet — prawns just to the curl, squid for a breath — and keep the herbs torn and generous, because in a proper nhoam the leaves are the dish and the seafood is merely the reason to make it today. The dressing wants to be a shade too fierce on the spoon, knowing the mango and carrot will soften it; and it must go on at the very last moment, because fish sauce and lime start pulling water from everything they touch, and a nhoam left to sit puddles into disappointment. Crown it with crushed peanuts and fried shallots for crunch, and serve it the second it's tossed, while the mango still snaps.
Dress the salad only at the last second. Fish sauce and lime start to weep water from the vegetables the moment they meet, and a puddled nhoam is a sad one.
ពាក្យពីចុងភៅ · A word from the kitchen
Ingredientsគ្រឿងផ្សំ
Serves 4
០ of ១៣ gathered
The seafood and vegetables
Dressing and finish
Methodវិធីធ្វើ
Step 1: Poach the seafood gently
Bring a pan of salted water to a bare simmer and poach the prawns until just curled, then the squid for barely thirty seconds. Drain and spread them to cool. Poaching keeps the seafood sweet and tender where a hard boil would make it bounce like an eraser.
Step 2: Make a sharp dressing
Whisk the fish sauce, lime, and palm sugar until the sugar melts, then add the pounded garlic and chilli. Taste and chase the balance — sour, salty, sweet, hot, in that order of loudness. It should be a touch too strong on its own; the vegetables will soften it.
Step 3: Combine everything but the crunch
In a wide bowl, toss the cooled seafood with the green mango, carrot, shallots, and torn herbs. Keep the herbs generous — this is a salad where the leaves are the dish and the seafood is the guest of honour, not the other way around.
Step 4: Dress and crown
Pour over the dressing and toss just to coat, then pile onto a plate and scatter with crushed peanuts and fried shallots. Serve at once, while the mango still snaps and nothing has had time to go limp in its own juice.
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 →Spider strainer
ចម្រងLift blanched noodles, fried shallots, and spring rolls clean out of hot water or oil in one scoop, before they overcook or turn soft.
Shop on Amazon →
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Questions from the kitchen
What is nhoam, exactly?
Nhoam is the Khmer word for the whole family of tossed salads — pounded or shredded, herb-heavy, dressed in fish sauce and lime. Green mango and papaya are common bases; on the coast, poached seafood turns it into a light meal rather than a side.
No green mango — what else works?
Green papaya is the classic alternative, or shredded green apple, or even firm cucumber and a little extra lime for the sourness the unripe mango would have brought. You want something crunchy and tart to carry the herbs and dressing.
Can I use leftover cooked seafood?
Yes — this salad is a fine home for yesterday's grilled prawns or squid; just shred or slice and toss them in cold. Grilled seafood brings a smoky note that's very welcome. Only avoid anything already sauced, which will fight the dressing.
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