Samlor Bongkong
សម្លបង្គង
A clear, tart river-prawn soup of the Mekong — giant freshwater prawns simmered with lemongrass, tamarind, and morning glory until the broth turns sweet-sour.
By Cambodian Cookbook Kitchen · July 7, 2026
មេគង្គ Along the MekongFrench Protectorate era, 1863–1953
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 25 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Beginner
Where the Mekong runs slow and brown past Kampong Cham, the giant prawns come up in the nets, and the plainest good thing to do with a few of them is float them in a sour soup. Samlor bongkong belongs to the machu family — the great Khmer sweet-sour soups — but keeps itself lean and clear rather than rich, letting the prawn and the tamarind do all the talking. It is a Protectorate-era everyday dish in the sense that it always has been everyday: a soup built on what the river gives and what grows at its edge, morning glory and paddy herb pulled from the same wet ground. Cambodians eat sour soups to cut the heat, and this one is a rainy-season staple that arrives at the table steaming and leaves you cooler than you started.
Build the broth first so the prawns spend as little time in it as possible. Simmer lemongrass and galangal in the water, season it into a clean sweet-sour balance with tamarind, fish sauce, and palm sugar, and add the tomatoes to soften. Only then drop in the prawns and the morning glory together — the greens want maybe two minutes and the prawns want less. The moment the shells flush orange and the tails curl tight, kill the heat and tear in the paddy herb. Taste it and chase the balance: more tamarind if it's flat, more fish sauce if it's shy, more sugar if the sour has gotten ahead of everything. It should read tart first, then sweet, then deep with prawn.
Add the prawns last and pull the pot off the heat the moment they curl. Ninety extra seconds turns river prawn from silk to rubber.
ពាក្យពីចុងភៅ · A word from the kitchen
Ingredientsគ្រឿងផ្សំ
Serves 4
០ of ១១ gathered
The broth
The greens
Methodវិធីធ្វើ
Step 1: Start the aromatic broth
Simmer the bruised lemongrass and galangal in the water or light pork stock for ten minutes to build a clean base. Keeping it clear rather than rich is what lets the prawn and tamarind carry the soup.
Step 2: Balance the sweet and sour
Season the broth with strained tamarind, fish sauce, and palm sugar, then add the tomato wedges to soften. Chase a balance that reads tart first, then sweet, then deep — adjust the tamarind to how sour you like it.
Step 3: Add prawns and greens last
Drop in the prawns and morning glory together only once the broth is seasoned. The greens want about two minutes and the prawns even less, so this is the final move, not an early one.
Step 4: Pull the pot at the curl
The moment the shells flush orange and the tails curl tight, kill the heat. Ninety extra seconds turns river prawn from silk to rubber, so err on the side of underdone.
Step 5: Finish with paddy herb
Tear in the rice-paddy herb and sawtooth coriander off the heat so their fragrance stays bright. Taste one last time and correct the balance before it goes to the table steaming.
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.
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Questions from the kitchen
How do I keep the prawns from overcooking?
Build the whole broth first so the prawns spend as little time in it as possible, then add them at the very end. Pull the pot off the heat the instant the tails curl — carryover heat finishes them in the bowl.
What if the soup tastes flat?
A flat sour soup usually needs more tamarind for lift or more fish sauce for depth, added a spoon at a time. If the sour has run ahead of everything, a little extra palm sugar pulls the balance back into line.
បន្ទាប់ · Cook next
