When you can’t get the real thing

Fermented freshwater fish paste — the deep, funky umami under samlor, dips, and stir-fries. There is no true equal.

• Fish sauce + a little white miso1 tbsp fish sauce + 1 tsp miso per 1 tbsp prahok

  The miso brings the fermented body, the fish sauce the funk. A polite stranger doing prahok’s job — close enough to cook with, not close enough to fool a Cambodian.

  Good

• Anchovy pastestart with half, then taste

  Salty, fishy, fermented — the right neighborhood. Thinner and less complex than prahok, and it lacks the barnyard depth, but it holds a dip together.

  Good

• Fish sauce aloneto taste for salt

  Gets you salt and a whisper of the marine note, none of the ferment. Use only when a recipe needs a background hum, never where prahok is the point.

  Last resort

The everyday salt of the Cambodian kitchen — salts, rounds, and deepens nearly every savory dish.

• Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce1:1

  Effectively the same product from the next kitchen over. Buy whichever your grocer stocks; look for a short anchovy-salt-water label.

  Excellent

• Soy sauce + a pinch of salt1:1, then salt to taste

  For a vegetarian dish or a fish allergy — savory and salty, but darker and without the marine lift. Add a little sugar to round it.

  Good

• Mushroom or vegan “fish” sauce1:1

  The best plant-based option — glutamate-rich seaweed and mushroom versions get surprisingly close.

  Good

Sap of the sugar palm, boiled to a soft caramel — rounder, less sweet, and more mineral than cane sugar.

• Light brown sugar1:1

  The molasses in brown sugar mimics palm sugar’s caramel depth. Slightly sweeter and one-note, but genuinely close and always in the cupboard.

  Good

• Coconut sugar1:1

  Often the same thing under a different name — made from palm or coconut sap. The closest supermarket swap by far.

  Excellent

• White sugar + a drop of molasses1 cup sugar + 1 tsp molasses

  Covers the sweetness and fakes the color; misses the rounded, faintly smoky edge. Fine in a pinch.

  Last resort

The fruity, mellow sour in samlor machu and dipping sauces — tangier than vinegar, softer than lime.

• Lime juice + a little brown sugar1 tbsp lime + ½ tsp sugar per 1 tbsp tamarind

  Lime is sharper and brighter than tamarind’s round, dried-fruit sourness; the sugar softens it toward the right shape. It reads as a different acid, but it works.

  Last resort

• Amchur (dried mango powder)start small

  Fruity and sour in tamarind’s family — closer than lime, if you happen to keep it.

  Good

The GI-protected pepper of the southern coast — floral, warm, and citrus-edged, a world away from dusty pre-ground pepper.

• Tellicherry black pepper1:1, freshly ground

  The best widely available pepper — large, ripe, aromatic berries. Less floral than Kampot, but grind it fresh and it holds its own.

  Good

• Any freshly ground whole black pepper1:1

  Fresh-ground beats pre-ground every time, but ordinary pepper misses the perfume that makes Kampot worth the fuss. Serviceable, not special.

  Last resort

The sharp, piney, medicinal root in kroeung — related to ginger but not remotely a stand-in for it.

• Fresh ginger1:1, honestly imperfect

  The truth: ginger is warmer and sweeter, galangal sharper and more resinous. Ginger will not taste like galangal — it tastes like ginger. Use it only if you must, and don’t expect the same dish.

  Last resort

• Dried galangal, rehydratedsoak, then pound

  Milder than fresh but the real aromatic — far closer than any ginger swap. Soak in warm water before pounding into kroeung.

  Good

The bright, floral citrus perfume threaded through amok and kroeung — its own aroma, not just “lime.”

• Lime zestzest of 1 lime per 4 leaves

  Gets the citrus top note; misses the specific floral, slightly bitter edge of the leaf. The best easy swap in a fresh dish.

  Good

• Bay leaf + lime zest

  The bay adds an aromatic backbone the zest lacks. A stopgap for a cooked dish — grow a makrut lime tree if you love this food.

  Last resort

The peppery, clove-scented basil in stir-fries — hotter and more savory than the sweet basil most stores carry.

• Thai basil1:1

  More anise, less pepper, but in the right family and far easier to find. The go-to swap when holy basil isn’t around.

  Good

• Sweet Italian basil

  Softer and sweeter, none of the clove-pepper heat. It reads as basil, just not the right one.

  Last resort

The wrapper and steamer-liner for amok, num ansom, and grilled parcels — it perfumes the food faintly as it heats.

• Parchment paper

  Holds the shape and steams cleanly for amok cups and parcels. You lose the faint grassy aroma the leaf gives — but structurally it does the job.

  Good

• Parchment wrapped in foil

  For grilling: parchment against the food, foil outside for strength and to hold the fold. Keeps the leaf’s function if not its scent.

  Good

The river and Tonlé Sap fish — snakehead, catfish, featherback — at the center of amok, samlor, and grills. Firm, sweet, low-oil flesh.

• Catfish1:1

  A freshwater fish itself — firm, mild, and widely farmed. The closest and most honest swap for most river-fish dishes.

  Excellent

• Tilapia1:1

  Mild and easy to find; a touch softer, so handle it gently in a curry. Perfectly good for amok.

  Good

• Barramundi1:1

  Firmer and slightly richer; excellent grilled or in a robust samlor. A step toward saltwater but a fine stand-in.

  Good

From the fresh fermented strands of nom banh chok to dried kuy teav sticks — the noodle under most Khmer soups and salads.

• Dried rice vermicelli (bun)soak to soften

  The everyday stand-in for fresh nom banh chok — thinner, but the same rice-noodle character. Soak in warm water, then a brief blanch.

  Good

• Dried flat rice stickssoak, then blanch

  For kuy teav specifically — the intended noodle in dried form. Medium width is the all-rounder.

  Good

The thick, rich top of the coconut — the finishing richness spooned over amok and stirred into sweets.

• The cream skimmed off canned coconut milk

  Chill a can of full-fat coconut milk, then spoon the firm layer off the top — that is coconut cream. Effectively free if you already have milk.

  Excellent

• Coconut milk, reduced

  Simmer full-fat coconut milk down until it thickens and the oil starts to split. More work, but it gets you there.

  Good