Tuk Trey

Ingredients

The base

• 80 mlfish sauce
• a good Cambodian or Thai brand
• 120 mlwater
• or coconut water
• juice of 3 limes
• or 4 tablespoons
• 3 tablespoonspalm sugar
• or brown sugar

The aromatics

• 4 clovesgarlic
• finely chopped or pounded
• 2hot red chillies
• finely chopped
• or to taste

The garnish

• 3 tablespoonsroasted peanuts
• coarsely crushed
• 1carrot, cut into fine matchsticks
• or shredded
• or a little shredded green papaya
• a little chopped coriander

Sometimes added

• 1 tablespoonrice vinegar
• a pinch of salt
• a little grated ginger
• a splash of tamarind water

To serve

• in small individual bowls
• one per person
• at room temperature

Directions

1. Make it without the allergen entirely. Hot comes from the chopped chilli. Taste and adjust every single time. Hard blocks must be chopped or grated.
2. Brown sugar is the everyday substitute. Warm it gently with the water in a small pan. Stir until it has completely dissolved.
3. Let it cool to room temperature. Adding hot syrup dulls the fresh lime. Pound them with a pinch of salt. Pound them into a rough coarse paste. Do not make it completely smooth.
4. Add the cooled sugar water to it. Add the fish sauce and the lime juice. Add the pounded garlic and chilli. Stir it all together thoroughly.
5. Take a little of it on a spoon. It should be sharply savoury and bright. Adjust only one thing at a time. Too salty, add lime and water.
6. Taste again after each adjustment. Now let it stand for fifteen minutes. Add the carrot matchsticks to the bowl. Add the crushed peanuts last of all. Scatter a little coriander over.
7. Serve it in small individual bowls. It keeps three days in the fridge. Make it without the peanuts to keep it. Add those fresh each time you serve it. Fish sauce itself keeps for years.

Technique

• The whole skill is balance: salty, sour, sweet and hot, with none dominating. Limes vary in sourness, fish sauces in saltiness and palm sugars in sweetness, so the quantities here are a starting point. Taste and adjust one thing at a time, every single time.
• Read the fish sauce label. Good fish sauce lists fish, salt and water and perhaps a little sugar; poor versions list hydrolysed protein, flavour enhancers and colour, and taste harsh and flat. In a sauce with this few ingredients, that difference shows clearly.
• Fish sauce is an allergen and so are the peanuts, and peanut allergy can be life-threatening. A shared dipping bowl spreads contact widely, so tell guests what is in it and give anyone allergic their own portion made without it.
• Add the peanuts at the table. They soften in liquid within minutes and lose the crunch that is the point of them.
• Pound the garlic and chilli rather than chopping them. Pounding bruises the cells and releases oils that chopping only cuts across.
• Let the sugar water cool before it meets the lime juice. Hot syrup dulls the fresh citrus immediately.
• Do not confuse tuk trey with prahok. Prahok is thick, grey, extremely pungent fermented fish paste and a defining Cambodian ingredient in its own right — it is not what goes into this sauce.
• Individual bowls, one per person, are the Cambodian way. It is more hygienic than one shared bowl and lets each person add their own chilli.

Substitutions

• Thai nam pla or Vietnamese nuoc mam replace Cambodian fish sauce; they are a little milder.
• Brown sugar replaces palm sugar; it is sharper and less complex.
• Lemon replaces lime, though lime is the correct sourness.
• Rice vinegar replaces some of the lime for a sharper, less fragrant sauce.
• Shredded green papaya or cucumber replaces carrot as the fresh element.
• A vegetarian version using light soy sauce and a little seaweed or mushroom stock in place of fish sauce is possible, though it is genuinely a different sauce and should be called one.

Variations

• Tuk meric, the Kampot pepper and lime dipping sauce, is the other great Cambodian table sauce, served with grilled seafood.
• Tuk prahok, made with the fermented fish paste, is far more pungent and is served with raw vegetables.
• Vietnamese nuoc cham is the close relative and is built on exactly the same principle.
• A version with tamarind water in place of some of the lime is deeper and less bright.
• Some cooks add grated ginger, which suits grilled fish particularly well.
• A sweeter, thicker version is served specifically with fried spring rolls.

History

The Cambodian all-purpose dipping sauce, set on the table with grilled meat, spring rolls and raw vegetables.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tuk Trey?

Tuk Trey is a sauce & condiment from Cambodia: fish sauce loosened with lime, sugar, garlic, chilli and crushed peanuts. The Cambodian all-purpose dipping sauce, set on the table with grilled meat, spring rolls and raw vegetables.

How long does Tuk Trey take to make?

Tuk Trey takes 15 minutes of preparation and 5 minutes of cooking. The recipe makes makes about 300 ml. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Tuk Trey?

Yes, within limits. Thai nam pla or Vietnamese nuoc mam replace Cambodian fish sauce; they are a little milder. Brown sugar replaces palm sugar; it is sharper and less complex. Lemon replaces lime, though lime is the correct sourness. Rice vinegar replaces some of the lime for a sharper, less fragrant sauce. Shredded green papaya or cucumber replaces carrot as the fresh element. A vegetarian version using light soy sauce and a little seaweed or mushroom stock in place of fish sauce is possible, though it is genuinely a different sauce and should be called one.

What is the most important thing to get right in Tuk Trey?

Make it without the allergen entirely. Hot comes from the chopped chilli. Taste and adjust every single time. Hard blocks must be chopped or grated.