Kroeung

This aromatic Cambodian paste is made with a variety of ingredients such as cloves, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, nutmeg, turmeric, ginger, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, and coriander. However, the term kroeung is a generic term referring to a wide array of these flavorful Cambodian pastes, used in numerous dishes as the base.

There are two main types of kroeung: royal kroeung (the standard paste used in a number of dishes) and individual kroeung (specific ingredients are added to the paste to suit the dish in which it is used). The paste can be further categorized by color – yellow kroeung, which gets its color from turmeric, red kroeung, which gets its color from red chilis, and green kroeung, which uses lemongrass as the key ingredient.