1stemgreen onion (discard the white stem) julienned
Instructions
Mix all ingredients except jicama and green onion, ensure salt and sugar are dissolved, set aside.
Right before serving, gently mix in jicama and garnish with green onion.
Notes
Serve chilled with grilled fish (Broiled Branzino) and steamed rice.* Substitutions:
Substitute Thnot Sugar with granulated sugar
Angkor Chrouk Metae (Cambodian Hot Sauce)
Fresh JicamaSelecting fresh Jicama – Fresh jicama tastes sweet and has thin skin with a lighter color than when it has been harvested for awhile. Many times farmers show off the freshness of their crop by keeping the green stem on the bulb (as seen in this photo). Old jicama have brown and tougher skin, and not as sweet.
Every time I come across fresh jicama, my mind flashes back to a moist, cold, rainy day in Cambodia; our house was filled with the aroma of pan fried fish and fresh Chrouk Metae with jicama. It was monsoon season, so fish were plentiful.
The hot crispy skin of lightly salted pan fried fish, is perfect with steamy white rice on a cold rainy day. This combination by itself would have been good enough for my developing palate; but my love for the sweet tangy zing of fresh Chrouk Metae with the crunchiness of jicama in every bite was too much to resist; even though it was too spicy for me. Mom never made recipe adjustments for us younger kids in the family, instead she would encourage us to enjoy life by learning to eat as it was prepared for generations. I remember striving to be like her and taking pride that I could handle the spiciness, even though I could not have it with every bite.
After immigrating to the USA, we were delighted when a market (Super Saver) in Lincoln, Nebraska decided to carry jicama! Mom would make Chrouk Metae with jicama and keep it in the refrigerator for weeks to enjoy with all kinds of grilled meat.
Published by Channy Laux
Channy Laux is a survivor of the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia. She was thirteen-years-old when the Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975. From 1975 to 1979, Channy endured starvation, horrendous working conditions, sickness and repeated separations from her family.
In June of 1979, Channy arrived in Lincoln Nebraska as a refugee. After four years of no school and not knowing a word of English, she attended Lincoln High School; earned a Master of Science in Applied Mathematics from Santa Clara University and undergraduate degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Channy worked in Silicon Valley as an engineer in the Aerospace and Biotech industries for 30 years.
In 2017 Channy decided to focus on completing a promise that she made to herself as she and her family struggled to survive the Cambodian genocide. “If I ever make it out alive, I will make sure the world knows what happened to us.” Channy published her memoir “Short Hair Detention”, which receives multiple awards, including Nebraska’s 2018 Book Award.
Channy is also founder of Angkor Cambodian Food. Her goal is to bring Cambodian cuisine into American kitchens, by providing authentic and hard to find ingredients along with easy to follow recipes. One of her creations Kroeurng (Lemongrass cooking paste) receives sofiTM Award from Specialty Foods and Innovation Foodservice Award from IFMA.
Channy now balances her time between her business and educating communities on the Cambodian Genocide. She works with schools and other organizations to promote awareness of Cambodian Genocide. She is a member of Speakers Bureau for JFCS Holocaust Center.
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