Method
- Make the marinade: pound minced lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, garlic, shallots and kaffir lime leaves to a coarse paste. Mix with fish sauce, palm sugar, salt and oil.
- Pat the fish completely dry. Stuff the cavity with some of the marinade. Rub the rest all over the fish, including into the slashes. Marinate 1 hour.
- Make the dipping sauce: whisk fish sauce, lime juice, palm sugar (dissolved in 30ml warm water), garlic and chilies. Should taste sharp sour, salty, slightly sweet.
- Soften banana leaves over a flame until pliable. Wrap the fish in banana leaves, securing with kitchen string.
- Light a charcoal grill — wood charcoal preferred. Place the wrapped fish on the grill rack about 15cm above the coals.
- Grill 12 minutes per side. The banana leaf will char but protect the fish. Unwrap at the table — the leaves release a perfumed steam. Serve with the tuk trey dipping sauce and steamed rice. Each diner picks pieces of fish and dips.
Common questions
Can Trey Ang be made ahead?
Trey Ang is best made and eaten the same day, but the components can be prepped earlier — chop and measure the ingredients up to a day ahead, refrigerated separately. Final cooking takes about 25 minutes.
Is Trey Ang spicy?
Trey Ang as written is mild to mildly warming — the heat comes from aromatics rather than chili. Add fresh sliced chili or chili oil at the end if you'd like to push it spicier.
Is Trey Ang vegetarian or gluten-free?
This recipe is suitable for most diets. If you have specific restrictions, the substitutions section in each ingredient note covers the most common swaps.
How hard is Trey Ang to make at home?
Trey Ang sits at intermediate difficulty — total time about 50 minutes. The ingredients are not unusual but the timing requires attention.
Can Trey Ang be scaled up or down?
This recipe is written for 4 servings. To scale, multiply each ingredient proportionally; the cooking times stay the same up to about double the volume. Beyond that, expect to cook in batches because of pan size and heat distribution.
Cultural Note
Trey ang is the Cambodian grilled-fish tradition — whole fish marinated in kreung paste and charcoal-grilled in banana leaf. The technique preserves moisture better than direct grilling and infuses the fish with banana-leaf perfume. The dish is found at riverside restaurants along the Mekong and Tonle Sap, where the fish is caught the same morning. Tuk trey (the lime-fish-sauce-chili dip) is the Khmer table sauce, served alongside almost every grilled or fried fish dish. The dish is also regional — fish from the Tonle Sap are most prized for grilled preparations.
