Originally published in 2010, I've updated this post in 2026.
Inspired by the Cambodian wedding day dip I enjoyed at Chamkar Vegetarian Restaurant in Siem Reap in October 2010, this mushroom and coconut relish can be served with crudités, bread, fried rice crackers, and/or rice.
I've never understood why it was called wedding day dip, but I'm confident that any and all recipes you'll find when you google this recipe are derived from a meal at Chamkar. I believe it could be a veganised version of natang (ណាតាំង), a cousin of Thai khao tang na tang ข้าวตังหน้าตั้ง. Both use ground pork, but I reckon Chamkar subbed mushrooms to make it vegan. I honestly don't recall the original version too well given how many years have now passed.
Rather than fresh mushrooms, I opt for dried in my recipe. I have a collection of various dried boletus and morel mushrooms from Yunnan that I love to use. Porcini works great. Shiitakes too. You can either grind them into a fine powder or leave them a little chunky for texture.
My previous recipe involved blending everything into a smooth paste rather than cooking out the aromatics. I also inexplicably called for 1 tablespoon of grated coconut in addition to the coconut milk; though my recipes have become more complicated as my knowledge expands, I now avoid complicating recipes for the sake of it.
Cambodian coconut and mushroom dip
Ingredients
Paste
- 1 generous pinch salt
- 25 grams sliced lemongrass (from the root end of the stalk only) scant ¼ cup
- 5 grams galangal 2 teaspoons roughly chopped
- 5 grams fresh turmeric 2 teaspoons roughly chopped
- ¼ teaspoon makrut lime zest (you can also use a deveined lime leaf)
- 1 long red chilli or bird's eye, for a spicier verson
- 2-3 cloves garlic about 1 tablespoon chopped
- 25 grams shallot, sliced 3 tablespoons
Relish
- 20 grams dried mushrooms Use flavoursome varieties such as boletes, shiitake, morel, tea tree, etc
- 2 teaspoons oil preferably virgin coconut oil but vegetable or olive will do
- 200 millilitres coconut milk, divided Avoid low fat varieties
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon palm sugar
- 30 grams toasted peanuts, ground 3 tablespoons toasted and ground peanuts
Instructions
- First make the paste with a pestle and mortar. Pound the salt, lemongrass, galangal, and turmeric into a smooth paste. Then add each ingredient as it's listed, in order, one at a time, pounding each until smooth.
- Add the dried mushrooms to a spice mill or blender and pulse until fine. The texture is up to you â€" a little chunky or fine as a powder. You don't want any large pieces.Alternatively, if you don't have a blender, soak the mushrooms in warm water until soft. Then drain and finely chop them.
- Add the oil and 2 tablespoons of the coconut milk to a saucepan, along with the paste from step one. Heat on medium low, stirring frequently, for a few minutes until it no longer smells like raw onion and garlic.
- Add the remaining coconut milk, soy sauce, palm sugar, and mushrooms. Give everything a stir and continue to cook for 5-10 minutes. You should see some vibrant red oil rise to the top. Turn off the heat and stir in the peanuts.
- Leave to cool to room temperature and serve with sliced baguette, rice crackers, and/or crudités.