KHMER CUISINES: Food Experience in Cambodia

I love exploring a place from several angles. Food defines a part of identity of a certain place. So visiting any place remains incomplete without trying out authentic food of that region. Most of the Cambodian restaurants serve Khmer food at very reasonable price.  While eating Khmer food I found myself connected to that place. I fell in love with Cambodian food at very first try. The way they use all fresh ingredients like vegetables, herbs and spices is commendable. It was a very short stay at Siem Reap yet I tried to taste local food as much I could.

Khmer Lemongrass Chicken Curry/Khmer Red Curry: Gravy contains fresh vegetables like carrot, potato, bamboo shoot, chillies, green beans, onions, ginger, star anise etc. The ingredients vary as per restaurant recipe style. Below are two Khmer chicken curry items from two different restaurants.

Khmer vegetable curry: Cauliflower, tomato, carrot, ginger, lemon grass, onion and other fresh ingredients are used. It is a perfect food for hot weather of July ( we were there during mid-July)

Khmer Chicken soup: Cambodian chicken soup is again a healthy food option. Chopped garlic, lemon grass, thinly sliced onions, carrots (or vegetable as per choice), chopped chillies, mint, cubed cooked chicken etc. alongwith fresh spices are added.

Amok and Rice: Amok is the food symbol of Cambodia. Coconut milk is the primary ingredient of amok. There are variations like chicken amok, fish amok and also veg amok. As I was trying amok first time, I ordered veg amok. It was very similar to the food I had eaten during my Tamil Nadu stay. Vegetables alongwith mint, lemongrass, garlic (added less), chillies etc arethere in veg amok. It is a less spicy dish served in banana leaf.

Next day I was willing to try Khmer food set (in India the term is Thali) from the menu chart (below) containing all the main dishes of Cambodia.

Khmer food set: Of all the dishes mango salad was mouthwatering. Raw mango is thinly cut and mixed with mint, basil leaves and other spices. Amok, vegetable fry, spring roll, chicken wing fry and steam rice were served in the food set alongwith mango salad.

Cambodian shrimp lemongrass fry: Lemongrass is added to many of the Cambodian recipe. Stir-fry prawn alongwith freshly chopped spices and serve hot.

Nom Banh Chok: I love noodles. So when at the restaurant menu chart my eyes fell on noodles  immediately I ordered. When served I put as much as I can in my mouth. And it was amazingly delicious. Nom Banh Chok or popularly known as Khmer rice noodles is a common breakfast recipe. Lemon grass, fresh spices like turmeric, garlic, ginger and fresh green vegetables are added in the gravy.

I found local food market was very similar to northeastern part of India. I could relate the products to Manipur where I had stayed for some years. Cambodians process the foods so beautifully that you tend to buy everything.

Breakfast was included to our hotel stay. Simple yet good breakfast was served. Juice, bread-butter/jam, omlette and fruit salad.

At restaurant during happy hours (usually meal time) customers get special discount for the food they order. Beer is really very cheap at Cambodian restaurants.

There are so many options for international tourists to try from restaurant menu!

Finally how can the trip be completed without icecream?

While roaming around Siem Reap I found quite decent restaurant and ordered the “best of the month” icecream.

This short stay was very nice experience. So many Cambodian food items are yet to taste. I would not mind staying for a longer period in Cambodia if I ever get a chance!