Tag Archives: Cambodian food

Cambodia Snapshot: Pickled

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Something always present in the Cambodian table: pickles! When we first moved here I found it unbelievable how Khmers can pickle just about anything. And from being a skeptic about the need to eat pickled and spicy veggies with most fried foods, I am now just as crazy for them.

Have you ever tried pickled monggo sprouts with deep fried fish? or pickled tamarind or papaya with that grilled fish or beef? My mouth just seriously waters even at just the thought of it.

cambodia snapshots

Anyway for today’s Cambodia snapshot, here’s a shop selling picked goodies..

Cambodia Snapshots: Pickes

Food Trip Friday: Nom Pao

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Here’s what a lot of Khmers like eating with their early morning espressos - Nom Pao. Chinese steamed buns filled with ground pork, hard-boiled eggs, Chinese sausage and grated turnips. They usually have two variants, one plain all white bun, and this one they call special yellowish and chopped spring onion toppings.

Cambodian Nom Pao

For Pinoy’s, I’m sure you’re familiar with the Chinese siopao, well this is actually very similar. The only difference I think is that the nom pao has stronger Chinese sausage taste and the dough is a teeny weeny bit tougher. It’s super tasty, nonetheless. Costs about 1500 – 2,000 Riels usually available in noodle and porridge shops in the morning.

Cambodian Nom Pao

If you happen to crave it mid-afternoons and evenings its quite hard to find. But I saw a couple of stalls along Monivong Blvd. selling these.

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Food Trip Friday: Khmer Nom Krouk

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My last food features were mostly Western and non-Khmer food. Hmm, something I’ve been really trying to avoid doing, so I’m going back to featuring Khmer food. You know, I’ve been sampling a lot of Khmer food and I found myself liking it a lot. Majority of the food we eat now are mostly Khmer so I guess the food is fast losing its novelty value (for me, at least) and fast becoming like good old comfort food.  So now when I eat something Cambodian I always take it for granted and forget to at least take photos.

I should really remind myself to think like a blogger. But yeah, when these delicious stuff is placed in front of you, one tends to just grab a bite and forget about hauling that camera and taking a snap.

Lucky. That’s me. I’ve got an uber nice Khmer mother-in-law who always cooks for us and we also have a very kind and generous Khmer neighbor who always share their food with us. They usually have cookfests during weekends and a couple of weeks ago they were abuzz, all the kids busy mixing this and that. They were all making a Khmer snack called Nom Krouk. And they gave us a plateful.

Khmer Food: Nom Krouk

It’s nom (cake) made of coconut milk, rice flour, spring onions and some spices. It’s cooked over fire on a clay or cast iron pan with pre-molded spheres. It’s then eaten with a sweet sour sauce.

Khmer Food: Nom Krouk

When I first saw the noms I thought it doesn’t look that appetizing. But I tried one, and its actually very good. The nom is soft and chewy on the outside, and a bit gooey inside. Its also meant to really be eaten with the sauce, as the nom itself has a very bland taste. But once you dip it in the sauce… its just yummy!! Seriously, yummy. I actually ate more than five in one sitting and its no joke coz this  is quite filling.

The cooking process is interesting and looks really fun. It’s one Khmer recipe that’s very easy to learn. I imagine kids would have a fun time with this.  I checked out Youtube and saw this video on how to actually make it.

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And ChanBokeo.com has a recipe for Nom Krouk.

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Food Trip Friday: Cambodian Kari Nom Yah

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I’m hopeless when it comes to cooking Khmer dishes (mainly coz I haven’t tried hard enough..yet) but I love eating Khmer food. I’m actually passionate about home cooked Khmer food. And thankfully, I have a really awesome mom-in-law who indulges my cravings. Whenever she cooks up some of my favorite Khmer dish, then she’ll always send some to our house.

And this was what she cooked for Mother’s Day. I was feeling bit blue that day coz Hi-ace was on a trip so it was just me and the kiddo at home. And so of course, this made my day.

Kari Nom Yah with Nom Ban Chouk noodles.

Cambodian Kari Nom Yah

Nom ban chouk noodles are freshly made and usually served with a fish based sauce – check out my previous post about the typical Nom Ban Chouk noodles. But Kari Nom Yah is slightly different. It still uses fresh nom ban chouk rice noodles, same kinds of veggies goes in, but its the sauce that makes the difference.

Cambodian Nom Ban Chouk Noodles

Fresh Nom Ban Chouk Noodles Wrapped in Lotus Leaves

The sauce still uses flaked fish, but its flavored a bit like curry and its red. The ‘curry’ is not as heavy as the meaty Kari Nom Ban Chouk, its lighter in flavor and consistency. And the taste? I love it. very very tasty and I like the balanced flavor.

Cambodian Kari Nom Yah

veggies: basil,peppermint (+some more greens, I don't know what to call), lotus stem, sprouts, cucumber and can't do without chili

 

Kari Nom Yah Sauce

The Sauce. This tasted so good, I swore I'll learn how to make it!

I also like adding a lot of peppermint leaves for extra zing and chopping in a lot of lotus stems for the extra crunch. I ended up liking it so much that I asked M-I-L for another set last Thursday. I know I’m getting too spoiled here. Lol.

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Food Trip Friday: Khmer Stilt & Hammock House

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A friend told me a few weeks ago that I’m lucky, I’m in the front row seat when it comes to experiencing Khmer cuisine. I mean real Khmer food. The one’s cooked at home, not those delicious but often ‘fusion’ or tweaked food to suit the visitor’s palate. I never really thought about it, but then most of these things I consider ‘normal’ or a daily routine. I eat mostly Khmer food now, so I guess I took it for granted.

Sure  there are a lot of Khmer restaurants around, but those catering specially for tourists don’t really offer the real Khmer food. More like a semblance of Khmer food. I think its a bit hard to find, authentic Khmer food in those restos. Probably, the most usual Khmer fare that tourists and some expats taste would be amok and lok lak which is a shame coz the country has a lot to offer in terms of food. Take for instance, their wide variety of samlors (soups), its a must try but they are often hard to find. That’s why if you have Khmer friends and you get invited to their homes to eat, I would suggest jump at the offer (I know it sounds mercenary but..) you might be in for a little palate adventure.

While its a bit hard to find authentic Khmer fare in most city restos, you can still find something close to it across the Japanese bridge. I’ll let you on a little secret: this place is my favorite place to relax during weekends – those little stilt huts with hammocks along the river! Mind you, these places aren’t posh, and not for those who prefer their napkins to be sparkling white. But its an experience you’d find in no other place.  This is an entirely Khmer affair and celebrates the Khmer love for lounging around on mats, hammocks and food.

There are a couple of places like this a few minutes drive away from the Japanese bridge, but the ones we usually go to are the one’s near the Chinese temple. I’m not sure exactly about the directions and the restaurants usually have Khmer names. But these places are a fantastic places to relax, be with family and friends. The food is also cheap and really really really delicious.

Just a few weekends ago, we went there again to enjoy the food and some quiet time. Here’s some pic spam..

The food..

hammock-stilts-5

Khmer Stilt & Hammocks Restaurants

grilled shrimps with garlic-chili sauce, served with herbs, cucumbers & tomatoes

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chicken stir-fried with ginger & spring onions

hammock-stilts-8

samlor koh kor – veggies, fish, spices and flavored with roasted rice..this is super delicious.

Nice, relaxing place..

Khmer Stilt & Hammocks Restaurants

fabulous river views..

Khmer Stilt & Hammocks Restaurants

little huts for some privacy

Khmer Stilt & Hammocks Restaurants

Khmer Stilt & Hammocks Restaurants

the super happy to be there kiddo. she loves the hammocks obviously.

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Food Trip Friday: Khmer Beef BBQ

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So much for planning this to be posted before Friday. Lol. The frequent power cuts here in Phnom Penh is driving me nuts and throwing off my work schedules off the track. Last night, instead of doing a bit of blogging and turning in early, we had to spend sometime for a scheduled video teleconferencing with some relatives. We were supposed to talk to them in the afternoon, but yeah, as usual there was a power cut so it was rescheduled for last night.

When are we getting back to normal, Phnom Penh’s Electrite du Cambodge?

Enough with the rant. Here’s my Food Trip Friday feature. Khmer Beef Barbeque!

khmer-beef-bbq

Cambodian’s aren’t very fond of pork bbq, I don’t know why. But they prefer it to be beef, and they also don’t like the strong beef smell and aftertaste, so what they do is smother their barbecue with lemon grass and a whole load of spices. And they don’t stop at that, they eat it with pickles (lots of em) and a lot of sauces you can choose from.

It’s actually very very delicious. Specially served with French baguettes, grilled and buttered. A popular Khmer snack food and available just about everywhere.

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