Tag Archives: Khmer

Cambodia Snapshots: Neighborhood Stores

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cambodia snapshots

This just reminds me so much of growing up in the province in the Philippines. We have small sari-sari (mixed bag) stores like this in our village. And it just makes my day to visit them and buy some bubble gum and chips.

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And I was so pleased to see that they have it here too! I mean, they are just the best when you suddenly crave for salty fish crackers, and you don’t want to be bothered to fix yourself to go visit a grocery store or a market. You just pop out of the house, walk to the nearest louk komlaing, and buy your junk food fix.

Lol. In fact, whenever I’m guilty of missing my yoga ball exercises, I walk around the neighborhood instead (my fave form of exercise, ha!) and pop in one of these small shops. My fave buys would be the spicy biscuits, fish crackers and taro/jack fruit chips.

Food Trip Friday: Khmer Noodle Snack

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FTFBadge

Hubby tells me this is what they call a ‘poor man snack’ {it costs less than 3,500R < than $1} but I don’t care. Call me a poor girl now but I love this hahahaha..This is actually cooked and eaten the same way as my previously featured Banh Hoi Cold Noodles. The only difference is the noodles used – teeny weeny cuts of keuy teuw noodles. The noodle in this dish is also stir fried.

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Toppings can vary depending on your taste. But the usual order has slice of pate, pork, taro rolls, mint and veggies. Then you drizzle the whole thing with sweet and sour sauce and top with ground peanuts. Super yum! And I can understand why hard laborers here prefer this for snack. It’s so filling! I’m usually burping halfway through it and I find it hard to finish. Lol. And oh, in case you’re wondering where to buy it…Food halls in the market. The haven for cheap, usually delicious Khmer food.

Food Trip Friday: Banh Chao

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FTFBadge

Yay! It’s Friday. [intlink id="4487" type="category"]Food Trip Friday[/intlink] time and its weekend! So what’s on the ‘blog table’?

This is a popular Vietnamese/Khmer dish called Banh Xeo. Khmers refer to it as Banh Chao but I personally called this Khmer pancakes. Lol. And its delicious. A must try. A few weeks ago a friend and I went to a food trip and decided on dining in at a Vietnamese-Khmer resto, Magnolia. We ordered Banh Chao and its was yummy. The serving was huge and very affordable too.

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Banh Xeo/Banh Chao is made of rice flour crepes filled with ground pork, shrimps, and lots of bean sprouts. Its served with lettuce and whole smorgasbord of veggies. How is it eaten? Get your portion of the panacake, the fix your lettuce + veggies, then add in the pancake, wrap it with the lettuce, then dip on the sauce. And how does the Khmer version differ with the Vietnamese version? The sauce. Khmers love their pancake dipped in sweet-sour sauce with lots of ground peanuts.

Food Trip Friday: Trey Nom Ban Chouk

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FTFBadge

When you look at it, its not overly appetizing. But trust me, its really yummilicous! And healthy to boot. Made of Khmer nom ban chouk noodles, drizzled with sauce made from flaked fish and spices, then topped with veggies. As for veggies, you can take your pick on what to add. I prefer adding monggo sprouts, mint, lotus stem stalks, cucumber.. This has actually become one of my Khmer comfort foods.

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Happy Food Trip Friday, everyone!

Cambodia Snapshots: Post Office

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Cambodia Snapshots

Phnom Penh has a lot of really interesting buildings, mostly Khmer style buildings. But the city also boasts an impressive collection of [intlink id="1066" type="post"]French colonial buildings[/intlink]. Here’s one prime example. The Main Post Office Building near Wat Phnom. It’s grand and imposing. I find it romantic for some reason, so I’m usually shutter-happy whenever I go near than place..

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This building was built during the French Protectorate period in 1895.  This is where you get to send your letters and parcels :) ).  Check out more of my [intlink id="7006" type="category"]Cambodia Photos[/intlink] on my [intlink id="1528" type="page"]Cambodia Gallery[/intlink].

 

Cambodia Snapshots: Happy Khmer Kids

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cambodia snapshots

Pursat Province, Tree Planting

This snapshot was taken on a trip to Pursat Province. They are happy participants to a tree planting and clean up activity. For some reason, I find this shot adorable and just shows the infectious happiness of the kids. Cambodia has a lot of wonderful, beautiful sites, temples and all. But from what I’ve seen, nothing really comes up to the genuine and warm smiles that Khmers have for everyone.

This country has made me realize a lot about life. Sure, the Khmers lack a lot of what the ‘modern’ more developed countries have, but they made me re-think about how important these materials things are. They made me ask, how come they are happy without those things? These kids have very little else going on for them, but their happiness is palpable. I wish we could give smiles as genuine as that. Like they have been let loose in a Happy Easter store and told to pick out anything they want.

There might be a lot of setbacks in life, but life itself is worth celebrating..