Cambodia cuisine or Khmer cuisine is all about the contrasts: salty and sour, sweet and bitter, fresh and cooked. Below are the special dishes of our the selective to introduce to you.
Fried fish on the fire lake
In Cambodia, Fresh coconut milk isn’t used every day in Khmer cooking, but it’s saved for dishes served at important occasions.
Fried Fish on the Fire Lake is one such dish which is traditionally made for parties or eaten at restaurants in a fish shaped dish.
A whole fish is deep-fried and then finished on a hotplate at table in a coconut curry which is made from yellow kroeung and chillies.
Vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage are cooked in the curry and they are served with rice or rice noodles. The literal translation of this dish is trei bung kanh chhet, fish from the lake of kanh chhet. There is a green Cambodian water vegetable served with this dish.
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Fried fish on the fire lake |
Red tree ants with beef and holy basil
Tourists will find all sorts of insects on the menu in Cambodia. But the dish most appealing to foreign tourists is stir fried red tree ants with beef and holy basil.
Ants of various sizes, they are stir-fried with lemongrass, ginger, garlic, shallots and thinly sliced beef.
Lots of chillies complete the perfumed dish, without overpowering the delicate sour flavor that the ants impart to the beef.
This dish is served with rice and if you are lucky you’ll also get a portion of ant larvae in your bowl.
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Red tree ants with beef and holy basil |
Kdam chaa: fried crab
Fried crab is a special dish of the Cambodian seaside town of Kep. Its lively crab market is known for fried crab prepared with green and locally grown Kampot pepper. Aromatic Kampot pepper is very famous among gourmands worldwide, although it is available in its dried form internationally, tourists will only be able to sample the specially flavored immature green peppercorns in Cambodia. It’s worth to have a visit to Kep and Kampot, but Phnom Penh restaurants bring live crabs from the coast to make their own version of this dish, which includes both Kampot pepper and flavorful garlic chives.
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Kdam chaa: fried crab |
Nom banh chok: Khmer noodles
Nom banh chok, a favorite Cambodian dish, so that in English it’s called simply “Khmer noodles.”
Nom banh chok is a typical breakfast dish and you will find it sold in mornings by women carrying it on baskets hanging from a balance on their shoulders.
The dish consists of noodles laboriously pounded out of rice, a fish-based green curry gravy made from lemongrass, turmeric root and special kaffir lime.
Fresh mint leaves, bean sprouts, banana flower, green beans, cucumbers and other greens are heaped on top. There is also a red curry version which is usually reserved for ceremonial occasions and wedding festivities.
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Nom banh chok: Khmer noodles |
Lap Khmer: Lime-marinated Khmer beef salad
Khmer beef salad features thinly sliced beef that is either quickly seared or “cooked” ceviche-style by marinating with lime juice.
Dressed with lemongrass, shallots, garlic, Asian basil, fish sauce, mint, green beans, green pepper, the dish also packs a punch in the heul (spicy) department with copious amounts of fresh red chilis.
A refreshing dish that is more beef than salad, Lap Khmer is common with Cambodian men who prefer beef to be nearly fresh, but at restaurants it’s generally served grilled.
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Lap Khmer: Lime-marinated Khmer beef salad |
Khmer red curry
Less spicy than the curries of neighbor Thailand, Khmer red curry is similarly coconut milk based but without the overpowering chilli.
The dish includes beef, chicken or fish, eggplant, potatoes, green beans, fresh coconut milk, lemongrass and kroeung.
Khmer red curry is usually served at special occasions in Cambodia as weddings, family gatherings and religious holidays like Pchum Ben or Ancestor’s Day where Cambodian people make the dish to share with monks in honor of the departed. Khmer red curry is usually served with bread – a remnant of French culture influence on Cambodia.
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Khmer red curry |
Fish amok
Fish amok is one of the most well-known Cambodian dishes, but you can find similar dishes in neighboring countries.
The addition of slok ngor – a local herb which imparts a subtly bitter flavor, separates the Cambodian version from the pack.
Fish amok is a fish mousse with fresh coconut milk and kroeung (a type of Khmer curry paste which is made from lemongrass, turmeric root, garlic, galangal, shallots and fingerroot or Chinese ginger).
At upscale restaurants fish amok is steamed in banana leaf, while more local sites serve a boiled version that is more like a soupy fish curry than a mousse.
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Fish amok |
Tourist can try them in Cambodia restaurants. Some dish you should try in street stores better because they are street foods of Cambodia
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