by

Khmer Cuisine- Ingredients & Popular Dishes

Everyday Meal (Rice)

Everyday Meal (Rice)

Everyday Cambodians eat rice with at least 3 separate dishes of stir fries, curries, soups, or salads. Rice can be steamed Jasmine rice, sticky glutinous rice eaten with papaya salad, or porridge with braised pork. Rice is also processed into various kinds of noodles popular for lunch. They have noodles in soup, stir fried noodles in dark sweet sauce, thick rice noodles in gravy sauce, thin fresh rice noodles eaten with curries, small rice noodles wrapped in rolls and fried as spring rolls, or noodles added with bean sprouts, sliced carrots, and cabbage lavished with sweet fish sauce.

Chicken Curry

Chicken Curry

Bun Nuoc Leo (Fish noodles)

Bun Nuoc Leo (Fish noodles)

Spring Rolls

Spring Rolls

  

The art of cooking Khmer foods lies in balancing different savors to satisfy their tastes: salty, sour, and sweet. Unlike its neighboring Thai and Burmese cuisines, Cambodians are not too fond of hot food. Chili is served on the side for individuals to add depending on their tolerance level. To add the hotness in food, they use peppers more. The main herbs used in Khmer food are turmeric, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir leaves, and cilantro. Sour ripe tamarinds are used as soup base for their popular sour soup called Samlor Machu. Learning from Indians, they learned how to blend cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric, and cardamom into an aromatic paste called Kroeung to make Amok and stir fries. 

Tamarind Paste

Tamarind Paste

Herbs

Herbs

Kroeung - Spice Paste

Kroeung - Spice Paste

Mortar & Pestle

Mortar & Pestle

Vegetables like winter melon, bitter gourds, luffa, cabbage and long beans are boiled to eat with Prahok, salty fermented fish paste. Prahok is placed on banana leaf and grilled on coal fire before using mortar and pestle to mix it well with shallots, garlic, palm sugar, and lime juice. Other vegetables like mushrooms, cabbage, broccoli, snow peas, bamboo shoots, bok choy (oval-shaped cabbage with white stalks), morning glories or kang kong are stir fried. Together of these are called Chha. More unique vegetables are banana blossoms, purple in color, are sliced and added to noodles or made into sour and sweet salad.

Banana Blossom (Flower)

Banana Blossom (Flower)

Banana Blossom Salad

Banana Blossom Salad

Trey Ngeat

Trey Ngeat

Chha

Chha

As mentioned in my last blog, fish is the most common meat in Khmer cuisine and abundant. Grilled sun-dried catfish called Trei Ngeat eaten with plain rice porridge is very popular for breakfast. They can also be eaten with savory green mango salad and steamed rice. Pork, chicken, and beef are stewed, grilled, or stir fried. Pork is used to make sweet reddish Khmer sausages called Twah Ko resembling Chinese sausage or Singaporean Bak Kwa.

Cockles

Cockles

Snails

Snails

Sour Prawn Soup

Sour Prawn Soup

Twah Ko

Twah Ko

Seafood includes prawns, squid, shrimps, clams, and cockles. Lobsters and crabs are quite expensive, so they are not as common and can only be enjoyed by middle class and rich Cambodians. Roasted ducks are eaten during festivals. Unusual meats like frog, turtle, spiders (seasoned with soy sauce and pepper) are enjoyed as everyday delights in Cambodia.

 

 

 

Desserts are combination of tropical fruits like durian, mango, banana with sweet sticky rice steamed in coconut milk. In Cambodia, durian earns the title of King fruit. Mangosteen is queen, sapodilla prince and milk fruit princess. Others are pineapples, papayas, rose apples, watermelons, and rambutans. Fruit shakes are called Tuk Kolok.

Now, what are some popular dishes and desserts? Enjoy having a look at this menu and remember to order your favorites when you are in Cambodia! 
Bon appetite!  
 Linibel
 

672 thoughts on “Khmer Cuisine- Ingredients & Popular Dishes”

  1. Bel, you are definitely making me look forward to our trip even more! Food is always such an interesting and integral part of cultures. Won’t be surprised to notice even differences in Khmer cuisine across different regions in Cambodia…

  2. Haha. Thanks, Clara. You’re right about differences in Khmer cuisine across the regions depending on its geography.

    There are 23 provinces in Cambodia and each has their specialities. For example, Sihanoukville province on the Southwest next to Gulf of Thailand is famous for seafood especially lobsters. South of Sihanoukville is Kong Kep has crab with Kampot Pepper, one of the world’s most renowned aromatic peppers grown in Kampot province.

    Some specialty dishes in Siem Reap is Bun Dac Biet, rice vermicelli topped with minced prawns, shredded barbeque chicken, carrot, lettuce, cucumber, and crushed peanut. All lavished sweet fish sauce. Another one that I forgot to mention in my blog may appeal to Dylan. It’s spicy Laotian laksa called Khao Poon Nam Pa. The difference from the original laksa is that it is less creamy, more spicy, more salty and stronger taste of shrimp. Doesn’t it sound like Tom Yum Goong?

    For breakfast, grilled beef in fresh baguette is local.

    Of course, fresh-water fish menus like Trey Ngeat (grilled charcoal sun-dried catfish) and Trey Chamhoy (steam fish marinated with ginger, fermented soy bean, sugar, and fish sauce) can be found in provinces surrounding Tonle Sap (including Siem Reap).

    And don’t forget, the national Amok dish. It’s good everywhere!

  3. Wow Linibel! That makes a mouth-watering reading! Thank you for a wonderful compilation of Cambodia’s cuisine.
    I was getting increasingly piqued about the Indian influence in Cambodia! So I did a little research on it on my own, did you know dating back to around 1st century, a great number of countries in the South East Asia were influenced by the “Vedic and Hindu religion, political thought, literature, mythology, and artistic motifs. ”( 1)
    This influence was largely a result of the increasing trade with India. This trade, as we all know was a dominant force of that era and led to large inter-cultural exchanges. In South Asia we see the influence of Buddhism and many of the key facets of life reminiscent of their ancient Indian roots.

    The early 9th to 15th century during the Khmer empire is considered to be the golden era in terms of cultural accomplishment and political power. The dynasty founded by emperor Jayavarman II and his successors gave the kingdom the name of “Kambuja” originally the name of an early north Indian state or tribe. The modern day name “Cambodia” is considered a variation of this same name.

    It is funny how I had heard references to the kingdom of Kambuja in some ancient Indian folk tales and in one of our ancient texts the “Mahabharata” but never related it to the modern day Cambodia! It is a small world indeed! I am really excited to have discovered these connections and looking forward to experiencing how these connections exist in the modern times.

    The “blend cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric, and cardamom into an aromatic paste called Kroeung” reminds me of the aroma of my own grand-mother’s kitchen. What heartens me more is that “Cambodians are not too fond of hot food” I wonder if I have the same ancestral influence!

    Bon appétit and look forward to relishing all of this.
    ________________________________________________
    1.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_history_of_Cambodia

    (*Used for Wikipedia for research on history of Cambodia, some deductions/comments are based on anecdotal information).

  5. Pingback: Sweet Marjoram | Landscaping - Gardening

  37. Id98.sportblog.ir
    SURVEYING.sportblog.ir
    france.sportblog.ir
    buysmartwatch.sportblog.ir
    hamyarannet.sportblog.ir
    nafis24.sportblog.ir
    behabadi.sportblog.ir
    adibasiatajhiz.sportblog.ir
    hasanem.sportblog.ir
    panama1.sportblog.ir
    foladtaj2020.sportblog.ir
    foladtaj20.sportblog.ir
    majalekhabarisalamat.sportblog.ir
    foladtaj.sportblog.ir
    online12.sportblog.ir
    liiipoem.sportblog.ir
    whatissuccess.sportblog.ir
    successinlife.sportblog.ir
    hamnava97.sportblog.ir
    golnarges97.sportblog.ir
    mona2250.sportblog.ir
    amoozvare.sportblog.ir
    freemoves.sportblog.ir
    iranimusic.sportblog.ir
    tefalservice2020.sportblog.ir
    Aliabdi1379.sportblog.ir
    amolavi50.sportblog.ir
    reza60001.sportblog.ir
    Moein.sportblog.ir
    movashah.sportblog.ir
    mabani.sportblog.ir
    tefalservice20.sportblog.ir
    iranwebdesign.sportblog.ir
    muzik2.sportblog.ir
    shirazmobleh.sportblog.ir
    joomir.sportblog.ir
    science1.sportblog.ir
    majalekhabariiranmatlab.sportblog.ir
    septic88.sportblog.ir
    septictank.sportblog.ir
    virtualrealityprice.sportblog.ir
    zabanafza.sportblog.ir
    1mah.sportblog.ir
    downloadfilmirani5.sportblog.ir
    keyvannaseri.sportblog.ir
    niliyon439.sportblog.ir
    fathi13.sportblog.ir
    tabestan97.sportblog.ir
    download.sportblog.ir
    king1000.sportblog.ir
    test.sportblog.ir
    root.sportblog.ir
    moharram.sportblog.ir
    clubyp.sportblog.ir
    milad.sportblog.ir
    fritz.sportblog.ir
    car.sportblog.ir
    backlink.sportblog.ir
    musicnab.sportblog.ir”
    payamjadid.sportblog.ir
    extenshentehrani.sportblog.ir
    Neghabafg.sportblog.ir
    Marimha.sportblog.ir
    omid.sportblog.ir
    zhivarshop.sportblog.ir
    thermowood.sportblog.ir
    photo.sportblog.ir
    sportfile.sportblog.ir
    repairprinter.sportblog.ir
    motkhases.sportblog.ir
    tamir.sportblog.ir
    tamiirat.sportblog.ir
    dorbiin.sportblog.ir
    neginfile.sportblog.ir
    web.sportblog.ir
    washlin.sportblog.ir
    ask.sportblog.ir
    yahoo.sportblog.ir
    msn.sportblog.ir
    html.sportblog.ir
    php.sportblog.ir
    sellu.sportblog.ir
    net.sportblog.ir
    magle.sportblog.ir
    baziranifroum.sportblog.ir
    linux.sportblog.ir
    whmcs.sportblog.ir
    admin.sportblog.ir
    asterisk.sportblog.ir
    amirmohammad.sportblog.ir
    tahsilpezeshki.sportblog.ir
    geology2017.sportblog.ir
    lono.sportblog.ir
    google.sportblog.ir
    theme.sportblog.ir
    news.sportblog.ir

  42. کابینت ام دی اف
    ‌ام‌دی‌اف یک ماده مرکب چوبی با جرم حجمی بین ۵۰۰ تا ۸۰۰ کیلوگرم بر متر مکعب ( به طور متوسط ۷۵۰ کیلوگرم بر متر مکعب) محسوب می‌شود که از مواد مختلفی می‌تواند تهیه گردد. در جهان بیشتر ام دی اف ها بر پایه چوب و از چوب‌های نرم مثل درخت کاج تهیه می‌شوند.

  43. کابینت های گلاس نوعی ‌ام‌دی‌اف است، با این تفاوت که روکش آن این بار به غیر از ملامینه با یک لایه پلکسی گلاس پوشانده می‌شود. پلکسی گلاس نوعی پلاستیک می‌باشد که ظاهری بسیار شفاف و شبیه شیشه دارد. جنس پلکسی گلاس از نوعی پلی کربنات شفاف است؛ این ماده نسبت به شیشه سبک‌تر و مقاوم‌تر است.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *