Khmer Cuisine

When a new country welcomes you with fascinating sights and experiences, you have travelled, but when you fall in love with the cuisine, then you have finally arrived…

I was just hopping over to Siem Reap from Kuala Lumpur over a long weekend, taking full advantage of the direct route and perfect flight timings. All I knew at the time was that I wanted to fulfill my bucket list of visiting Angkor Wat—the largest Hindu/Buddhist religious architectural complex in the world. I had absolutely no idea what the food options would be there, and to be honest, I was dreading the prospect of fried insects and other esoteric ‘delicacies’ that my ignorance harbored. When the bubbly cafe owner at my first stop brought me the menu, I actually remarked that all the items were what I had sampled in Thailand. She smiled indulgently and proceeded to inform me that these dishes were not Thai, but very much Cambodian, and that only ‘phad thai’ was Thai, and this was not even available at her restaurant, as if it was some sort of an unwanted step child…!

So I decided to order what looked somewhat familiar- a bowl of curry noodles with vegetables and chicken, and I emptied all of the fresh red chillies, the sachet of dry chilli powder, and the juice of two lime wedges into my fiery hot assembly of divine culinary perfection- winded as I was from trotting around four or five large temple complexes in a tuk tuk, immediately upon reaching the city in the morning and not having much of a breakfast. I was really quite ravenous, and the hot and humid weather also whetted my appetite for a freshly cut coconut with the sweetest water and juiciest flesh inside. There was just one more rather tiny temple to visit, and I was already looking forward to pigging out again in the evening.

The pineapple fried rice at dinnertime was served with typical Khmer flourish again, along with a tangy sauce, and the local “Angkor” beer. The morning after was gainfully spent in the extremely popular sunrise tour of Angkor Wat, as evidenced by the milling crowds even at that hour of the day, and when we stopped midmorning at a local restaurant, I decided to try out the stir fried noodles with chicken, and the robust brewed coffee that this particular spot was noted for. Thus filled to my gills and all my senses, I was happy to skip lunch that day and instead have a cup of tea at my hotel before joining another tour in the second half of the day. There, overlooking the waters of the Tonle Sap Lake, and pondering a sunset sabotaged by rains, I had a Khmer style chicken and vegetable red curry with some fluffy hot rice. An avocado milk shake later satisfied my craving for both drinks and dessert, in the totally healthy way that I had come to identify the local flavors.

On my third and final day, I wanted to stay back in Cambodia for good, and so lunch had to be something special indeed. The fish amok in a simmering coconut milk gravy and served in a tender coconut from which I kept scooping out the soft white flesh and mixing it into my meal (with amazing effects), was finished off in a leisurely manner over the round table where our group had gathered for lunch, and a lot of happy banter with the other travelers. A mango milk shake to accompany my lunch was finished off rather rapidly, given the exertion of the morning tour. Hitting the famous ‘Pub Street’- Siem Reap’s best known hotspot- later that evening, I ended my culinary adventure with fresh spring rolls and a vodka cocktail, both of which were on offer at discounted prices, in the aftermath of the economic downturn following the Covid pandemic further impoverishing an already struggling economy.       

There is SO much I shall be writing about this fascinating country, but suffice it to say that I have never encountered such subtle yet mouth watering dishes- and the freshness of the ingredients, and the generous quantities of veggies- anywhere else in South East Asia, so far. It feels as if I have left a loving family back in Cambodia, and I shall be visiting again.