Cooking in kampuchea

Cooking in Kampuchea

by Peter Jay Lee

THE SPECIALTY OF CAMBODIA

I f yo u s t a r t r e a d i ng t h i s c o o k i ng b o o k , yo u c a n n o t close it for a year because this book is full of greatful and addictive. You are too late to close it now. This book will make you to be able to make the Kampuchea food. Cambodia is really nice country to have a new experience. Country has their own style, custom, and a lot of cultrual relative things.

If you are getting bored of your country food or if you are looking for some of novelties, this book will be a ideal book for you. One of the big difference of the Cambodian diet is that

the tastes are salty, sweet, and spicy. Maybe you can find these tastes from the surrounded country of Cambodia. But each country has their own taste and the differences are exist with the similarity at the same time because of the area, where the countries located, is same.

South East Asia countues are located nearby the equator so it doesn't have any Winter season.

Everyday, the weather is boiling and wet. These might be effect to the Cambodian's tastes.

Common hot counties food tastes are like salty, sweet, and spicy because the food can go bad quickly. So people put many of salt, sugar, and their own spices.

So its smells weird for foreign people.

At the middle of Cambodia, there is a long river, which flows to the South East Aisa countries. The river named "Mekong river". It's a huge river so people get many kind of fishes from the river.

Cambodian people are used to eat fish. They like the taste of the fish, even they made fish sauce to make the food taste better. Fish souce is one of typical sauce in Cambodia. You can find it on the everywhere. Most of Cambodian eats with chilly sauce which contains a fish sauce. They like to eat with chilies sauce with everything. You will think this country is weird, but if you try once, you can accept them and maybe you could like it. This is one of taste in Cambodia. It can find on the way you go, visit any local restaurant then you can have every tastes of Cambodia. this is why I visit here and this is why I like Cambodian food.

Red curry

Ingreidents for 1 Person: 300g chicken, 1 large sweet potatoes, Onions 1 large, Coconut cream 200g, curry powder 1 packets, lemongrass, thinly sliced 1 tsp, kaffir lime leaves, finely chopped ½ tsp, galangal, finely chopped ½ tsp, turmeric root, finely chopped ½ tsp, garlic ½ bulb, large dried red chillies 1, kapi ½ tsp, fish sauce 1 tsp, sugar, 1 tsp, salt half of a tsp, soup powder half of a tsp Make this curry with a mortar and pestle or use a food processor. The mortar and pestle will give the curry a deeper flavor.

Place the first 7 ingredients in a mortar and pestle and pound to a paste.

Alternatively, place first 7 ingredients in a food processor and process until a smooth paste forms. Add the remaining ingredients and pound or process until all spices are well incorporated.

Method 1. Take the coconuts and extract one bowl of thick coconut cream and two bowls of thin coconut cream.

2. Pound the lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, Kaffir lime leaves, garlic, red chillies and curry powder.

3. Cut the chicken into pieces. Chop the potatoes into chunks.

4. Simmer the thick coconut cream in a pan until it releases its oil and then add the pounded spices.

5. Put in the kapi, sugar, fish sauce and meat, and cook it to allow the flavours to penetrate the meat, then pour in the two bowls of thin coconut cream and simmer over a low flame.

6. Finally, put in the potato and onion, and simmer until the liquid thickens, then serve.

Lok - Lak

Ingredients for 1 Person: 300 g beef steaks, sliced, Âź cup light soy sauce, 1 tbs oyster sauce, 1 tbs ketchup, 3 tbs sugar, 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper, 1 tsp fish sauce, 2 finely sliced garlic cloves, 2 tbs vegetable oil.

For the decroation: 2 small sliced tomatoes, 1 cucumber, peeled and finely sliced, ½ small red onion, finely sliced, lettuce, whatever that is vegitable you like.

For the dipping sauce for Lok Lak: juice of a lime, 2 tsp fresh ground black pepper, 1 tsp salt or 1 tsp fish sauce, 1 tb water.

Method 1. In a large bowl, mix beef with soy sauce, oyster sauce, tomato sauce sugar, fish sauce and ground black pepper and garlic. Marinate at least 20 minutes or up to one hour.

2. While the beef is marinating on the sauce, make a dipping sauce for the cooked beef. Combine ingredients in a small bowl-set aside. Just mix them together.

3. Decorate two dinner plates with sliced tomatoes, cucumber, onion and lettuce. (This are the basic side decroations for Lok Lak) 4. Slice the beef steak that has been marinated in the soy sauce, slice it as a cube shape.

5. Heat oil in a wok over a high heat and stir-fry beef until cooked.

6. Put the beef with rice on the decorated plate, and Enjoy your meal.

fish amok

Ingreidents for 1 Person: 1 tbs vegetable oil, ½ tsp shrimp paste, 1 cup coconut milk, 1 tbs white sugar 1 tsp salt, ¾ pound firm, mild white fish – like halibut, mahi mahi, or true cod, skin removed, 1 cup fresh spinach leaves, 1 tbs fish sauce Curry Paste: Do same as what I wrote on red curry page, and then mix with coconut milk, peanuts and palm sugar. The curry we use is same as the curry from the fish amok, so if you are going to make fish amok and red curry at the same time, it will be quick to make it.

Method 1. Thinly slice the fish into ½-inch thick bite size pieces and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the curry paste and cook for 1 minute.

3. Add the shrimp paste, coconut milk, sugar and salt, whisking to combine.

4. Turn the heat to medium and simmer for 2 minutes, whisking occasionally.

5. Add the fish and spinach leaves, gently folding the fish into the curry sauce with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Let the amok simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through. Turn the heat off.

6. In a small bowl, whisk the egg with the fish sauce and 2 tablespoons of the curry sauce from the pan.

7. Pour the egg mixture into the saucepan and gently fold it into the curry.

spring roll

Ingredients for 1 Person: 5 to 8 rice wrapper ½ of taro ½ of carrots 1 eggs.

The ingredients of spring roll are quite simple because this is the basic one that people eat. You can add some meat if you want, or the other kind of vegetable that you like.

Chilli dipping sauce for spring roll: ½ small sliced chilliy pepper 3 tbs fish sauce 1 tsp juice of lime.

We just mix them together and that's becomes to the typical chilli sauce in Cambodia.

Method 1. Peel the taro and carrot. Actually you don't have to peel it, you just slice it with the peeler.

2. Wash the slices of taro and carrot that you peeled for 5 times until it becomes to soft.

3. Mix it together.

4. Carpet the rice wrapper first, and put the mixture in it.

5. Roll the the rice wrapper on one direction.

6. Use the egg yolks to make sure the roll can't unfold.

7. Boil the oil on the frying pan.

8. Put the spring rolls that you made, and wait for about 10~15 minutes.

9. Use the filter to shake off the oil.

Mango & stick rice

Ingredients for 1 Person: 1 and ¼ cup raw sticky rice ¾ cup very thick coconut milk for mixing with rice ¼ cup sugar ¾ cup very thick coconut milk for topping the rice 1/8 tsp salt for the topping ½ tbs salt for mixing with rice ¼ tsp rice flour 6 medium mangoes, peeled and sliced.

Method 1. Wash and rinse the sticky rice well.

Cook rice in a steamer. Do not open the rice until fully cooked for about 20-25 mins.

2. Heat, on low, ¾ cup of coconut milk in a small saucepan.

3. Add sugar and ½ tbs salt to the coconut milk and cook until dissolved.

4. Remove from heat and pour into cooked rice. Stir to mix well and set aside to let stand for about 15 mins.

5. Heat the rest of coconut milk and add salt.

6. Stir until the salt is dissolved. This makes the topping sauce.

7. To serve, place sliced mangoes on a side of a serving disk. Spoon some seasoned sticky rice on the other side.

Top the rice with 1 or 2 tsp of coconut sauce and serve.

Pumpkin custard

Ingredients for 1 Person: 1 small pumpkin 1 egg yolks 2 tbs palm sugar 1 cup coconut milk

Method 1. Cut the top off the pumpkin, and place the pumpkin in a steamer or on a rack in a large pot with a small amount of water just simmering, then seal the pot and steam the pumpkin for an hour (you need the flesh to be soft enough to spoon out of the pumpkin).

2. Spoon out flesh when pumpkin is ready.

3. Whisk the egg yolks with the palm sugar.

4. Bring the coconut milk to a slow and gentle boil, remove from the heat and stir, not whisk, into the egg mixture.

5. Pour into the pumpkin and bake in the oven for 25mins at 170째C. 6. Custard will set in the pumpkin.

7. Leave it until gets cool.

8. To serve slice the pumpkin like you would cutting a cake.

House 43, Street 95, BKK2, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Phone number (+855)23 996 143/ (+855)12 500 195

Recommended guesthouse/ restaurant in Phnom Penh

Appetisers Soup of the day $3.50 Vegetable Spring Rolls(fried)$3.00 Fresh Spring Rolls $3.00 Sweetcorn Fritters $2.50 Chunky Sweet Potato Fries $3.00

Mains Sweet Potato, Pepper & Peanut Stew $5.00 Banana Curry $ 5.00 Sweet Potato, Pumpkin & Coconut Curry $5.00 Amok fish/chicken $6.00 vegetable/tofu $5.00 Red Curry fish/chicken $6.00 vegetable/tofu $5.00 Green Curry fish/chicken$6.00 vegetable/tofu $5.00 Char Kreungfish/chicken/pork $6.00 vegetable/tofu $5.00 Tom Yum Soup fish/chicken $6.00 vegetable/tofu $5.00 Mee Char fish/chicken/pork $6.00 vegetable/tofu $5.00 Broccoli Pesto Pasta $5.00 The terrace on 95 is guesthouse/restaurant/ lounge. You can also have some parties in here, or you can just have a meal on here.

The place is quite hard to find because it's on the coner of the street and the entrance is on the edge, but you can find it out looking at the pink colored signborad. The restaurant has appropriate atomsphere to have some lunch or dinner, and the waiters are kind.

Location map

Published Date: 2014/11/11