Cambodian cuisine

History and influences

Water, rice and freshwater fish exert the most profound influences on Khmer cuisine. The Mekong river, the twelfth longest in the world cuts through the very heart of Cambodia. The capital Phnom Penh is on its riverbank, at the junction where two other rivers meet: the Tonle Sap and Bassac. The Tonle Sap river connects the Mekong with the Tonle Sap lake, or Great Lake, which acts as a liquid heart and natural reservoir for the entire Mekong river system, regulating the flow of huge volumes of water, and allowing the safe passage of an astonishing number of freshwater fish. The lake itself is believed to have more fish than any other in the world and ranks second only to the Amazon river in biodiversity.

When the rainy season begins at the start of the Khmer New Year, the region becomes inundated with monsoonal rain and Cambodia turns into a vast ocean of emerald rice-paddies. The geographical setting of wetlands (Cambodia ranks second to Bangladesh for the largest amount of wetland in Asia) and floodplains explains why water, and hence fish and rice (which grow in water) are such an integral component to the cuisine. Many dishes, in particular the samlors, have a pond-like appearance, and are often loaded with reed-like plants, leaves and vegetables, mirroring the surrounding landscape. Dipping sauces tend to be quite watery, as are most Cambodian curries.

Khmer cuisine shares many commonalities with the food of neighbouring Thailand — although, less chilli, sugar and coconut cream are used for flavor — and of neighboring Vietnam, with which it shares and adopts many common dishes, as well as a colonial history, as both formed part of the French colonial empire in Southeast Asia. It has drawn upon influences from the cuisines of China and France, powerful players in Cambodian history. The Chinese began arriving in the 13th century, but Chinese migration accelerated during the French period. Curry dishes, known as kari (in Khmer, ការី) show a trace of cultural influence from India. The many variations of rice noodles show the influences from Chinese cuisine. Preserved lemons are another unusual ingredient not commonly found in the cooking of Cambodia's neighbours; it is used in some Khmer dishes to enhance the sourness. The Portuguese and Spanish also had considerable influence in Cambodian affairs in the 16th century, introducing chilli and peanuts into Asia from the New World. However, chilli never gained the same status or prominence as it did with the cuisines of neighboring Thailand, Laos and Malaysia. Even today very few recipes include chilli.

One legacy of French, the baguette - known as nom pang in Khmer - is ubiquitous in all parts of Cambodia today. Cambodians often eat bread with pâté, tinned sardines or eggs. One of these with a cup of strong coffee, sweetened with condensed milk, is an example of a common Cambodian breakfast. Freshly buttered baguettes can be made into sandwiches (also called nom pang) and may be stuffed with slices of ham or any number of grilled meats, with Kampot pepper, similar to Vietnamese banh mi. The French also introduced beer, butter, pate, coffee, chocolate, onions, carrots, broccoli, potatoes and many other types of non-native produce to Southeast Asia.

Traditionally, Cambodians eat their meals with at least three or four dishes. A meal will usually include a soup, or samlor, served alongside the main courses. Each individual dish will be either sweet, sour, salty or bitter in taste. Chilli (fresh, pickled or dried) and chilli sauce is served on the side and left up to individual diners and to their taste. In this way Cambodians ensure that they get a bit of every flavor to satisfy their palates.

Fermented Sauces

In Khmer cuisine, it distinguishes between fermented paste-based ingredients and pickled ingredients. Mam refers to fish or shrimp that has been fermented in a particular technique and is usually includes more solid pieces of the pickled animal. In a sense, mam is the general term when referring to most kind of fermented ingredients created from aquatic animals. Prahok and kapi are popular based for sauces that refer to pickled aged ingredients. Both mam and prahok are aged to a minimum of 1 year in order to reach its full potential in taste, much like fish sauce. Fermented sauce are often eaten with high protein-based dishes or raw vegetables to help the body digest.

Spices

Black pepper is the preferred choice when heat is wanted in a dish; it is used in stir fries, soups, marinades for grilled meats, and dipping sauces. Pepper has a long history in Cambodia, having been grown since at least the 13th century, while the pungent, aromatic variety from Kampot province (bordering Vietnam's Ha Tien province and the Gulf of Thailand to the south, and the jungle-clad Elephant Mountains to the north) was once Cambodia's chief export from the late 1800s up till the 1960s.

Kampot pepper was once known as the King of Peppers, revered by gourmands worldwide for its floral and eucalyptus notes, its heady aroma, its musky heat, and its medicinal properties. Before the 1970s, Kampot pepper was used in all French restaurants for the classic dish steak au poivre. Today, the pepper industry is being revitalised and, since acquiring protected Geographic Indication status in 2008 (which gives it the same special status as Champagne in France), people can purchase Kampot pepper online in many parts of the world.

Jungle cardamom, or wild cardamom, grows in the aptly named Cardamom Mountains in the southwest of the country, bordering the Gulf of Thailand coast to the south and Trat province in Thailand to the west. These vast mountains form some of the last remaining area of intact virgin rainforest in Southeast Asia and harbour extensive mangrove forests, elephants, tigers, Siamese crocodiles and other rare and endangered species, and few people live in this area. Locals use cardamom medicinally and in certain samlors, using the root of the plant as well as the pod. Turmeric (Khmer: រមៀត) is grown in Battambang province and is a common ingredient in many curry powders, soups and rice dishes. Saffron is also esteemed in local folk medicine as a treatment for many ailments, especially skin problems.

Tamarind is commonly employed as a soup base for dishes such as samlar machu. Star anise is a must when caramelizing meat in palm sugar like pork in the dish known as pak lov. Turmeric, galangal, ginger, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves are essential spices in Khmer cooking, Khmer stews, and nearly all curries.

Kroeung

From India, by way of Java, Cambodians have been taught the art of blending spices into a paste using many ingredients like cardamom, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and turmeric. Other native ingredients like lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots, cilantro, and kaffir lime leaves are added to this mix to make a distinctive and complex spice blend called "kroeung." Other ingredients for kroeung used by Khmers in America are lemongrass, turmeric powder, garlic, prahok, and lemon leaf. This is an important aromatic paste commonly used in Cambodian cooking.

Vegetables

Many vegetables used in Khmer cuisine are also used in Chinese cuisine. Vegetables such as winter melon, bitter melon, luffa, water spinach and yardlong beans can be found in soups and stews. Oriental squash can be stewed, stir fried or sweetened and steamed with coconut milk as a dessert. Vegetables like mushrooms, cabbage, baby corn, bamboo shoots, fresh ginger, kai-lan ("Chinese kale"), snow peas, and bok choy are commonly used in many stir fry dishes. Together these stir fry dishes are known by the generic term chhar (ឆា). Banana blossoms are sliced and added to some noodle dishes like nom banh chok.

Fruits

Fruits in Cambodia are so popular that they have their own royal court. The durian is considered the "king," the mangosteen the "queen," sapodilla the "prince" and the milk fruit (phlae teuk doh ko) the "princess." Other popular fruits include the jan fruit, kuy fruit, romduol, pineapple, star apple, rose apple, coconut, palmyra fruit, jackfruit, papaya, watermelon, banana, mango and rambutan. Although fruits are usually considered desserts, some such as ripe mangoes, watermelon, and pineapples are eaten commonly with heavily salted fish with plain rice. Fruits are also made into beverages called tuk krolok (ទឹកក្រឡុក), mostly shakes. Popular fruits for shakes are durian, mangoes, bananas.

Fish and meat

As the country has an extensive network of waterways, freshwater fish plays a large part in the diet of most Cambodians, making its way into many recipes. Daily fresh catches come from the Mekong River, Bassac River and the vast Tonlé Sap. Fish is far more common than meat in Khmer cuisine and fish forms 60% of the Cambodian intake of proteins. Prahok itself is based on fish. Many of the fish eaten in Cambodia are freshwater fish from the Tonlé Sap or from the Mekong. Dried salted fish known as trei ngeat (ត្រីងៀត) are a favourite with plain rice porridge. The popular Khmer dish called amok uses a kind of catfish steamed in a savoury coconut-based curry. The small fish known as Trey Dang Dau are very common and are often eaten deep-fried.

While freshwater fish is the most commonly used meat in the Cambodian diet, pork and chicken are also popular. Though not as common as in neighbouring Vietnam, vegetarian food is a part of Khmer cuisine and often favoured by more observant Buddhists.

Pork is quite popular in making sweet Khmer sausages known as kwah ko (ត្វារគោ). Beef and chicken are stewed, grilled or stir fried. Seafood includes an array of shellfish such as clams, cockles, crayfish, shrimp and squid. Lobsters are not commonly eaten because of their price, but middle-class and rich Cambodians enjoy eating them at Sihanoukville. Duck roasted in Chinese char siu style is popular during festivals. More unusual varieties of meat include frog, turtle, and arthropods (including tarantulas); these are difficult to find in Khmer cuisine abroad but are used in everyday dishes in Cambodia.

Noodles

Many elements of Cambodian noodle dishes were inspired by Chinese and Vietnamese cooking despite maintaining a distinct Khmer variation. Prahok is never used with noodle dishes. Rice stick noodles are used in mee katang (មីកាតាំង), which is a Cambodian variation of chǎo fěn with gravy. Unlike the Chinese styled chǎo fěn, the noodles are plated under the stir fry beef and vegetables and topped off with scrambled eggs. Burmese style noodles (មីកុឡា, Mee Kola) is a vegetarian dish made from thin rice stick noodles, steamed and cooked with soy sauce and garlic chives. This is served with pickled vegetables Jroak (ជ្រក់), julienned eggs, and sweet garlic fish sauce (which is actually not vegetarian) garnished with crushed peanuts. Mi Cha (មីឆា) is stir fried egg noodles.

Popular dishes

Cambodian street foods (m'houp tam plouv) are a combination of influences from China and Southeast Asia. There exist a variety that are often not known to people outside of Cambodia. Street food are the heart and tradition of Cambodian daily life and considered snacks rather than meals. Food stalls are called hang or tiam, a Khmer word borrowed from Chinese háng ("store", "business") or hang bai (bai means "rice" or "food") and in order to identify the specific food for sale, food eateries are addressed as Hang/Tiam Kuy Teav (Rice noodle Stall) or Hang/Tiam Kafe (Coffee Stall), for example.

Noodle soups

Cambodian features of variety of noodles in which different types of noodles are exchangeable for different broths, such as Kuy Teav broth eaten with Mee Sua noodle or Lort. Khmer noodles have origins from Chinese influences and bear many the similarities to other noodles in Southeast Asia.

Samlor (Rice Soup) and Chhang Plerng (Hotpot)

Samlor refers to soup dishes that are eaten with rice and Sup refer to dishes that can be eaten without the need of rice, these usually being dishes of Chinese or European origin. Chhang Plerng refers to the general term of Hotpot that are popular eaten during the dry "cold" season (winter) and during late night gatherings.

Chha (Stir Fried Dishes) and Rice Dishes

The term Chha refers to stir frying techniques introduced by Chinese immigrants (from Hokkien Tshá).

Cha Houy (Jelly) and Babor P'aem (Pudding)

Cambodian cuisine features a variety of desserts similar to its Southeast Asian neighbors. Its assortment of puddings are called Cha Houy Tuek ("jelly") or Babor P'aem ("sweet porridge") depending on the ingredients of the dish. Agar Agar jelly desserts are collectively called "Sarai".

Southern Khmer/Khmer Krom Dishes

The Khmer Krom are ethnic Khmer indigenous to large areas of what is today southern Vietnam. Khmer Krom cuisine is a fusion of traditional Khmer cooking with locally available ingredients and Vietnamese influences. Khmer culture is also especially influential in the Vietnamese cuisine of southern Vietnam. This is most evident in the sweetness of Vietnamese food and the wider variety of tropical herbs that are now shared by both Vietnam and Cambodia since the 17th century when Vietnam took control of the Mekong Delta region away from the remnants of the Khmer Empire. As a result, traditional Khmer cooking is an important component of Vietnam's diverse cuisine.