Cambodia Tasty

 “Fried fish in the lake” is a party dish, often eaten at restaurants in a special fish-shaped dish. A whole fish is deep-fried and then finished on a hotplate at the table in a coconut curry made from yellow kroeung and chilies. Vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage are cooked in the curry, which is served with rice or rice noodles. Its name literally means “fish in the water mimosa lake,” which refers to the green Cambodian vegetable that serves as the base of the dish.

 The main ingredient in a Cambodian salad, or nhoam, may vary, be it ambarella, banana blossom, cucumber, or lotus root, but the chi, or herbs, remain the same. Traditionally, four herbs are used: Asian basil, mint, Cambodian mint, and fish-cheek herb, a heart-shaped leaf grown in Southeast Asia whose flavor is reminiscent of the sea. Cambodian salads are often made with unripe fruit and usually contain smoked fish and small dried shrimp. Green mango salad is a classic whose flavors of sour fruit, salty smoked fish, and sweet palm sugar form a beautifully harmonious whole.

Served at roadside barbecues all over Cambodia, stuffed frogs can be an intimidating sight for timid visitors, but any fearfulness disappears at the first taste. Frogs are stuffed with minced pork, roasted peanuts, red chilies, frog meat and fresh kroeung made from lemongrass, garlic, galangal, turmeric and the zest of makrut limes. Grilled inside split pieces of bamboo over hot coals, the resulting snack is like a frog sausage, rich with root spices and slightly sweetened by palm sugar.

One of Cambodia’s best-loved foods, tuek kroeung is a thin but pungent dipping sauce made from fresh river fish and fermented fish, served with an array of fresh seasonal vegetables and herbs. The name can be a bit confusing — the word kroeung is most often used for one of the delicate curry pastes that are a hallmark of Cambodian cooking, but which aren’t used in tuek kroeung. In fact kroeung just means “what’s inside” or “ingredients.”

Soups are a crucial element in Cambodian cuisine, and no meal is complete without one. The soups known as sngors are simple and extremely versatile. They’re designed to showcase the main ingredient, in this case, fish from the Tonle Sap, Cambodia’s great freshwater lake. The fish is cooked in a light lemongrass broth that’s seasoned with lime juice and fried garlic, making for a wholesome soup served with local herbs, including Asian basil and sawleaf coriander. Other additions, such as straw mushrooms or shredded green mango, are optional.

After rice, the most important ingredient in Cambodian cuisine is prahok, a mash of salty fermented fish. It’s added in small quantities to bring an umami kick to many dishes, but in prahok ktis it has the starring role. Cooked with fresh coconut cream, palm sugar, and minced pork, the pungent prahok becomes mild enough for even trepidatious visitors to enjoy. Another version of the dish, prahok kroeung ktis, adds a fragrant paste of root spices. Both are served with crunchy fresh vegetables.

Nom banh chok (Khmer Noodle) is a beloved Cambodian dish, so much so that in English it’s sometimes called simply “Khmer noodles.” It’s a typical breakfast food, and every morning you’ll find it being sold by women carrying baskets of fresh rice noodles hanging from a pole balanced on their shoulders. The dish consists of fresh noodles laboriously pounded out of rice, topped with a fish-based green curry gravy made from lemongrass, fingerroot ginger, turmeric, and garlic. Fresh cucumbers, banana flower, long beans, edible flowers, and wild leaves are heaped on top. In Siem Reap, it is served with a sweet sauce called tuk paem made from palm sugar and peanuts.

Pork, prahok and other vegetables should be washed thoroughly. Use small or large, just enough with the prahok that you want to make more or less. pork thoroughly and then add the prahok (more or less prahok as you like) then add the ingredients and continue Then add the cayenne pepper, garlic, red onion, cook once and mix well. Roast on a low heat enough to cook and not burn. Put the grilled prahok upside down, put the grill upside down on the grill  

Samlor machu trey is a soup that's popular in many households in Cambodia as it’s not only easy to make but also has a lovely taste. Its ingredients include fish, garlic, lemongrass, celery, tamarind juice, bean sprouts, pineapple and seasoning with sugar, fish sauce, and salt. Many people also add some fresh green herbs and hot chilli pepper on top before serving.

  Cambodian cuisine is – and should be – a part of your overall experience when visiting the country. A typical Cambodian meal would normally consist of a soup, a salad, a main fish dish, vegetables and rice. A Cambodian dessert, normally based on fresh fruits and sticky rice, complement the meal. In the Khmer diet, rice and freshwater fish play big roles because of the abundance of both. Cambodia has 2 main sources of natural freshwater, the Mekong River and the Tonle Sap, a huge lake connected to the Mekong. In the monsoon season, the Tonle Sap floods some 16,000 sq km of the country, irrigating rice fields and providing breeding grounds for fish.