Along with being exposed to a different culture, I've also been exposed to many new foods and I've been meaning to share these culinary adventures with everyone. All in all, I'm still adjusting to Khmer food and may never fully embrace it, but I have tried many dishes I do like.
As I previously mentioned, and you likely already know, Khmer people eat rice with most meals. So much in fact that when they ask whether you have eaten breakfast, lunch, or dinner, they simply ask "have you eaten rice" or "Ta neak nham bai?" (transliteration of course!). With that in mind most meals are served with a large bowl of rice which everyone takes helpings of. Rather than having individual main dishes like we typically do in the U.S., several large main dishes are shared by everyone. Usually this involves placing a little bit of the vegetables or meat on your rice, eating that portion, and then spooning more onto the plate, and so on. After eating meals with my co-workers and in the villages I can definitely say eating is meant to be a communal activity.
In addition to the rice, the "main dishes" often include some type of "somlar" or soup, a dish of sautéed or fried vegetables, and fish, beef, or pork cooked in a variety of ways. I'll go ahead and just describe some of the dishes I've tried to give you a better idea of what the food is like. One of the reasons I've been putting off writing about the food is because I always forget to take pictures of it. This didn't really change over the last couple months so some of these photos are actually from the internet, not me!
Somlar trey (fish soup)
Somlar - If you go to a restaurant you typically see large vats containing various types of soup. These range from watery soups with fish, pork, or beef to ones that taste more like curry. One of my favorites is somlar koko. This is typically a vegetarian dish (side note: the concept of being "vegetarian" is not well understood here), and contains unsurprisingly a variety of vegetables including pumpkin, mushrooms, green beans, and things that look like cucumbers, but aren't. Also, the dish is made with "kroeung" which is commonly used in Khmer food and is a blend of spices including tumeric, lemongrass, cardamom, ginger, and several others.
Lok-lak - http://www.hotel7makara.com/khmer-food/
Lok-lak - While this is a slightly more expensive dish, lok-lak is stir-fried marinated beef that is dipped in a sauce of lime juice, salt, and pepper. I was surprised to find how good this sauce tastes with meat! I will definitely bring this easy addition back with me from Cambodia. There's one restaurant in town that serves "English Lok-lak" which is lok-lak with french fries and a fried egg instead of rice. Very tasty albeit not especially good for you.
Kralan
Kralan - This is less of a dish and more of a snack, but kralan is made from a mixture of rice with beans, grated coconut, and coconut milk. These ingredients are placed in a pole of bamboo and then roasted over a fire. To eat them you peel back the bamboo and break off little sections. Apparently, kralan is a specialty in Kratie and on our way to the dolphin site there are at least 30 vendors all lined up along the street selling them. I bought some the other day for the team and asked for 4 kralan. The woman looked at me confused. One of the Khmer fellows on our team came to the rescue and explained to me you order by weight, not by the number you want. Who knew.
Prahok - http://khmerconnection.com/1661278/prahok cambodian-soul-food/
Prahok - I'm including this in the blog, because it is quite common in Cambodia, not because I'm particularly fond of it. Prahok is a fermented fish paste and can be used in a variety of ways. It can be a dish on its own or used as a dipping sauce for vegetables. I've tried it once before and actually it wasn't that bad, but I tend to steer away from it. Ironically, its other name is "Khmer cheese". I had been warned if I was offered "Khmer cheese" it would not be cheese at all. I feel like this nickname does a bit of a disservice to cheese, but that's just my opinion.
Amok - http://www.taste.com/au/recipes/28119/seafood +amok+traditional+cambodian+seafood+curry
Amok trey (fish amok) - This is a signature Cambodian dish, but from what I've heard it's consumed by more tourists than actual Khmer people - with that being said this is easily one of my most favorite dishes here. Basically it's a fish fillet that is covered in kroueng, peanuts, coconut milk, and egg and then wrapped in a banana leaf and steamed. I've had it several different places and it seems like a dish that can be made a variety of ways.
Ban Chao
Ban Chao - This is the Khmer version of the Vietnamese dish Bánh xèo. It's a crepe that is made with tumeric, eggs, water and rice flower that is then filled with bean sprouts and ground beef or pork. The dish is served with an array of lettuce leaves, cabbage, basil, and mint. To eat the crepe, you take the leaves and create a sort of lettuce wrap and then dip the whole little packet into a sweet dipping sauce made with sugar, peanuts, and oil. There is a Ban Chao restaurant outside of town and I have been several times. The crepes are only $1 each and are tasty and filling. I get a little worried about eating the lettuce leaves because they're the first thing that will make you sick, but I've been fine each time and will just keep crossing my fingers!
Fruit - I had to mention the fruit in Cambodia because generally speaking the variety is amazing in this part of the world. When you walk around the market there are vendors upon vendors displaying a number of fruits I've never seen before. There is definitely a plethora of bananas, oranges, pineapples, coconuts, and mangoes all of which I'm accustomed to. Several new ones I've tried have been mangosteens, durian, and longans. Mangosteens are easily my favorite. A vendor at the market sort of just dropped them in my bag and I was too tired to protest and figured I'd give whatever fruit it was a try. I had to come home and google it just to figure it out. They are covered in a thick purple skin and the white fruit which is sweet, juicy, and tangy all at once, is divided up sort of like an orange. Unfortunately, I will have to enjoy these little treats in Cambodia as I've discovered they cannot be imported to the U.S. :(
Mangosteen - http://blog.seasonwithspice.com/2011/07/ cooling-mangosteens-with-heaty-durians.html
Durian - http://thetalkiespodcast.com/movie-theater-etiquette-a-relic-of-the-past/durian-fruit/
Durian is a large (~1 ft. long) greenish-brown fruit covered in little spikes. While it is very popular in Cambodia it is known for its distinctive odor which some people have described as "rotten onions, turpentine, and raw sewage." I had read that durian is banned from many hotels and airplanes. I didn't really believe that, but have since seen signs that confirm this. I haven't actually tried the fruit itself, but have had it in a fruit shake and sticky rice dessert. The fruit overpowered any other taste in the shake and the dessert. While I managed to get it down (I didn't want to be rude and not finish it), the entire time I couldn't help thinking how it smelled exactly like garbage. I suppose I'm one of those people who lean toward the side of not liking it.
Longans - http://www.doa.sarawak.gov.my/ modules/web/page.php?id=132
Finally, longans, are small (1in) round brown fruits with a hard black seed in the middle. You peel the thin brown skin and eat the sweet white fruit around the seed. Often these are called Dragon's Eyes because the fruit resembles an eye once it is peeled and the black seed is showing through the translucent fruit. I mistakenly forgot to mention to Megan when she visited that there WAS a seed in the middle and she nearly broke a tooth trying it. I also was offered a longan during our first boat trip and I declined because I thought they had said did I want an "onion". Ooops.
While I'm still partial to my cereal, pizza, pasta etc. it's been a new experience trying all these foods and learning how even the simple act of sharing a meal can be different in other cultures.