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CAMBODIA
Food
& Drink
Khmer food is similar to Thai cuisine, but not as spicy. Chilli
is usually served on the side rather than blended into the dish.
Even the curry dishes, such as the delicious coconut milk and fish
amoc, tend to be served very mild. Rice is the staple food for mealtimes,
while noodles are more of a snack. Hygiene standards are not high,
especially at street stalls, so make sure the food is fresh and
piping hot, and make for the busiest places if possible.
Where to eat
The cheapest Khmer cuisine is to be found at street stalls and markets
. There are usually one or two dishes on offer at each stall, perhaps
pigs' organ soup, fried noodles or a tasty filled baguette. If you're
ordering soup, you can pick and choose the ingredients to taste.
These stalls are dirt cheap - you can certainly get a meal for less
than 2000r - though the portions tend to be on the small side.
Khmer restaurants are the next step up, recognizable by their beer
signs outside. In the evenings, the better ones fill up early on
and most places close soon after 9pm. Buying a selection of dishes
to share is the norm at Khmer restaurants. Each dish costs around
5000-10,000r and there's also a small cover charge. In these restaurants,
as in beer gardens, drinks are purchased from "beer girls"
.
Western restaurants are plentiful in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville,
though standards vary enormously. Most places cost roughly the same
as eating at a Khmer restaurant, with meals at $2-4, although the
more upmarket restaurants charge around $5-10.
Many guesthouses also do meals - typically noodles, rice and pasta
- for about the same price as Khmer restaurants. It's easy to make
do with guesthouse food after a hard day's sightseeing, but for
authentic Cambodian culinary colour, you'll need to be more adventurous.
Khmer food
A standard meal in Cambodia consists of rice, a fish or beef dish,
and a steaming bowl of soup. Flavours are dominated by fish sauce,
lemongrass (particularly in soup), coconut milk and tamarind.
If you only try one Khmer dish, it should be amoc, a delightful
fish curry with a rich coconut-milk sauce. Freshwater fish from
the Tonlé Sap are abundant and turn up in popular dishes,
such as dt'ray chorm hoy (steamed fish), dt'ray aing (grilled fish)
and dt'ray chean neung spey (sour fish soup).
Drinks
If you want to avoid stomach problems, don't drink the water , and
don't take ice . Bottled, sealed water is available everywhere.
Other thirst-quenchers are the standard international soft drinks
brands, available in bottles or cans, and a few local variants.
Freshly squeezed sugar-cane juice is another healthy roadside favourite,
although the tastiest Khmer beverage has to be dteuk rolok, a sweet,
milky fruit shake, to which locals add an egg for extra nutrition.
Coffee is usually served iced and black, unless requested otherwise.
Milk is of the sweet, condensed variety. Chinese-style tea is commonly
drunk with meals, and is served free in most restaurants.
The local brew is Angkor beer, a fairly good drop, owing in part
to the use of Australian beer technology at the Sihanoukville brewery.
International brands, such as Tiger, Fosters and Heineken, are also
on offer at restaurants and beer gardens and are purchased from
so-called beer girls . Each brand has its own beer girls, so if
you want a particular brand you have to order from the corresponding
beer girl. Once you've ordered, a tray of cans is brought to your
table and a beer girl will keep coming back to open the cans and
top up your glass.
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