Cooking in Cambodia

Angela from Vietnam, Theresa from Indonesia, Elliot from California and Adam from Texas

I spent last Monday out in the village for a cooking class put on for my CouchSurfing friends. Da and I had planned a pretty hefty menu of 4 courses including:

• Fried Spring Rolls
• Samlor Majou Groen (sour soup with beef and morning glory water spinach)
• Beef Lok Lak
• Pumpkin Custard
  

The steamed pumpkin custard. Yum!

Five Couch Surfers participated, though some were a bit more active than others. There was a lot of garlic that needed to be peeled! I hopped on that one right away.

Angela giving the beef a stir.

Da's brother Houy just so happened to be up visiting from Phnom Penh, so he helped with the explanation of things, too.

Houy helps out and keeps things organized!

We ended up eating the spring rolls after the soup and Lok Lak. I would have rather not used dried shrimp in the spring rolls, but that's what his mom decided to use.

Wrapping the spring rolls.

Here's a video link showing the beef Lok Lak being cooked.

What a fun day!

Eating with your heart

I used to be the English language teacher at the other hospitality training school in town. But I must admit, Sala Bai is a much better deal for students as they don't have to pay anything to attend such a fine hospitality training institution. They benefit by the hands-on experience of working in some of the best hotels and restaurants in town.

Friday, 15 October 2010
Nicky McGavin

It’s not so much about eating your heart out, as eating with your heart, with hospitality training school Sala Baï’s training restaurant opening its doors to the public on Monday.

The restaurant serves set menu options as well as à la carte, and its dishes are derived from both Asian and Western influences.

From the set menus, the first week’s items include Tonle Sap fish with pineapple and jasmine rice, and beef on lemongrass skewers with pepper dip and jasmine rice.

For more Western appetites, there is pan-fried Tonle Sap fish with lemon butter sauce, and spaghetti with chicken and asparagus.

Starters include spring rolls, grilled vegetables in a mixed green salad and tomato soup with cheese ravioli.

Emmanuelle Dethomas, the Sala Baï marketing and communications manager, promises many forthcoming gastronomic treats. “Our chefs are coming up with some wonderful new ideas for the year ahead,” he said.

Read more about Sala Bai here or at their website.

Recipe: Fried Beetles

How to make fried beetles:

Boat Races at the Siem Reap Water Festival

1. Collect fresh squirming diving beetles either from your recently harvested rice paddy, or from a neighbor who senttheir children to go frolicking in the field for a fresh catch.

2. Bring your bag of wriggling beetles back home to be rinsed.

3. Place in a large wok (legs and all) with water over a high burning wood fire. Stir continuously while the beetles are attempting to crawl out so that they are evening scalded and stop moving.

4. Continue stirring until the water is evaporated, then add oil to fry them up nice and crispy. Keep frying until the fire dies out. Season as desired with MSG, salt or fried garlic.

Serve with rice.

Eating instructions
Pull off the legs and tear off the outer shell of fused wings. Pop into your mouth and crunch down with delight! Yummy!

Great as a side dish or afternoon snack!