food

Quick eats in Phnom Penh: Bánh hỏi for lunch

3 April 2015 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

This shop on busy Sihanouk Blvd has been serving fantastic bánh hỏi for years! They serve a set menu that includes sandwiches and meat skewers. It’s a picture menu, and easy to point to one of the two big platters of meats and vegetables. Before the food arrives, a small pan of water and slices of lemon is brought to the table for washing hands.

Bánh hỏi refers to the rice vermicelli noodle woven into a fine mesh, which looks like gauze. It’s paired with foods of different textures and richness – starchy green bananas, sweet pineapples, crunchy cucumbers, meats and fats – all to be wrapped into a fresh spring roll. These fillings are laid out on several platters.

One of these platters contains skewered pork meat sliced very thin and wrapped around a piece of fat. It’s accompanied by the pickled vegetables that’s served with many barbecued Khmer dishes (slivers of unripe mango or papaya, cucumber, carrot in vinegar, salt, sugar and chili).

Rice paper wrap is served dry and stacked on the plate; before rolling, a wrap is dipped in warm water to soften and make it pliable. It’s a bit tricky because once wet the wrap is fragile so it tears easily. But with a little practice it can be stretched expertly to roll an unwieldy amount of filling together. The dipping sauce, nuoc cham, is a delicate balance of spice, sweet, sour, and salty, and topped with roasted ground peanuts and chili.

Below is the process photographed step-by-step:

On Sihanouk Blvd the small “hang bai” is easily lost in the mix of salons, retailers and other eateries on the north side of the street between Monivong and St 63. It’s about 7 shops towards Monivong if starting on St 63 – look for the yellow awning with the address #83AEo St 274. Today they were sporting the famous (brightly colored) pajama apparel!

food as a cultural experience for preschoolers

8 April 2014 by Nathalie Abejero 13 Comments

Welcome to the April 2014 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Family Pastimes

This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama. This month our participants have shared stories and wisdom about family pastimes.

Our preschooler tried a bite of vindaloo. He’s trying to like it, but his face blanched and he tried to wipe the heat off his tongue with a napkin. I slid a glass of mango lassi his way. Eating out remains a treat we indulge in, and we regularly bring the kids. It entails lots of advance notice and build-up (reward system). Our older one loves the novelty of a restaurant meal so we use that. Our agreement? He can join us on these special nights out if he will try every dish that comes to the table. It’s ok to dislike something, but only after trying it. (Luckily we work and live in a region – outside the West! – whose cultures are extremely kid-friendly; when they were babies waitstaff even held them so we could eat, and gave them back with the bill!)

Photo: Khmer breakfast foods (L-R) chicken rice, rice porridge and beef stew with noodle. The plate of greens is for the stew.

Before kids, we were perpetually exploring – touring our city, traveling, trying different cuisines and experimenting with new recipes and pairings.

But those days of discovery have downshifted, because predictability is key to keeping the peace. Itchy feet are grounded, spontaneity’s swapped for routines, and flavors are kicked down a notch. Further, one child is a bit spirited, and with the territory comes high sensitivity to change. There are some slow years ahead.

Kids adopt the level of open-mindedness and worldview they’re exposed to by environment and hands-on parenting. But what else can we do to cultivate curiosity for the unfamiliar and nurture a passion for travel, especially at very young ages?

For us, food’s the ticket for cultural exposure. It started with transitioning to solids. The standard advice wasn’t easy. Making and hauling jars of pureed food around Cambodia in this tropical heat took too much effort. So the kids went from breast milk to gumming chunks of fruit and vegetable, whatever was in season, like the local kids do. They were exposed to a variety of unusual produce this way, and their palate for freshness was established early. It’s a start.

But developing that nomadic palate?

Thankfully, one of the kids is an indiscriminate nibbler and game to try anything she sees her parents eating. But her sibling? He loves carbs, with everything scraped clean off – sauces, toppings, and spreads. So he trained us well in sneaking things into these staples for subtle flavor – turmeric, melted brie, pureed eggplant. Sometimes it works.

We make an effort to bring the little boy on market or grocery shopping trips. He chooses some vegetables and then he’s enlisted in meal prep. He gets simple tasks like cutting the vegetables. It’s slow, and it gets messy, but because they’re involved in the process, both kids chow on the raw ingredients. And since they “help” make it they’re more inclined to try the finished dish even if it’s “strange”. It’s been effective.

There are also big successes with eating out. The little boy was suspicious of the Moroccan harira and tagine, so he filled up on couscous and kefta. He gave the traditional Mexican dish chilaquiles a pass, but devoured the freshly-made tortillas with salsa and drank horchata in between bites of tres leches. He likes Filipino adobo and kare-kare, and Singapore’s trademark pepper crab. We’ve even gotten him to try if not appreciate ugali, mohinga and durian. And when there’s good wine or beer he gets to dip a finger in it.

These are small steps, and immature palates seem to be growing adaptable. The great thing about food is that it’s a foot in the door to broader exploration as they grow. Food is a cultural expression, and a great topic for the dinner table.

It helps to have toy airplanes, maps and globes around. It isn’t much effort to chat up our meal’s geography, especially for their level of understanding. Like why stews (like borscht) or preserved meats (like lutefisk) are popular in cold climates. And why sashimi is common in an island country. We talk about fiery Thai dishes, and how its signature chili originated on the other side of the planet in the Americas.

These discussions seem sophisticated, but there’s context for countries that family and friends are from, or that they’ve been to, or cultures they read about in their books. Even at such a young age, the dots connect – including ones we hadn’t thought of. We’re frequently reminded to stop treating our precocious preschooler like a kid. So recently we’ve embarked on a project with him to write and publish a dual-language picture book of his favorite Khmer foods, for his little sister. We’ll see how this project goes…

It’s a struggle to fit travel in these days. Food exposure pushes their limits and fosters curiosity and a sense of adventure. Someday we’ll hit the road again. But for now the journey begins with modest steps. Besides, a good relationship with food ultimately has lifetime benefits aside from facilitating cultural exposure – for everyone in the family.

…

On this theme of food as a cultural experience for kids – check out this great post and carnival blogging series, Around the World with Pancakes: Apfelpfannkuchen (German Apple Pancakes: To Bake or Not to Bake). The blog carnival is Around the World in 12 Dishes.

And food-themed books that we’ve enjoyed (links to Goodreads reviews): Cora Cooks Pancit

¡Hola Jalepeño!

Hot Hot Roti for Dada-Ji

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World

Visit Code Name: Mama and Hobo Mama to find out how you can participate in the next Carnival of Natural Parenting!

Please take time to read the submissions by the other carnival participants:

8 Reasons to Go Camping with Your Kids — The weather is warmer, and it is time to think about taking a break. As you plan your family vacation, Mandy of Living Peacefully with Children, guest posting at Natural Parents Network, explains why you should consider hitting the trails with your kids.
Crafty Cohorts — Kellie at Our Mindful Life enjoys crafting with her kids, and the skills they are learning.
10 Hobbies For Families With Young Children — Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama knows that finding hobbies families can do together (with young children in tow) isn’t always the easiest of feats. She has compiled a list of 10 family friendly hobbies that children of all ages can enjoy and that won’t break the bank!
Helping Himawari — Sophelia’s family at Sophelia’s Adventures in Japan share a passion for helping when a dog is abandoned at the nearby elementary school.
The ‘Art’ of Having Fun — Marija Smits shares some thoughts on family art and fun.
How we made our own Family Day — Lauren at Hobo Mama shares how her family celebrates the best day of the week, a chance for connection and adventure and endless possibilities: Family Day!
Our Family Hobby — Survivor talks about how animal husbandry has become her family’s favorite hobby at Surviving Mexico Adventures and Disasters.
Sowing the Seeds of Passions — Christy at Eco Journey In The Burbs wonders if her interests, and her husband’s, will shape her children’s passions as they mature.
Harry Potter Potions Party — One of the best activities Dionna at Code Name: Mama has ever done with her family has been a Harry Potter Potions Party. She is sharing the resources she used to create their potion recipes, the ingredients and tools they experimented with, and the recipes themselves. Feel free to use and adapt for your own budding wizards and witches!
Pastimes Have Passed Me By — Kati at The Best Things takes a new perspective on projects that never get done.
Food as a cultural experience for preschoolers — Nathalie at Kampuchea Crossings finds that food is a good way to engage her preschoolers on a journey of cultural discovery.
10 Reasons I Love Thrifting With My Children — That Mama Gretchen has always enjoyed shopping, but with a growing family she’s become more frugal and thus, her little ones are now in tow on her thrift store adventures.
Pastime with Family vs Family Pastime — You can share lots of pastimes with your family, but Jorje of Momma Jorje discovered a family pastime was much more pleasant for sharing.

Street stall dining in Battambang

15 March 2014 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

Battambang is a culinary destination. There are varieties of fruits and vegetables native to this region that don’t grow as well anywhere else. And the local preparation of many condiments and foods have a distinct character to them.

Every night on the riverside, food vendors set up shop. On the far end of (further from the market than the tokalok, or fruit shake, stalls) is a routine stop whenever my colleagues and I are in town. I think two or three vendors cook the same thing but my colleagues prefer the family at the end; the woman in the picture below is the main cook and everyone else helps with other parts of the operation. Grilled in banana leaves and eaten with rice, sangvaec* is a processed fish product made over the course of several days. It’s similar to nhem (2nd picture below), except it’s grilled so it has a smokiness to it. It’s served with nom ban chok (white noodles), a tray of vegetables (eg slices of cucumber, green tomatoes) and all sorts of tasty green leaves (including lettuce leaves). A combination of all of these – sang vaec, noodle, cucumber, different leaves) are wrapped in a green leaf and dipped into a sweet-spicy sauce. It’s similar to the way people eat ban xiao, or what’s commonly known as Vietnamese pancake (just keep in mind the Khmer don’t call it “Vietnamese” pancake).

*As with any language that use a different (non-Roman) alphabet, transliterating to English is a bit difficult. There’s no or poor equivalent in English for many Khmer characters.

Nhem (nem?) – also a local delicacy – are similar to sangvaec, but these fish rolls are wrapped in a small leaf with a slice of chili. They’re sold in the markets and street stalls. River fish is pounded with spices, then fermented a few days to get that hint of sourness. It would be considered rude if we came back to Phnom Penh without several bunches of these to hand out to everyone. A “bunch” is a cluster of about 7-10 balls, and costs 1000riel (US$0.25) or more. They also have that fermented taste (without sangvaec’s smoked/grilled flavoring). It’s a pretty tasty snack, but just with prahok and durian, definitely an acquired taste for Western palates.

Nhem also come in bigger sizes. In the picture below you can see the bunches hanging on strings towards the back. To the front of the photo are those coconut (Dong Ktii) which are native and specific to Battambang. Where regular coconuts are just 200riel, these are very rare and cost 32,000riel (US$8.00). I’m still seeking a coconut expert to tell me more about this specific variety. They seem similar to the macapuno variety in the Philippines, which is a mutant strain that doesn’t propagate. The interior is filled with soft sweet jelly-like meat, with very little juice.

The following aren’t native to Battambang but they’re found on the bustling market or riverside stalls at dinnertime (which is anywhere between 4pm to an hour after sundown here). One very popular street food is this skewer of chicken eggs. The eggs were drained, spiced, then put back into the shells. They’re then grilled and served hot.

And of course, the perennial favorite of street food in Asia, fertilized duck egg, is always on offer wherever you go.

The nightly food market is a busy event. About 30 vendors set up their barbecue stations, tables of foods – trays of prahok, vats of rice or soup, bowls of sweets and desserts – and sell them all for take-away. They’re placed into plastic bags. Yes, even soups go into plastic bags and somewhat sealed by tying it off with a rubber band.

All manner of grilled river fish and meats can be found here. An entire grilled chicken can set you back around 20,000riel (US$5). One of the tastier fish is tilapia prepared by covering it in sea salt and a mix of spices, wrapping it in foil, and grilling it. The meat is very tender and tasty.

Fish amok, signature dish of Cambodia, steamed in banana leaf pockets.

Prahok-type preparations are grilled in banana leaves and sold hot. This king of condiments is a mashed, salted and fermented fish paste that goes into many dishes. There is no way to avoid this piquant delicacy!

Dessert ingredient: Taro

8 March 2014 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

We mark our 10th anniversary this year (wow). It was a small wedding; we chartered a yacht and a live jazz trio for a brunch cruise around New York Harbor with just our closest friends and family. Great memory. Our wedding cake (first photo above) got rave reviews. And now I want to recreate it, but I’ll have to experiment a bit because I lost our records.

I wasn’t a cake fan. We considered doing without one but we found a pastry chef who, back then, was still practicing and perfecting her craft, so she was open to ideas. The typical western cake flavors weren’t very inspiring. I wanted tropical mixes – using real fruits and roots, not powdered versions or syrup flavoring or extracts. She was quite accommodating, and agreed to experiment with the ingredient mix I wanted even though she hadn’t worked with them before. Coconut icing? Mango or passion fruit cream filling? Taro cake? Even though it wasn’t widely used, she agreed that coconut and mango would complement each other in a cake. But taro? We had several conversations about that.

I love taro. While in grad school in New Orleans I frequented a bubble tea shop. This shop was there way before the bubble tea trend took off. The Vietnamese couple who ran the place used real fruits and vegetables in their drinks, and one day they suggested I try the purple root. I thought they were nuts. I go out of my way to avoid potatoes and anything remotely related or similar in consistency. But I was game, and thereafter I was hooked.

So taro made it into our cake. It became my all time favorite flavor in ice cream, shakes and other sweets. It’s popular in Asia because its natural sugars and nutty flavor complements other ingredients well. In Cambodia it’s used as a filling in all sorts of foods – fried spring rolls, dumplings, steamed buns, pastries. They mash it up (much like mashed potatoes) and mix it with palm fruit, chopped steamed pumpkin, jelly and shaved ice, then top it with a dollop of sweet or evaporated milk – much like halo-halo in the Philippines.

I would never have thought of this root as a dessert ingredient. Would you? The photo above is from a blog post by Ayesha Hak. If you want to know more about taro, she has a very informative post on the origins and uses of taro root around the world.

Now to experiment in these coming months, recreating that awesome cake :-)

Khmer food: Svay bok Trai cha-aa

8 March 2014 by Nathalie Abejero Leave a Comment

(Smashed grilled fish) I’m always discovering new Khmer dishes I haven’t tried yet. My colleague brought some of this the other day for her lunch. The photo doesn’t capture it well, but it’s a very tasty dish (for those not turned off by pungency, that is)!

It’s made of fish (grilled river catfish was used here), smashed in a mortar and pestle with grated green mango and spices. I asked Sopheap to make it and watched. Into the mortar with the mango went chopped red and white onion, a little garlic, salt, peanuts, some fish sauce and herbs that they call chee (gee?), for which I don’t know the English names. (I’ll add to this post when I find out.)

Similar to it is the more famous green papaya/mango salad. This salad has river crab, often added raw then smashed into the other ingredients. But svay bok trai cha-aa uses fish. They lend a lot of pungency to the already multiple layers of flavor. It won’t go into the family’s recipe rotation very often, because the flavors are a bit strong for the kids right now. But it’s definitely a good lunch option! (I just have to make sure to stock Menthos in my desk!)

Laos: A Gastronomic Adventure

17 December 2007 by Nathalie Abejero 5 Comments

Where Thais love the calorific richness of coconut milk bases and thick sauces, Lao cuisine tends to be less demanding without compromising taste. A coarse mix of freshly prepared ingredients creates the signature raw textures and crisp flavours. It combines the bitterness of roots with citrus, the sour tang of tamarind and the pungent saltiness of fermented fish or shrimp.

Sample the haute royal cuisine of the north with soups like khái pâen (river moss) and áw lám (a dense vegetable mix). And don’t miss the assorted pumpkin dishes or grilled fish served with sticky rice. More typical dishes include làap (lime-cured minced meat and herbs), mak pen (spicy grilled meat patties), thot phakop (fish beignets) and pak goot (spirally green fern). A concoction of chilli sauce and dried buffalo skin (jaew bong) complements the meal.

The distinctive flavours of Laos are a culinary treat worth exploring. It is an easy inquiry at guesthouses or at the open-air kitchens of riverside restaurants to get an informal cooking tutorial. For proper lessons including a trip to the market to pick up ingredients–or for the truly inspired, to fish in the local style or pick vegetables at the local farm– Tamarind or Tum Tum Cheng will cater to the serious foodie.

Further afield, the inquisitive palate won’t be disappointed. Chun pradek (fermented fish) and kaeng paa khai mot (ant egg and fish soup), harkens memories of the much-loved prahok and ongkrong in Cambodia. Food for the more daring soul include frog mok (minced meat and herbs steamed in banana leaves) and nok aen dawng (fermented swallows) served fried or in a soup. There is also a special fondness for larvae, steamed in a large bamboo tube.

These are washed down with lao hai (a communal jar wine of fermented herbs), sipped through thin bamboo reeds, or a lao-lao infusion of hét wâi (rice whiskey with wild matsutake mushrooms).

Viradesa Guesthouse and Restaurant
2nd lane (Ban Wat That), on the river
A Mekong riverside sunset under the foliage awning is a must. Local fares such as pork laap or fish koy are excellent. Try a Beer Lao Dark or a shot of lao-lao

Talaat Phousi, the main market
Try a bowl of khao soi (a very good, very tasty noodle soup) for breakfast while watching morning market activities.

Published in AsiaLIFE Phnom Penh, January 2008
More photos from Northern Laos by Keith Kelly

Fish Koy at Viradesa Restaurant on the River, similar to Laap but with fish instead of meat.

This freshly cooked seaweed (khai paen) dish is delicious.

Street vendors sell bamboo steamed sticky rice, at a pay stop on the way to one of the Plain of Jars sites.

Tasty street food, naim, sold on the riverfront in Vientiane, fried balls of coconut, rice, fish.

Rice noodles start off as a watery rice flour mixture boiled at dawn, rolled out to dry in the sun for the day, then cut into the thin noodles in the evening.

More photos from Northern Laos by Keith Kelly

Other posts on Laos:

Laos at night

Laos: Regional Getaway