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Cambodia: Culture: Food
Cambodian food is similar to Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese food, with lots of rice, noodles, salads and spicy soups. In the cities, the French influence is also obvious. Long sticks of French bread are a common sight, and French pastries and frogs' legs are popular. Families have their main meal at lunchtime. It usually includes soup, which they eat at the same time as the main course of rice, vegetables and fish or meat. People eat with a spoon and fork, with their fingers or with chopsticks. Cambodians eat rice at almost every meal, either steamed, fried or as noodles. Rice flour is a useful ingredient in cakes and pastries. The next most important food is fish, which people eat fresh, dried, smoked or fermented into fish sauce or paste (called prahok). When they can afford it, people also eat chicken, pork and beef. The most common flavourings are ginger, lemongrass, chilli and mint. Cambodians love desserts, which they make from fruit or rice, often cooked in coconut milk, with palm sugar for sweetness and flavour. Find out more about palm sugar Rice 
Rice is so important to Cambodians that they have over 100 words for it in their language. Most people eat it several times a day. For poor families, rice may be their only food most days, and an adult might eat as much as four cups at one meal. Cambodians have been growing rice for over 2000 years. In that time, farmers have developed hundreds of different strains, which grow in different conditions. There are strains that grow in deep water and others that can grow in the dry season; some that grow best in the highlands and others that flourish in the lowlands; some whose grains stay separate when they are cooked and others that produce sticky rice. Farmers choose the best strain for their land, for the amount of water they have, and for the time of year. Find out more about growing rice Prahok Prahok is a strong-flavoured fish paste that people eat with rice. This is how it is made: 
1. Clean and gut the fish and leave them to drain overnight.2. Rub on lots of salt and dry them in the sun for several days, adding more salt each day. 3. When the fish start to ferment (you can tell this by the smell), pack them in wooden vats with lots more salt. 4. Leave for at least two months until you have a strong-smelling paste. Find out more about recipes
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copyright worldvision 2003
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