Holiday in Cambodia: Days 8&9, Phnom Penh

Day 8/9: Phnom Penh

I didn’t sleep well that night.

(Writing this from over a week away, in the comfort of home, the other side of a head cold, so these ramblings may not have the same immediacy as previous entries.)

I didn’t sleep well that night. I probably slept better for the late night drag show and $4 mojitos, but I know that what I saw and felt at S21 and the killing fields will stay with me for a very long time.

My time in Cambodia was drawing to an end, only just over one more day in Phnom Penh before I’d be homeward bound. I still felt that there was much that I hadn’t experienced, so much food I was yet to try, dragonfruit smoothies unconsumed, shopping to be done, culture to be experienced, and places yet to see. As Siem Reap was all about temples and museums, I decided to skip that part of Phnom Penh, opting instead for a cooking class, and an evening of traditional dance.

I haven’t really had a lot to say about Khmer food. Having now been to Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, I find it easier to describe Khmer food in comparison with its neighbours. It’s less spicy than Thailand and Laos, a bit less fresh than Vietnamese, but overall has many similarities with all the others. The significant use of kampot pepper is probably the biggest difference, plus possibly the way the food is just a little less seasoned: the overriding idea seems to be in providing a range of condiments so each diner can add the sweet, sour, salty or spicy that they prefer. I am digging the fresh green peppercorns though.

The cooking class was excellent, where I was joined by a Korean woman, a Frenchman, and an Englishwoman (her husband was watching the rugby). It was interesting being among a small group who didn’t really know each other, so we all swapped our tales of what was good to eat and see in Cambodia.

The first dish was the traditional fish amok curry. It’s full of all the regional flavours: lemongrass, shrimp paste, kaffir lime, galangal, palm sugar (in this case we got to use a palm sugar syrup). It’s the usual Asian method: grab all the spices, chop and smash until you have a paste, then combine with meat. Extra amok twist is that you then make a basket from banana leaf and then cook in a steamer.

Next up was a green mango salad, and as much as I love ripe mangoes, there’s something to be said about the flavour from a good green mango. Sweet, with just a hint of tartness, and a slightly crunchy texture. Combine with fresh herbs, carrot, some chili, and toss with a handful of dried shrimp and peanuts and it’s very tasty.

Dessert was the awesome and quintessential mango sticky rice. Make yummy sweet sticky rice, add lots of fresh mango and coconut cream, and eat.

Very full of fine food, my next stop was the Earth and Sky Dance show, performed by Experience Cambodia Living Arts at the National Museum. A show of mostly traditional dance, with some contemporary influences, I got to marvel at the acrobatics, flexibility, balance, poise, and crazy finger poses that go into Khmer dance. Unsurprisingly, artists were targeted during the genocide, and ECLA are a group looking to revive traditional arts that were in danger of being lost. And they are doing a good job.

My last half day in Phnom Penh was spent at the central market, breakfasting on a big bowl of noodle soup before stocking up on souvenirs for the folks back home. After everything I didn’t have much heart for haggling, especially when the prices were all pretty cheap. T-shirts for $3, fridge magnets less than $1 each, all manner of shiny trinkets for not much at all, it didn’t seem right, fair, or good to be fussing about paying an extra 50 cents or whatever.

Then it was off to the airport, a bounce in Singapore for a couple of hours, and then home. I think I would go back to Cambodia, but do different things. Maybe look at the south coast, or other places around the lake, just to get a feel for the rest of the country. Maybe in a few years, to see the change, as there’s a lot of new, big, shiny building going on, especially in Phnom Penh.

And there is so much food yet to eat.