# 30 Cambodian Dishes Every Visitor Has to Try > We've gathered 30 unique dishes from Cambodia that reflect the country's rich culture and history. Find out what to taste to truly experience its cuisine. - URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/30-kambodzhiiskykh-strav-iaki-povynen-sprobuvaty-kozhen-vidviduvach/ - Language: en - Published: 2024-08-29 - Categories: Culture, Historic Sites, Leisure, Tours, Cambodia, Food & Drinks --- Cambodian cuisine has a long history and a wide range of influences, yet it's only now becoming known beyond the country's borders. In fact, the only place to try everything it has to offer is the country itself. Here are the 30 best dishes worth tasting. ## Samlor korkor While amok is sometimes called the national dish and may be the one most familiar to tourists, samlor korkor has a stronger claim to being Cambodia's true national dish. It has been eaten for hundreds of years, and today you'll find it in restaurants, roadside stalls, and family homes alike. The ingredient list for this hearty soup is flexible and adapts easily to whatever is in season and plentiful; it often includes more than a dozen vegetables. It can be made with almost any kind of meat, but most often it's a rich soup of catfish and pork belly. The soup always contains two classic Cambodian ingredients, prahok (a type of fermented fish) and kroeung (an aromatic curry paste), and it's then thickened with toasted ground rice. ## Nom banh chok: Khmer noodles ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-1-2024.jpg) Nom banh chok is a beloved Cambodian dish, so beloved that in English it's sometimes simply called "Khmer noodles." It's a classic breakfast food, and every morning you'll find it for sale from women carrying baskets of fresh rice noodles that dangle from a pole balanced across their shoulders. The dish consists of fresh noodles, painstakingly pressed from rice, served with a fish-based green curry made from lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, and garlic. It's topped with fresh cucumber, banana blossom, long beans, edible flowers, and wild leaves. In Siem Reap it's served with a sweet sauce called tuk pa'em, made from palm sugar and peanuts. ## Amok Amok is one of Cambodia's most famous dishes, but you'll find similar dishes in neighboring countries too. The addition of slok ngor, a local herb that lends a subtle bitterness, is what sets the Cambodian version apart from the rest. The curry is made with fresh coconut milk and kroeung. Traditionally the dish was prepared with either fish or snails, but these days you can find chicken and even vegetarian versions. In upscale restaurants, amok is steamed with egg in a banana leaf to create a mousse-like texture, while more home-style places serve a boiled version that resembles a fish curry soup. ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-2-2024.jpg) ## Bai sach chrouk: Pork and rice Served early in the morning on street corners all across Cambodia, bai sach chrouk (pork and rice) is one of the simplest and most delicious dishes the country has to offer. Thinly sliced pork is marinated in palm sugar and fish sauce, then slowly grilled over warm coals, giving it a smoky sweetness. It's served over a generous portion of white rice with freshly pickled cucumber and daikon and plenty of ginger. This classic Cambodian breakfast often comes with a bowl of chicken broth garnished with green onion and fried onion. ## Kari sach moan: Chicken red curry ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-3-2024.jpg) Milder than the curry of neighboring Thailand, Cambodian red curry is made with large local red peppers that are surprisingly gentle, making the dish rich but mild. The curry contains chicken, white radish, sweet potato, fresh coconut milk, and kroeung. This tasty dish is usually served at weddings and other ceremonies and special occasions, and it can be paired with fresh rice noodles, sliced baguette, or white rice. ## Bok trop pgnon: Mashed eggplant dip Bok, which translates as "mashed," refers to a style of cooking that involves pounding ingredients in a large wooden mortar. Trop pgnon are small, bitter eggplants that grow wild in Cambodia. Here they're grilled and pounded with garlic, shallots, chili peppers, and just enough sugar to take the edge off their bitterness. The dish usually contains some form of fish, either smoked fish or prahok, though it can be made without it. The eggplant dip is served alongside local fresh or steamed vegetables. Bok trop pgnon was traditionally made for rice-harvest workers, because it was easy to pack up and carry out into the field. ## Kha sach ko: Beef braised in palm sugar The word kha refers to a Cambodian cooking style in which palm sugar is caramelized into a sticky syrup and then used as the base of a dish. The beef version has a surprisingly complex flavor (it holds plenty of subtlety), even though the recipe itself isn't very complicated. Every family has its own recipe, but most start with a kha base and include galangal, chili peppers, garlic, black pepper, and star anise. Some versions add cloves or make the broth with coconut water; others add tomatoes, tamarind, or soy sauce. Kha sach ko is served with sliced baguette (a nod to French imperialism) or noodles, and garnished with herbs, sliced onion, and fried garlic. ## Prahok ktis: Creamy prahok dip ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-4-2024.jpg) After rice, the most important ingredient in Cambodian cuisine is prahok, a puree of salted fermented fish. It's added in small amounts to give an umami kick to many dishes, but in prahok ktis it plays the leading role. Cooked with fresh coconut cream, palm sugar, and minced pork, the pungent prahok mellows enough for even cautious visitors to enjoy it. Another version of the dish, prahok kroeung ktis, adds an aromatic paste of root spices. Both are served with crunchy fresh vegetables. ## Sngor chruak sach trey: Sour fish soup Soups are the most essential element of Cambodian cuisine, and no meal is complete without one. Soups, known as sngors, are simple and remarkably versatile. They're designed to highlight the main ingredient, in this case fish from Tonle Sap, Cambodia's great freshwater lake. The fish is cooked in a light broth with lemongrass, seasoned with lemon juice and fried garlic, which makes for a wholesome soup served with local herbs, including Asian basil and sawtooth coriander. Other additions, such as straw mushrooms or shredded green mango, are optional. ## Kari saraman: Saraman beef curry The Cham are a Muslim ethnic minority in Cambodia. Their cuisine avoids pork, which is widespread in Cambodian cooking, and uses beef instead. In fact, the most respected beef vendors at the local markets in Siem Reap are Cham women. Saraman beef curry is the most popular Cham-inspired dish, and no wonder, because it's sensational. This rich coconut curry is one of Cambodia's most complex dishes, and it's packed with spices, among which star anise and cassia stand out most. The curry is stewed with whole peanuts and most often served with sliced baguette. ## Nhoam krauch thlong: Pomelo salad ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-5-2024.jpg) Cambodian salads often use unripe or sour fruit in place of vegetables. In this delicious and refreshing example, giant pomelo is combined with pork belly, toasted coconut, and tiny dried shrimp, and garnished with mint and fried shallots. More exacting cooks take pride in peeling every pomelo segment and separating the tiny juice vesicles inside, painstaking work that pays off in a tender, beautifully balanced salad. ## Tuek kroeung One of Cambodia's most beloved dishes, tuek kroeung is a thin but pungent dipping sauce made from fresh river fish and fermented fish, served with an assortment of fresh seasonal vegetables and herbs. The name can be a little confusing, since the word kroeung most often refers to one of the delicate curry pastes that are a hallmark of Cambodian cuisine but which aren't used in tuek kroeung. In fact, kroeung simply means "what's inside" or "the ingredients." ## Kha trey svay kchai: Caramelized fish with green mango Trey roh, or the striped snakehead, is one of the few fish able to travel across land, and at Cambodian markets you can often see them leaping out of vendors' baskets and trying to escape down the sidewalk. They rarely succeed, and when they don't, they often meet their fate as kha trey. First, thick steaks are placed in bubbling caramelized palm sugar, garlic, and fish sauce, along with plenty of local ground black pepper. Quartered red tomatoes are often added. To keep the fish from breaking apart, the dish isn't stirred; instead, the pan is gently shaken to distribute the caramel syrup evenly. The fish is then served, garnished with grated green mango and Asian basil. ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-6-2024.jpg) ## Kangkep baob: Stuffed frogs Served at roadside barbecues all across Cambodia, stuffed frogs can be a frightening sight for the faint of heart, but any fear vanishes with the first taste. The frogs are stuffed with minced pork, roasted peanuts, red chili peppers, frog meat, and fresh kroeung made from lemongrass, garlic, galangal, turmeric, and makrut lime zest. Grilled inside split pieces of bamboo over hot coals, the resulting snack is like a frog sausage, rich with root spices and lightly sweetened with palm sugar. ## Mi kola: Kola noodles ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-7-2024.jpg) The Kola are an ethnic minority in Cambodia, originally from Yunnan, China, and the Mon and Shan states of Myanmar, who settled in northeastern Cambodia in the 19th century. These days there are more street stalls and restaurants in Cambodia serving the noodle dish named after them than there are Kola people themselves. The rice noodles are garnished with dried shrimp, slices of boiled egg, cucumber, peanuts, and fresh herbs, and tossed with a spicy dressing of lime, garlic, and shallot. Pork is optional but often included, and you'll usually be served a spicy mix of fresh cucumber and pickled green papaya as a side. ## Chrok krao chhnang: Pot soup The name of this soup refers to its cooking technique: instead of cooking it in a pot over a fire, as with most Cambodian soups, for chrok krao chhnang the cook gathers the ingredients in a large bowl and then pours boiling water over them to create the broth. The main ingredients are smoked or dried freshwater fish, boiled eggs, shallots, and green tomatoes. The soup gets extra flavor from fresh herbs (such as sawtooth coriander and Asian basil), sugar, and a squeeze of lime juice. Served with rice, the soup offers a blend of salty, sweet, and sour flavors and a perfectly balanced meal. ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-8-2024.jpg) ## Plea sach ko: Lime-marinated beef salad Khmer beef salad consists of thinly sliced beef that's either quickly seared or "cooked" ceviche-style by marinating in lemon juice. Seasoned with lemongrass, shallot, garlic, fish sauce, Asian basil, mint, green beans, and green pepper, this sweet and salty dish also gets its heat from a generous amount of fresh red chili peppers. Plea sach ko, which contains more beef than salad, is a festive dish served at celebrations such as weddings, or with beer during a night out on the town. ## Cha trop dott: Fried eggplant with pork ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-9-2024.jpg) This simple dish is one of the most affordable in Cambodia, and it's also easy to make at home! The eggplants are grilled over an open flame or hot coals, then topped with minced pork sauteed in garlic and oyster sauce. It's finished with a sprinkle of herbs, sometimes Asian basil, green onion, or coriander. Fancier versions might be enriched with egg or served in the hollowed-out charred eggplant skin. Even though it has just a few ingredients, when it's cooked well it's wonderful. ## Chaa kdam merik kchai: Fried crab with green pepper Local crab is a specialty of the Cambodian seaside town of Kep. Its lively crab market is famous for fried crab prepared with green, locally grown Kampot pepper. Aromatic Cambodian pepper is known to gourmets around the world, and although it's available dried internationally, you can only try the unripe green peppercorns with their distinctive flavor in Cambodia. It's worth visiting Kep for this alone, and also for the related dish, chaa kdam kroeung, fried crab with curry sauce. ## Samlor m'chu kroeung sach ko: Sour beef and lemongrass soup This delicious soup is the perfect remedy for a hangover, a cold, or a rainy tropical day. It comes in two versions: plain, or ktis, with coconut milk. The base of the soup is prahok and kroeung, made from sliced lemongrass stalks, galangal, makrut lime, turmeric, and garlic. When coconut milk isn't added, fresh curry leaves that have been treated over hot coals are used. The creamy version combines coconut milk with ripe tamarind, which gives a tangy sourness, while holy basil or sawtooth coriander round out this simple but deeply restorative soup. Water spinach or ambarella leaves are often added, and sometimes even eggplant. ## Maam chao: Raw fermented fish ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-10-2024.jpg) Fans of bolder flavors will appreciate maam chao, a dish made from raw fermented fish known as maam. Toasted rice, galangal, and sugar are added to freshwater fish and left to ferment for at least a month. Compared to prahok, maam has a delicate flavor (as delicate as fermented fish can be), its salty pungency balanced by the sweetness of palm sugar. Maam chao is most often served as a dip mixed with pineapple, alongside boiled pork and crunchy raw vegetables. ## Somlor proher: Aromatic vegetable soup This aromatic vegetable soup is a staple of the Cambodian village and one of the most popular in the country. The base of the soup is a lemongrass paste made with fingerroot ginger, and it can be cooked with any number of vegetables, usually grown at home or gathered in the forest. Pumpkin, taro, and luffa are common ingredients, and lemon basil is such an important part of the dish that in Cambodia its name translates as "the herb for somlor proher." The soup usually contains fish (fermented, dried, and fresh), but it can also easily be made "mhob boh," "the way monks eat," an expression that means vegetarian, although Cambodian monks don't necessarily avoid meat. ## Ang dtray meuk: Grilled squid with Koh Kong sauce In Cambodia's coastal towns you'll find seafood vendors carrying small charcoal stoves on their shoulders, grilling squid on the go along the shore. The squid is brushed with either lemon juice or fish sauce, then grilled on wooden skewers and served with a spicy chili sauce, originally from the seaside province of Koh Kong, made from garlic, fresh chili peppers, fish sauce, lemon juice, and sugar. ## Nhoam svay kchai: Green mango salad ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-11-2024.jpg) The main ingredient of a Cambodian salad, or nhoam, can vary, whether it's ambarella, banana blossom, cucumber, or lotus root, but the chi, or herbs, stay the same. Four herbs are traditionally used: Asian basil, mint, Cambodian mint, and fish-cheek herb, a heart-shaped leaf grown in Southeast Asia whose flavor is reminiscent of the sea. Cambodian salads are often made with unripe fruit and usually contain smoked fish and tiny dried shrimp. Green mango salad is a classic, where the flavors of sour fruit, salty smoked fish, and sweet palm sugar come together into a beautifully harmonious whole. ## Aluek trey ngeat: Dried fish with watermelon This unexpected pairing of dried fish and fresh fruit perfectly captures the charming simplicity of Cambodian cuisine. Trey ngeat is the term for salt-cured fish dried in the sun, one of the many ways Cambodians preserve food, using the same techniques they've relied on for centuries. In this dish, snakehead, abundant in the country's waters, is salted and dried, then grilled over coals and served with thick slices of sweet ripe watermelon, creating the perfect contrast of sweet and umami. ## Chaa angrong sach ko: Red tree ants with beef and holy basil In Cambodia you'll find all sorts of insects on the menu, but the dish most appealing to foreign palates is stir-fried red tree ants with beef and holy basil. Red tree weaver ants, some barely visible and others nearly an inch long, are stir-fried with ginger, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, and thinly sliced beef. Plenty of chili peppers round out this aromatic dish without overpowering the delicate sour flavor the ants lend to the beef. This dish is served with rice, and if you're lucky, you'll also get a portion of ant larvae in your bowl. ## Kuy teav: Noodle soup ![](/storage/image/prev/august-article-image-67-12-2024.jpg) Every country in Southeast Asia has its own version of noodle soup, and kuy teav is Cambodia's version, an aromatic broth of pork bones and squid, most often served with pork or beef, fish balls, and fried garlic. The name comes from the Hokkien Chinese word for a type of rice noodle, and theories about the origin of kuy teav include the possibility that it was invented by Chinese traders in Cambodia or originated in Kampuchea Krom, an area in southern Vietnam that was once part of the Khmer Empire. Whatever its roots, kuy teav is one of the country's most popular breakfasts and afternoon snacks. ## Sngor ngam nov sach moan: Pickled lime soup with chicken Pickled limes give this chicken soup a unique flavor reminiscent of Moroccan cuisine. The limes are packed in salt and left to dry in the sun, or briefly boiled and soaked in salt water for several weeks or months. The flavor is intensely citrusy and salty but not bitter. Traditionally this soup is made with few ingredients besides pickled limes and free-range chicken, which are so flavorful that the dish needs nothing else, although garlic and green onion are usually added. ## Num ansom: Sticky rice cakes These sticky rice cakes, wrapped in banana leaves, are so iconic to Cambodia that in 2015 the government made a giant num ansom weighing 8,900 pounds and displayed it in front of Angkor Wat to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records. The cakes can be sweet or savory, filled with banana and coconut or pork and mung beans. For important holidays such as Pchum Ben (Ancestors' Day), women spend days making hundreds of num ansom to share with family and friends and to offer to the monks at the pagoda. ## Trey boeng kanh chhet: Fish grilled in a lake "Fish grilled in a lake" is a festive dish, often served in restaurants in special fish-shaped cookware. A whole fish is deep-fried and then finished on a hot burner right at the table in a coconut curry made from yellow kroeung and chili peppers. Vegetables such as cauliflower and cabbage are cooked in the curry, which is served with rice or rice noodles. Its name literally means "fish in a lake of water mimosa," referring to the green Cambodian vegetable that serves as the base of the dish.