Let me explain.
In Australia we're blessed with a shizz load of Asian food. Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Malaysian, Indonesian, Japanese... the list goes on. But Khmer food? Not so much. So for many people, their first encounter with Khmer food is in Cambodia. And with it's rich curries and barbecued meats, it does bear some resemblance to it's more widely-recognised culinary cousin. But here's the thing...
Thai cuisine actually borrows from Khmer. It's true. A thousand years ago, the Khmer dynasty ruled most of South-East Asia, so many Thai dishes draw on Khmer specialties. Only Khmer cuisine is so old school that it was invented before the use of chilli in cooking, so you'll notice it definitely has a milder spice factor.
Over the weekend I did a Khmer cooking class, so I'm basically an authority on Khmer cuisine now.
Cambodia Cooking Class Phnom Penh offers classes every day of the week. We did the full-day course for $US23, which involved a trip to the market and making four Khmer dishes: spring rolls, banana blossom salad with chicken, amok (steamed coconut fish in banana leaves) and sweet rice (basically sticky rice with caramelised palm sugar and fresh mango).
Despite an unplanned hangover that day, I really enjoyed the class and the dishes. And best of all, any idiot with a mortar and pestle can make this stuff.
Here's some food for your eyeballs.
Spring rolls
Banana blossom salad with shredded chicken
Amok in a banana leaf
Sweet rice with mango
