DAY 20 - CAMBODIAN FOOD

[Bai Sach Koh Jakak (របៀបធ្វើសាច់គោចង្កាក់)]

As some of you may know, Long Beach has a strong Cambodian community presence. And surprising to some, I've actually never tried Cambodian food. Being that I now live in the LBC, it was only customary for me to taste my fellow townspeople's homeland cuisine.

[Bai Cha Kroeung served with fish sauce]

"Kroeung" (គ្រឿង) is a popular base in Khmer dishes. This mixture is created and used much like curry or adobo, but with significantly different ingredients.

Typically, you will find the following in Kroeung:

• Lemongrass/lemongrass tips

• Garlic

• Tumeric

• Galangal

• Salt

All the ingredients are grinded together using a mortar and pestle, but I'm sure you can probably use a food processor too if you're in a pinch.

Although their Kroeung dishes are very popular, this restaurant's signature dish is actually a soup called "Phnom Penh noodle soup" also known as "Hu Tieu Nam Vang."

But wait... That sounds Vietnamese... Or Chinese? Wait... What?

Yup. It's Vietnamese-Chinese, specifically from the southern region of Vietnam. Many Vietnamese-Chinese cultures (ie. Hue's culture of the "Chiu Chow" or "Teochew" people) adopted this noodle dish and named it after the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. Nam Vang is Vietnamese for Phnom Penh.

Confused yet? I'm always confused when it comes to this Southeast Asia region because everything melts together due to their shared borders. Often I find myself asking Hue at his Sunday family dinners:

ME: "Is this Vietnamese? Or... Chinese? Or... Wait, this tastes Filipino... Omg I'm confused..."

HUE: "Sure, why not. It's beef. I don't know, I just eat it haha."

Here's my obligatory coconut shot. Because, you know, SO DAMN GOOD!

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DAY 20 - Try a new cuisine [COMPLETE]

• My thoughts?

• Call me dumb but I had no idea Cambodia was next to Vietnam until I wrote this blog post lol. Food was pretty good. Reminded me a lot of Thai and Vietnamese food - and you know for damn sure that's on my top 5 favs.

• Would I do (try) it again?

• Yes! Since it was late at night, many of the other restaurants were closed. If you know of a good Cambodian restaurant, I'm certainly open to suggestions!

• Did any of the dishes have a distinct flavor?

• Omg the Bai Cha Kroeung was spicy as F*CK. I wish I had ordered mild. Hue tasted it and was like "Nope. Can't do it."

• What did I learn?

• My geography sucks haha.

• Don't underestimate spice levels.

• Restaurants in a certain part of Long Beach close early so look up operating hours accordingly.