One of my favorite things about visiting new countries and new cultures is trying the food. To give you a “taste” of some of the fine foods that are available in Cambodia, here’s a picture blog…
I quickly got over my hesitation of eating foods from street vendors once I had a fruit shake. Not only is it a mere 50 cents for one, but it’s fresh and oh-so-good!
In Cambodia, they have something called “happy” pizza. It’s believed that a special (and illegal) ingredient is sprinkled on the top of the pizza. That may be the case for certain customers, but Noah and I ordered one with chicken, mushrooms, and spinach. It was very good, and made me very happy!
Coconuts are in abundance here. Not only did I get to drink the juice directly from the coconut, but eat some of the meat as well. I have to say that it didn’t taste all that similar to the dried coconut that I’ve had in the States.
My teammate, Anna Barnes, and I were invited to an engagement party for one of the guys that we worked with for our ministry in Cambodia. We were able to try sticky rice cakes, which is essentially either pork or a banana coated in a layer of rice. The rice roll is then placed in a banana leaf in the form of a little packet and then boiled in water. I thought it was pretty good. The only thing is that we never really got clarification what was really in the middle of our sticky rice cake.
Cambodians also eat lotus. To me, it has the same texture and taste as an unsalted peanut.
Barbequed stuffed frog also came on Anna’s and my list of things we tried… As I began to chew, all I could think was “it’s crunchy”. We weren’t sure what the frog was stuffed with, but I think it’s probably best that we leave it unknown.
While in Siem Reap, Noah and I ordered a bowl of chicken and rice soup from a street vendor. Seemed pretty harmless enough. The soup was very good. The only odd thing was that it contained dried bits of blood mixed in. Sorry, but I just couldn’t muster the courage to try the clumps of blood. (I thought I would spare you the sight of the blood chunks.)
Ok, time to head out for lunch now. Bon Appetit!
