Coconut water is one of the easiest and safest street foods for visitors to try in Phnom Penh. As long as the coconut is not damaged, the liquid inside young coconuts is sterile and safe for sensitive tummies. Coconut water is used in Khmer cooking, but it’s also perfect for streetside drinking. It contains high … read the full post

One of the most popular breakfasts you’ll find in Cambodia is kuy teav (another, of course, is my much-loved bai sach chrouk). Kuy teav is a simple noodle soup that most urban Cambodians prefer to buy on the street rather than preparing at home. (If you want to make it at home, see Narin Seng … read the full post

There’s a woman who comes through my neighbourhood every afternoon, shouting in a high-pitched grating tone “NOOOOOM PLAAAAAAAAAAE AAAAAIIIIIII”. Until recently, I had never seen her face, but I could hear her coming from blocks away, and after she passed my house, I could still hear “nooom plaaai aiii” in the distance. The woman is … read the full post

Breakfast-time in Phnom Penh starts around six in the morning, but the street food stands don’t start really hopping until seven. Most of them serve until they run out at around nine. One of the most popular breakfasts — in addition to Khmer noodles — is bai sach chrouk, or pork with rice. This is … read the full post

One of the most mysterious street food stands you’ll find in Phnom Penh (well, maybe aside from the crickets) are the dessert stands — covered in rows of bowls of what appear to be mushy vegetables, you’d never know you’d happened upon a Cambodian ambrosial secret hidden in plain sight. The coconut milk dessert sellers, … read the full post

Now that Angelina Jolie has revealed that her Cambodian-born son is a huge fan of eating crickets, you may be considering trying the popular snack as well. If little Maddox Jolie-Pitt likes them, who wouldn’t? This is a kid with good taste — between the faux-hawk and having his own Battambang-based NGO since the tender … read the full post

Nom banh chok is a quintessential Khmer dish, loved by locals and tourists alike. The dish, which is similar to Thai kanom jeen, consists of rice noodles topped with a green fish gravy and heaps of fresh green beans, bean sprouts, banana flower, cucumbers and other greens. The noodles are laboriously made in the provinces … read the full post