Cambodian.
Where else? Long Beach! Little Phnom Penh. Empirical buddy, ai pohaku, was my guide. She was really patient with me. I don't really know a whole lot about Cambodian culture and history but I had a million questions. Not that I know nothing about the history and culture, but this is really unfamiliar territory when it comes to firsthand experience. Have I ever known a Cambodian person? Maybe not. When we went to a few shops after lunch, I admit many foods and products had me baffled. Banana flower? No, I don't know how that is eaten. Have I ever seen so many fish sauce brands? Yes, but not in such enormous bottles. And parts of Little Cambodia look like... not-America. It's pretty amazing.
The food was entirely foreign to my palate. As with the Ethiopian food, it wasn't love at first taste, but in the case of Cambodian, I'm willing to give it another try. Maybe several. Here are some photos from lunch. I'll probably do other photos from my field trip in a separate post.
This is me playing it safe. Eggrolls are like easing into a cold pool.
Soup.
Soup closeup. Sauce for something is in the smaller cup on the left.
Noodles.
Cute eggplants. I see these at farmers markets and am clueless about how to cook. I might get those purple ones of similar size instead.
Honestly, I'm new to eggplant. I never liked them but I'd been encouraged by a boyfriend to try them again and again. It's like with children who are reluctant to try new foods--particularly vegetables--you need to serve the item in question TEN TIMES. If after 10 times the kid swears up and down she hates it, you know you've tried. You can try again at a later time. But tastes change and I think that was the case for me. Keep trying.
I thought this vegetable [on the right] looked interesting. It was bitter.
What was it called? Our server called it something that sounded like a Japanese last name.
Looks like a banana that's been forgotten in someone's car. It's a fish!
I thought this was frightening and really cool at the same time.
Look at these crazy leftovers!
And it was just the 2 of us! She's a champ. I need to be more like ai pohaku and dive into the pool instead of easing in with eggrolls. I'm learning!
What food is next?
2 comments:
A friend of mine has two parents that are missionaries. Her father's actually a dentist, and they do their charity work in CAMBODIA!
She went to visit them last year or the year before and brought back Cambodian Pocky! Or something that was stick shaped and made in Cambodia. It wasn't very good, it was kind of dry.
Anyhow - she said all kinds of glowing things about Vietnam and Thailand, also visited on her trip, but was a little bit more freaked out by what happened in Cambodia. She said the only way anyone should visit that country is with supervision or a tour guide of some sort - or a parent that speaks fluent Cambodian.
I think Bourdain has a bad Cambodian episode in one of his books! He said the hotel room had a drain in the middle of it, under the bed, like they literally hose down the room between uses or something.
Tony keeps going on and on about wanting to try Costa Rican food:
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/dec/30/food/la-fo-find30-2009dec30
Soksabay! After having lunch with you that day at Siem Reap Restaurant, I started missing Cambodia. I hadn't viewed the videos/photos since I returned last year and was excited to look into the archives. Good to read about our road trip to Little Phnom Penh. Sokhapheap La! Cheers!
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