We run three cafés and a training kitchen in Kep, so this is written by people who cook it daily rather than people who ate it once.
The two things that make it Khmer
Kroeung is the paste underneath most Khmer cooking — lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, kaffir lime, garlic, pounded together. It is why a Khmer curry tastes yellow and citric rather than hot.
Prahok is fermented fish paste, and it is the backbone of the cuisine. Used properly it does not taste fishy; it does the job salt and anchovy do elsewhere. It is also the ingredient most likely to be left out of food cooked for tourists, which is why restaurant Khmer food can taste flat.
Ask for it as it's eaten at home and you'll get something better.
The dishes to order
Fish amok — the one everyone names. A coconut and kroeung custard steamed in banana leaf until it sets. Done properly it is soft and barely holds together; done badly it is a yellow curry in a bowl.
Lok lak — cubes of peppered beef, seared fast, served with rice, salad, a fried egg and a dipping sauce of lime juice, salt and black Kampot pepper. The pepper is the point.
Samlor korko — the stew people call the national dish. A dozen vegetables, roasted ground rice, prahok. Rarely on tourist menus and worth asking for.
Samlor machu — sour soup, tamarind-based, with fish or beef. Light, and the thing to eat when it's too hot to eat.
Char kroeung — anything stir-fried with the lemongrass paste. Usually the best-value thing on a menu.
Crab with fresh green Kampot pepper — Kep's own dish, and the reason to come to the crab market. The peppercorns are used fresh on the stalk, which does not happen anywhere outside this coast.
Breakfast, which is the best meal
Cambodians eat properly in the morning, and it is where the food is most itself:
- Bai sach chrouk — grilled pork over broken rice with pickled vegetables and a bowl of clear broth. Everywhere, early, cheap, excellent
- Kuy teav — pork or beef noodle soup, assembled to order, with a tray of herbs and chilli to add yourself
- Nom banh chok — fermented rice noodles under a green fish gravy, piled with raw banana flower and herbs. Sold from baskets in the morning and gone by ten
If you eat one thing from this page, make it nom banh chok from a street vendor.
Sweet things and drinks
- Iced coffee with sweetened condensed milk — dark, strong, and the default
- Sticky rice with mango, and num ansom, sticky rice steamed in banana leaf
- Tuk-a-loc — a blended fruit, egg and condensed milk drink. Better than it sounds
- Sugarcane juice pressed at the roadside, with a squeeze of kumquat
What about the insects?
Fried tarantulas and crickets are real, mostly sold at Skuon on the Phnom Penh–Siem Reap road, and are eaten by Cambodians as a snack rather than as a dare. Try them or don't; they are not a window into the cuisine.
Eating well, practically
- The busiest stall is the right stall. Turnover is the whole food-safety question
- Street breakfast beats restaurant dinner nine times in ten
- Ask for it "Khmer style" if you want the prahok left in
- Cash or KHQR. Small places rarely take cards
Learning to cook it
Our kitchens teach Khmer cooking to young Cambodians as a trade, and Creation Café runs classes for visitors. If you want to take the kroeung home rather than the pepper, ask us.