A Quasi-Thorough Report on Khmer Cuisine

Cambodia is a place that is both delectable and treacherous for my gastronomical needs. Khmer cuisine, for the most part, is succulent, vibrant, with a burst of divergent flavors in every bite—sweet basil, chilli, peanuts, fish, mint……all in one salad I ate today! I would describe Khmer cuisine as a mix between Chinese and Thai, not quite as spicy or satisfying as Thai food, but every meal I’ve had has been enjoyable. The delight of eating Asian food is sharing many dishes. Unfortunately, because I’ve eaten most meals alone, I’ve been quite limited in how many different dishes I have tried. Last night, for the first time, I ate Khmer food with two people, and in comparison it was a veritable feast—spicy papaya salad, a pumpkin and mushroom stir-fry with tamarind, basil, and chili, and the Khmer Specialty Fish Amok (but we had Tofu Amok). Amok is a thick coconut milk/peanut curry, wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. Truly incredible.

So the treacherous part—my allergies. Khmer cuisine uses egg in many, many dishes, but I haven’t had a problem avoiding this. Either way, my newfound egg allergies aren’t life-threatening. My worry is that Khmer cuisine is noted for the use of prahok, a type of fermented fish paste, in many dishes as a flavoring. When prahok is not used, it is likely to be kapik instead, a kind of fermented shrimp paste. I have not eaten any shellfish yet, but I’m constantly scared that kapik will be inserted into a dish of mine and I will die on the table. I always ask if there is any shrimp or shrimp paste, but the rest of my Khmer is so rudimentary that the possibility of a slip-up on my pronunciation or our mutual understanding is always in the back of my mind.

The one night I went out with my Cambodian colleague a week ago, I told him that I was allergic to shellfish, but his friends wanted to go to a seafood restaurant so away we went. I sat there while they ate fried rice with shrimp, roasted crabs, and other shellfish. At one point, they told me, “Stop staring at the stars [ie get your head out of the clouds] and start eating because soon the food will all be gone.” I wasn't daydreaming, only thinking about whether even being in such close vicinity to it was fine. Whether someone’s sumptuous bite into a juicy shrimp would squirt into my mouth and I would go into anaphylactic shock. Ok, I was being neurotic, but whatever. Well, I was fine, I ate some nice roasted fish and plain rice, drank my first ever grass jelly drink (a brown-black drink with jelly/bubble-tea-esque clumps at the bottom).

At dinner that night, people from the street came into the restaurant hawking various food products to supplement the meal—you could choose from snails, insects, or roasted tarantulas (a delicacy here). I've been wondering whether I can eat insects and tarantulas, because, like crustaceans, they are arthropods--maybe I should just hold off.

I know, you're saying "OH MY GOD HOW COULD YOU NOT EAT TARANTULAS?!?!?!?!” So it goes.