Cambodian Cooking with a Modern Mother

While I often take issue with Beyoncé’s veiled anti-feminist lyrics, I’ll admit her interrogative hit, “Girls Who Run the World,” is an affirmation of the Cambodian woman. Much like in America, women typically take on most, if not all, of the housework and child-rearing responsibilities. Furthermore, many Khmer women are responsible for their family’s finances, often working a job in addition to their arduous chores at home.

 

Although my host mother doesn’t currently have employment outside her home (I do have reason to believe, however, that she is secretly a stay-at-home real estate mogul), she is a strong, happy, and modern woman. There are many reasons I cherish my host mom so greatly, but most of all, I appreciate her empathy for my situation as a volunteer far away from home. While many Khmer people see me simply in terms of my profession or nationality, my host mother sees me as a person, a son with wants and needs which she has a loving responsibility to meet.

Her compassion and support don’t stop with me, though. Over the past year she has come to adore my friend and nearest volunteer, Gilbert, and she often misses him when he’s not around. It wasn’t surprising to me, then, how excited she was to meet the two new volunteers in Kampong Speu province upon their arrival just a week ago. On Saturday, she invited the new volunteers to our house to share a special snack, eat lunch, and chat. While encounters like these between PCVs and Cambodians can often be short because of a lack of language ability, interest, or desire, we ended up chatting with my mom for a long time. This is due, in great part, to my awesome provincial site mates and their surprisingly good Khmer skills, but it is also due to the care my mom takes to repeat her sentences, listen carefully to our responses, and appreciate us for who we are and what we’re doing.
 
Knowing that my site mate, Dave, isn’t provided meals by his host family, my mom offered to teach him not only how to make some Khmer dishes, but also how to buy the ingredients at the market. Wanting to learn and improve my cooking as well, I joined them as they went to the market on Sunday to buy fresh vegetables, meat, and kitchen products. Generous as usual, my mom paid for some of the supplies and our breakfast, refusing to accept further payment.

Back at home, Dave and I sat and watched as my mom prepared fried vegetables with pork, fried rice noodles with pork, and an egg omelet. She carefully walked us through step by step, generously adding a spoonful of sugar here and there because she loves sweet food. Dave took careful notes of the process while I took some pictures. Below are the recipes which I’ve taken from Dave’s transcription along with some shots of my mom perched on the table making it all look effortless.

If you’re feeling up to it, try one of the recipes out and let me know how it goes! As always, I love hearing from you!

Fried Vegetables with Pork

1 Carrot, sliced thinly

2 Small potatoes, peeled and cut like french fries

1 Clove of garlic, finely chopped

150 Grams of lean pork, sliced thinly

¼ Cup vegetable oil

Salt, sugar, and fish sauce to flavor

Place wok (or frying pan) over medium heat and warm ¼ cup of vegetable oil. Add garlic and cook until brown. Add pork and let brown before adding a heaping tablespoon of salt, a heaping tablespoon of sugar, and 3 dashes of fish sauce. Add 100ml of water, and continue to add water as needed. Add carrots, cover for 1-2 minutes, and then add potatoes, always adding water as the mixture becomes dry. Cook until potatoes are soft, seasoning with sugar and salt to taste.

 

My host mother

 

Preparing the pork, garlic, and potatoes

 

The final product



 

Fried Rice Noodles with Pork
 
½ Kg. (1 lb.) Thin rice noodles
2 Handfuls of beansprouts
1 Clove of garlic, finely chopped
150 Grams of lean pork
½ Cup vegetable oil
Salt, sugar, and fish sauce to flavor
-Some long thin leaves cut into 2-inch lengths (I really don’t know what these leaves are called in English… but they probably aren’t super necessary/could be replaced with some other herb.)
 
Soak noodles in room-temperature water for 2 hours before cooking. Heat oil in a wok (or large frying pan) over medium flame and cook garlic until brown. Add salt and pork. Once meat is browned, add a tablespoon of sugar and a few dashes of fish sauce. Place noodles into the wok and mix continually. Once well-mixed, add bean sprouts (and leaves). Continue stirring for a few minutes.



I don't know what these leaves are...

 

Omelet

2 Duck eggs (or 3 chicken eggs)
1 Scallion, chopped
¼ Cup vegetable oil
½ Teaspoon of salt
½ Teaspoon of sugar
 
In a bowl, combine salt, sugar, and a dash of water. Stir mixture, add eggs, and beat. Incorporate scallion and mix. Heat oil over medium-low flame in a wok (or small frying pan), add egg mixture, and cover. Once edges are cooked but center is not, flip and cook until finished with cover on. Serve with soy sauce.

Almost ready to flip...



 

 10 minutes after we finished cooking... and we weren't done eating, either. Note that for an authentic experience, you should eat on a tile floor. Add one spoonful of food at a time to your personal bowl of rice.