Chamboy wrote: ↑Mon Mar 25, 2019 8:27 pm "The best would be to eat in countryside with farmer where they cook for real."

The bucolic notion that rural cuisine is rsuperior is an illusion. They work hard and would happily devour the table the meal sits on. I’ve been living in rural Cambodia for almost 2 decades and am weary of the local market"s breakfast selection, rice 3-4 times a day or homemade backyard soup, nutritious but boring. Their food is of the same quality as their rice wine. Imminently forgettable, but it gets the job done. Primarily food is viewed for it's utilitarian functions. Taste buds be damned and pull up a seat stranger!

Well. You don't have luck.
I had the best food in province fresh numba chok, good rice, fish, desserts, soup, etc

newkidontheblock wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 12:13 am Part of reason missus seems to have gotten sick was from eating Taiwanese food. First thing back in Cambodia she bought rice soup and fried noodles from a sidewalk stall. Even though barely at any of it, just touching the food made her feel better.

Go figure.

Have you tried the Khmer ginger fried chicken?

Nothing to figure - a colleague of mine protested that he couldn't eat much South Korean rice in Seoul as it wasn't as good as Khmer rice. They're just weird. Generalising, but I think Khmer, especially rural, are perhaps even more fussy than that English bloke in "An Idiot Abroad" - it's quite some achievement.

My opinion of Khmer food is very low, again generally. I know I could live in India and eat an Indian diet every meal, Japan, South Korea the same. Cambodia? Happy to dabble and enjoy some very good dishes, but if I had to eat it every day, I'd soon run out of options.

im not really a fussy eater, and i like the taste of prohok, i do agree the quality of food in Cambodia is sub par, and some of their 'popular' dishes actually originated elsewhere,
'Khmer' food i like to eat...
Kho Sach Jruk/Ko - Caramelised braised pork/beef with hardboiled egg (from Vietnam - Thit heo kho tieu)
Pong Tia Goun - Fertilised duck egg (from Philippines - Balut)
Bok L'hong - Papaya Salad (from Lao/Isaan - Samtom/Somtam)
Lok Lak - Sauteed beef with salad (from Vietnam - Luc Lac)
Amok - The traditional Khmer steamed curry (Thailand do a nice spicy version - Hor mok)
Lort Chha - Short rice noodles with fried egg and various meats
Samlar Kari - Khmer Red Curry served with baguette for dipping
Bai Sach Jruk - Pork and Rice
Mi Chha Sach Moan - Fried Noodles with Chicken

I am having a good laff at this thread. IMHO RThai food is the most disgusting. Eberything wrong with khmer food applies to thai food, but the smartarse Thais bury it in chile so you cannot tell how rotten the meat is.
So, I have had 2 upset stomachs in 10 yuears in KOW. 1 was defo bad water , the other i dont know and that include seating in the village and street food. At home I will get the shits once a month. According to my doctor the reason is that the food chain is short here. Farmer brings pig to market, its butchered, sold and eaten in 24 hours. In the west probably 100 peple tocuh it, its frozen, half defrosted, put in a chiller after sitting on the floor for an hour while the shelf stacker goes to lunch.......
Everyhwere where torists go you get bad food. Burger stalls in capital cities are notorious so eat where the locals eat, not where the tourists eat. Give yourself time to adapt to the local bugs. Fresh off the plane eating street food is not good. My ex sister in law used to work in Spain and when she went back to UK she got what the Spanish call englsish tummy cos she had lost resistance to uk bugs.
If all else fails carry a few cipro and you will be right as rain in a couple of hours

Presentation does not help. When you peer into these dented thin pots with murky liquids it sure makes you wonder. This fare, at road side stalls and markets containing mystery meats and there's no way I am touching any of it. If That's Cambodian food, then yes, I agree.

But there's always enough alternative food on offer, in enough variety to satisfy me. Some rice and meat and veggies, all recognizable. Barbecue just about anywhere where you can see the meat before its being cooked. Lots of places will cook me up a stir fry and I can see it happening with fresh veggies and meats all procured that same day from market.

In the main cities there's enough tourism to warrant western fare so there's always that option too.

I quite like bor bor now, its a great breakfast. Probably some of that other mystery pots would taste ok and I would eat it if it was presented and plated properly. One of the great things about all the boiled food, is it kills everything bad in it, and keeps for a long time while on offer.

I too almost never am sick here.

Does it matter if Cambodians eat rubbish?

If you look at different websites, you may get different numbers, but the average Australian lives approximately 20 years longer than the average Cambodian.

The average Japanese actually lives a little longer than the average Australian. So Asians can have long healthy lives.

Not just that, Cambodians get health problems 20 years younger. It is common in Cambodia to meet people in their 30s who have had a stroke. Then the children have to support disabled parents in their 30s.

If you talk to Cambodians about this, they would like to have long healthy lives, but most wont change their diet.

I had a cambodian fish dish but forgot name. Its the full fish sprinkled with chopped up mango and some other vegetables. It has a savory taste.

BklynBoy wrote: ↑Tue Mar 26, 2019 5:51 am I had a cambodian fish dish but forgot name. Its the full fish sprinkled with chopped up mango and some other vegetables. It has a savory taste.

The name does not mean anything,,, It's where it came from that matters..... Carp caught in the village pond where all the shit and pollutants are thrown taste the best according to some people that live here.