truffledog wrote: ↑Fri Jan 08, 2021 2:28 am sometimes the oddest ingredients are the secret of a signature dish. You just need a tiny bit of that "horrible" prahok but it adds a wunderful taste to your dish. The quantity used is all what makes a difference. In large quantities its smells like rotten fish.

Ever heard of colatura di alici (from Cetara, Italy) ? Dates back to the roman empire..@ 90 $ a small bottle..no wonder the cambodians want to bring it to the tables of gourmets around the world.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colatura_di_alici

Also made from the finest Bay of Biscay anchovies. Use very sparingly.

$4 a bottle - why pay more?

truffledog wrote: ↑Fri Jan 08, 2021 3:56 am

SternAAlbifrons wrote: ↑Fri Jan 08, 2021 3:28 am Thanks Truff!! you got me off my bum. I just googled the local menus.
All the offerings seem to feature black truffle with omelettes.
Do you reckon i should hunt out some white?

I'll post the review

Season's over for fresh white truffles..harvesting time is october-december only. Preserved white truffles are a cheat and mostly perfumed with artifical flavours..white truffle oil contains 0% white truffles (its 100% chemical aroma).

I would be very surprised if there is real fresh white truffles offered anywhere in Cambodia.

Black truffle cost only a tiny fraction of the white ones and will probably be chinese orgin if offered in Cambodia (tuber indicum/himalayensis) costing only 30-50$ a kilo. Taste like an average mushroom..nothing to write home about.

If the fresh black truffles (fresh shavings only, no preserved ones) are from France (tuber melanosporum) the omelette may be well worth a try...But its still far away from the experience you will have eating white truffles.

Truffle season is finally approaching over here, Truff (in Oz, June to Sept)
I'm starting to seriously check out last year's menus at my local cafes. Shooting for white, as per your recommendation.

Any suggestions?
Some of the truffled egg breakfasts, maybe with parmigiano, look good
or Asian - seafood, noodles
??

Prahok: The pungent fish elevating Cambodian cuisine
By Marissa Carruthers
8th July 2021
While the world is familiar with the food from neighbouring Thailand and Vietnam, Cambodian cuisine is still relatively unknown. Can a sharp-smelling fish change that?

"There's a saying among our elders, 'No good prahok, no good friends'," said chef Luu Meng with a smile. "Prahok in the countryside is part of life for Cambodian people; it has been an essential ingredient in kitchens for many generations."

You'll find a jar of prahok in most family homes, it makes everyone happy

Meng is referring to Cambodia's distinctive fermented fish paste that has provided the nation with protein and flavour since the 9th- to 15th-Century Angkorian era, a period often characterised as Cambodia's cultural peak. "In the provinces, when people go and see their future mother-in-law, they have to cook a good dish of prahok ktis (a rich spicy pork dip) to make her smile. That's how important prahok is to us."

For centuries, prahok has sat at the heart of local cuisine, entrenched deeply in Cambodian culture. Today, the condiment whose pungent smell sends many tourists running, continues to be the star ingredient in an array of vegetable, meat and rice dishes, as well as soups.
Article: https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/2021 ... an-cuisine