Cambodian Chicken Rice Soup with Lemongrass

As the temperatures get colder, it's time to look at some great tasting soups. Today, we take a trip to Cambodia for one it's nations favorite street foods, Chicken Rice Soup with Lemongrass!

Tangy and soothing, this is a real comfort food for those cold days.

History and influences of Cambodian Cuisine:

Because of Cambodia's geography rice and fish, especially freshwater fish, are the two most important sources of nutrients in the Cambodian diet. Rice is a staple food generally eaten at every meal.^[3] According to the International Rice Research Institute, there are 2,000 rice varieties indigenous to Cambodia that were developed over centuries by Cambodian rice farmers.^[4] One of them – "Malys Angkor" (Khmer: ម្លិះអង្គរ, Mlih Ángkô) – has been regarded the world's best rice.^[5]

Due to the sustained historic interaction and shared influences, Cambodian cuisine has many similarities with its neighbouring Southeast Asian cuisines of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Indonesia.^[6] During the Khmer Empire era from 9th to 15th century the Khmer palace food developed into a refined royal cuisine. After the defeat of the Khmer Empire and the Fall of Angkor in 1353 and 1431^[7] the Khmer royal cooks were brought to the Ayutthaya Kingdom^[8] where they had a strong influence on the Thai royal cuisine.^[6] The original Khmer palace recipes were modified in Ayutthaya Kingdom, where during the reign of King Narai they also acquired a Portuguese influence, and eventually reintroduced back into Cambodia.^[8] Both Thai and Khmer royal cuisines used special flavouring pastes made out of various herbs and spices that were added to curries, soups, and stews.^[6]

Nowadays, the flavour principles of many Khmer dishes, such as sour fish soups, stews and coconut-based curries, including fish amok, are similar to Central Thai cuisine, although Khmer dishes contain much less chilli and sugar. Khmer cuisine has relatively less in common with Northeast Thai and Lao cuisines, however, they all utilize a fish paste in their cooking (called prahok in Khmer, pla ra in Thai and padaek in Lao),^[9] which could be a Khmer influence as both Laos and Northeast Thailand historically was part of the Khmer Empire.^[10] One of the common misconceptions about Cambodian cuisine is that it is just a milder form of Thai cuisine,^[11] however, Khmer dishes generally make greater use of aromatic spices, such as cardamom, star anise, cloves, nutmeg, lemongrass, ginger, galangal, coriander, and wild lime leaves.^[6]

With Vietnamese and Lao cuisine it shares the French influence as Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were all part of the French Indochina. Cambodian cuisine was also influenced by Vietnamese cuisine when Cambodia was under Vietnamese control from 1979 to 1989. Overall, Cambodian dishes are usually less salty than Vietnamese dishes.^[12] Historically, Cambodian cuisine has drawn upon elements from Chinese cuisine as well, adopting an extensive use of noodles, for example. The Chinese began arriving in the 13th century, with Chinese migration accelerating during the French Indochina period. Coconut-based curries (ការី, kaarii), on the other hand, as well as boiled red and white sweets show a trace of Indianization.^[13] In the 16th century, the Portuguese and Spanish began introducing various new food crops, such as tomatoes, papaya, pineapple, corn, potato, sweet potato, cassava and chilli from the New World^[13] that were incorporated into local dishes. In addition to that, the French introduced pâté, salads, wine, coffee, and asparagus.^[14]

One legacy of French cuisine, the baguette nowadays is ubiquitous throughout Cambodia.^[15] They are made into sadwiches with a wide variety of ingredients. Freshly buttered baguettes are made into sandwiches and may be stuffed with pork and/or pâté (num pang pâté), tinned sardines, eggs and Kampot pepper, similar to Vietnamese bánh mì. The war and famine in the 1970s and 1980s greatly affected the transmission of Cambodian traditional culinary knowledge.^[6] During the Khmer Rouge regime in the mid-1970's culinary books were deemed "bourgeois" and burned and approximately 2 million Cambodians were killed.^[16]

In Cambodian just like other Southeast Asian meals, all dishes are served and eaten simultaneously, as opposed to the European course-based meal format or the Chinese meal with overlapping courses. A meal will usually include steamed rice and a soup served with a number of side dishes. While steamed rice and soups are usually served hot, side dishes may be served at room temperature. The balance of flavors and satisfaction of individual preferences are achieved by combining the individual dishes and rice.

Happy Cooking,
Uncle Bill

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