Khmer cooking is older than its neighbours and has been overshadowed by them. It is aromatic rather than hot, sour and salty rather than sweet, and it lost a generation of professional cooks between 1975 and 1979, which is why its revival is recent.
Kroeung and amok
Kroeung is the base paste, pounded from lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, kaffir lime leaf and garlic, and it underlies most Khmer dishes. Fish amok is kroeung with coconut milk and egg, steamed in a banana leaf cup until it sets to a mousse. Done properly it is delicate; done for tourists it is a curry in a bowl. It is the national dish.
Num banh chok
Breakfast for much of the country: fermented rice noodles pressed fresh that morning, with a thin green fish gravy of lemongrass and kroeung, and a plate of raw banana flower, cucumber, bean sprouts and herbs piled on top. Sold from baskets by women walking the streets before eight, and gone by ten.
Soups and prahok
Samlor korko, the sour soup, contains whatever vegetables are available with green papaya, jackfruit and toasted ground rice, and is the everyday family dish. Samlor machu is the tamarind sour soup. Behind all of it stands prahok, fermented fish paste, which smells strongly and disappears into the flavour of the dish. Prahok ktis, minced pork with prahok and coconut, is eaten with raw vegetables.
Meat and coast
Lok lak is cubed beef stir-fried and served with rice, a fried egg and a dipping sauce of lime, black pepper and salt, which uses Kampot pepper and is the reason to order it. On the coast, crab fried with green Kampot peppercorns is the signature dish of Kep. Grilled skewers, pork and rice for breakfast, and fried noodles cover the rest.
Street food and insects
Markets sell fried tarantulas from Skuon, crickets, silkworms and duck embryo eggs. These are not a stunt for visitors; they became normal food during the famine years and stayed. Fresh fruit, sugarcane juice and iced coffee with condensed milk are sold on every corner.
Drink
Angkor and Cambodia are the national beers and cost about 50 cents in a plastic cup. Palm wine and rice wine are rural and strong. Cambodian coffee is roasted dark with butter and sugar and is closer to Vietnamese than to anything else.