Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SPIDERVILLE
Most visitors to Cambodia pass through the nondescript little town of
Skuon
at some point in
their travels. Located at the junction of NR6 and NR7 between Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and
Kompong Cham, it's one of the most important crossroads towns in Cambodia. What it's really
famous for, however, is its
edible spiders
- more precisely, a type of Asian tarantula, around
5cm across, known locally as
ah pieng
and considered something of a delicacy when
deep-fried with a hint of salt and garlic. According to local gourmands they taste a bit like
crunchy fried prawns and are best tackled as though eating a crab: pull off the legs and you
can suck the flesh which comes away with them, though be wary of the body, as it can be
unappetizingly slushy and bitter. Spiders also crop up around the country
pickled in wine
, a
tonic especially favoured by pregnant women.
Quite how the practice of eating spiders began is something of a mystery. One theory
suggests that it dates from the starvation years of Khmer Rouge rule, when desperate villagers
began foraging for eight-legged snacks in the jungles of Kompong Thom province. Nowadays
you'll likely see platters piled high with spiders at restaurants in and around Skuon - a lot of
buses stop here for a comfort break - giving you the chance to see, and perhaps even try, this
unusual delicacy.
the mornings is
geautieuv sop
, rice noodles in a
clear broth with chicken, pork or beef pieces; you
might wish to decline the other ingredients,
namely sliced-up intestines or gizzard and a
chunk of congealed blood, which the
Khmers slurp with relish, as it's said to make you
strong. A dish of bean sprouts and a slice of lime
will be provided on the side, which you can add
to taste.
In the tourist centres
Western breakfasts
are
available in guesthouses, hotels, cafés and restau-
rants catering for tourists and expats. In the
provinces it's usually di
cult to find anything other
than Khmer food first thing in the morning.
and dipping them in a fish sauce mixed with garlic,
lemon and crushed peanuts.
Steamed or grilled eggs
are incredibly popular
and are available everywhere, most commonly
from street hawkers, night markets and at
transport stops - where you'll often get a choice
of eggs, with bite-sized quails' eggs easy to find.
The black “thousand-year eggs” that you see at
markets and food stalls are duck eggs that have
been stored in jars of salt until the shells turn
black; by that time the whites and the yolks have
turned into a jelly, not dissimilar in texture to soft-
boiled eggs. They are eaten with rice or
borbor
(see opposite), a soupçon of egg being taken
with each spoonful of rice.
Often found at night markets or served up with
beer is
pong dteer gowne
, literally ducks' eggs
with duckling. Said to give strength and good
health, it really does contain an unhatched
duckling, boiled and served with herbs and a sauce
of salt, pepper and lemon juice - not too bad if you
don't look too closely at what you're eating.
Cooked
bananas
are also widely eaten as snacks,
seasoned with salt and grilled over charcoal
braziers, or wok-fried in a batter containing sesame
seeds, which are at their most delicious when
they're piping hot. Both are available in the markets,
as are
noam ensaum jayk
, sweet sticky-rice parcels
in different shapes, such as pyramids or rolls,
containing a piece of banana and wrapped in
banana leaves.
Among the more unusual snacks is the much-
prized
grolan
, bamboo tubes containing a
delicious mix of sticky rice, coconut milk and black
beans, cooked over charcoal and sold bundled
Snacks
Cambodian
snack foods
are legion, the range
varying with the time of day. Eaten with breakfast or
as an afternoon snack, available from street vendors
and at restaurants,
noam bpaow
are
steamed
dumplings, originating from Chinese cuisine, made
from white dough filled with a mix of minced pork,
turnip, egg and chives. There's a second, less
common version, smaller and sweeter and filled
with a green mung-bean paste.
In the afternoon and evening, crusty
baguettes
,
filled with your choice of pâté or sardines and
pickled vegetables, can be bought from street
hawkers for around 2000 riel.
Bany chaev
are savoury wok-fried pancakes
commonly available at market stalls; they're made
from rice flour flecked with chives and coloured
vivid yellow using turmeric. Filled with fried minced
pork, onion, prawns and bean sprouts, they're eaten
by wrapping pieces of the pancake in a lettuce leaf
