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173 recipes

Khmer green mango salad with crispy dried fish

Sharp enough to make you wince and then reach for more, nhoam svay is the salad sold from glass-fronted carts around Siem Reap's Old Market and packed for weekend picnics at the West Baray reservoir. Hard green mango is cut into fine strands and tossed with shallots, mint and a dressing of lime, fish sauce and palm sugar, then topped with crunchy roasted peanuts and flakes of salty dried fish fried until crisp. It is eaten as a snack on its own or as a fresh, sour side to grilled meat and rice. Many people dress it too early, which draws water out of the mango and leaves a limp, watery salad. Chef's tip: fry the dried fish slowly until it shatters, then crumble it over at the very last moment; for a vegetarian version, leave it out and use soy sauce in place of the fish sauce.

20 min

Cambodian Salads

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Cha traop dot

Long purple aubergines blackened right on the coals or gas flame are a weeknight staple in Phnom Penh homes and in the rice-and-curry shops where office workers eat lunch from a row of pots. Once peeled, the flesh is soft, silky and deeply smoky; it is laid on a plate, topped with minced pork fried with garlic and fish sauce, then drizzled with hot spring onion oil and a sweet-salty lime dressing. Eaten with plenty of jasmine rice, it is gentle enough for children and rich enough to feel like a treat. A typical mistake is pulling the aubergines off the heat when the skin is only scorched in patches, which leaves hard, bland flesh inside. Chef's tip: char them until they slump completely flat and the skin cracks all over, then rest them in a covered bowl for 5 minutes so the skin slips off in one go.

35 min

Cambodian Meat

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Khmer red chicken curry

When a Cambodian family celebrates (a wedding, Khmer New Year, the Pchum Ben days in autumn), a big pot of red curry is usually on the stove, and in Phnom Penh it is just as likely to be eaten for breakfast from a street stall with a crusty baguette for mopping. It is a gentle, fragrant curry rather than a fiery one: chicken on the bone simmered in coconut milk with a red kroeung of dried chillies, lemongrass and galangal, plus chunks of sweet potato, aubergine and long beans that soak up the orange-tinged sauce. Dropping all the vegetables in at once is the error to avoid; the aubergine collapses before the sweet potato is cooked. Chef's tip: make it a few hours ahead or the day before, as the flavours deepen and the sauce settles into a silky, spoonable gravy.

75 min

Cambodian Curries

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Khmer pickled vegetables

Cambodian cooks keep a jar of chrouk in the fridge the way others keep ketchup. These quick pickles of green papaya, carrot, cucumber and a little ginger come on the side of broken-rice breakfasts in Phnom Penh, with grilled food at night markets and tucked into num pang baguettes, adding crunch and a sweet-sour snap to anything rich or smoky. The brine is simply rice vinegar, sugar and salt, which keeps the vegetables pale and crisp. Pouring the brine on boiling hot is the classic slip: it softens the cucumber and dulls the colours. Chef's tip: salt the papaya and carrot for 15 minutes and squeeze them before jarring; they stay crunchy for a week instead of turning floppy by day two.

25 min

Cambodian Sides

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Trey aing (grilled fish with lemongrass)

Around Siem Reap and the floating villages of the Tonlé Sap, weekend outings mean a bamboo picnic hut by the water and a whole fish grilled over charcoal in a wire basket. The fish is stuffed and rubbed with lemongrass, garlic and salt, so the skin blisters and smokes while the white flesh stays moist; diners pull off flakes and wrap them in lettuce with mint, basil, sliced cucumber and sour green mango, then dunk the parcel in a garlicky lime dip with crushed peanuts. Snakehead or tilapia are the usual fish, but sea bass or bream are excellent. Turning the fish too soon is the classic misstep; the skin tears and sticks to the grill. Chef's tip: oil the fish and the basket well, then leave it alone until the underside releases by itself, about 10 minutes.

45 min

Cambodian Fish

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Lort cha (vegetarian)

Late afternoon around Phnom Penh's Orussey and Kandal markets, vendors work flat griddles crowded with lort, short rice noodles tapered at both ends like fat pins. They are fried hard with bean sprouts and garlic chives until some strands catch and turn chewy-crisp, splashed with sweet-salty soy, then crowned with a fried egg and a squeeze of sweet chilli sauce for an after-school or after-work snack. Stalls season with fish and oyster sauce; this vegetarian version uses soy and a mushroom-based stir-fry sauce instead. The usual mistake is stirring the noodles constantly, which breaks them into mush and never lets them brown. Chef's tip: loosen the noodles with warm water before they go near the pan, then leave them alone for a full minute at a time so they pick up toasty, caramelised patches.

25 min

Cambodian Pasta & Noodles

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Prahok ktis

Prahok, the pungent fermented fish paste of the Tonlé Sap, is softened here into something mellow and moreish: it is simmered with coconut cream, minced pork, a fragrant lemongrass paste and pea aubergines until thick and orange-flecked. In Phnom Penh it is a family-table dish for lunch or a weekend feast, set in a bowl in the middle with a platter of crisp raw vegetables (cucumber, cabbage wedges, long beans, Thai aubergines) and steamed rice for everyone to scoop with. Salty, sweet, funky and creamy all at once, it tastes far gentler than the jar smells. Prahok tossed in at the end goes wrong: it stays harsh and is not cooked through, so it must simmer properly with the pork. Chef's tip: buy prahok in jars from an Asian grocer, mash it with a splash of hot water before adding, and let the dip simmer for a full 10 minutes after the pork is cooked.

45 min

Cambodian Chutneys & Dips

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Kampot pepper and lime dip

Every table in Kampot and along the crab-shack pier at Kep gets a saucer of tuk mrech, and diners mix their own: a heap of salt, a spoonful of freshly cracked local pepper and a squeeze of lime. It is sharp, salty and floral-hot, with none of the sweetness of most Khmer dips, and it is meant for dragging grilled corn, griddled tofu, fried eggs or a pepper crab through. Kampot pepper carries a protected geographical indication and tastes fruity and resinous rather than just hot; any good whole black peppercorns work, but pre-ground pepper does not. People often get it wrong by grinding the pepper to dust, which turns the dip muddy and bitter, or by mixing it hours ahead so the lime goes flat. Chef's tip: warm the peppercorns in a dry pan for a minute before cracking them, and squeeze the lime straight into the saucer at the table so it stays fresh and zingy.

6 min

Cambodian Chutneys & Dips

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Num akor

Tiny, springy and the colour of light caramel, num akor are sold from bamboo trays at Cambodian markets in the early morning and appear on the sweets table at weddings and pagoda ceremonies. A rice-flour batter sweetened with palm sugar is left to bubble with yeast, then steamed in small cups so it rises into a soft, airy dome with a faint fermented tang. A spoonful of salted grated coconut on top balances the sweetness. People tend to overfill the cups or lift the steamer lid early, and both give flat, dense cakes with a sunken top. Chef's tip: stir the risen batter just once before pouring, fill each cup only three-quarters, and wrap the steamer lid in a tea towel so drips can't pock the surface.

105 min

Cambodian Desserts

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Kep crab with green Kampot pepper

This is the dish people travel to the seaside town of Kep for: at the crab market, women haul baskets of blue swimmer crabs out of the water, and the wooden restaurants behind them stir-fry the catch for lunch with whole sprigs of green peppercorns picked that week in the Kampot hills. Fresh green pepper is juicy and aromatic rather than fiery, popping between the teeth with a bright, almost citrusy heat, and it clings to the sweet crab meat along with garlic and a light, salty-sweet sauce. Eat it with your hands, with rice and a saucer of salt, pepper and lime. Overcooking is the usual failure: crab left in the wok too long turns dry and stringy. Chef's tip: buy crabs already killed and cleaned by the fishmonger, or frozen cut crab, and throw out any piece that smells off; cook just until the shells turn bright orange and the meat is opaque right through.

30 min

Cambodian Fish

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Samlor machu kroeung

Sour, herbal and gently golden from turmeric, samlor machu kroeung is one of the soups Phnom Penh families put on the table at lunch, ladled over rice with a side of something fried or grilled. Its base is a fresh kroeung of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric and kaffir lime, fried and simmered with slow-cooked beef until the broth turns aromatic, then soured with tamarind and finished with armfuls of crunchy morning glory. Many cooks use beef tripe; here it is braising beef, which turns spoon-tender. A slip that ruins it is adding the morning glory too early, so it turns khaki and slimy. Chef's tip: toast the kroeung in the beef fat until it darkens a shade and smells sweet; that is where the soup's depth comes from.

95 min

Cambodian Soups

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Num kom

Neat little green pyramids tied in pairs are a sign of celebration in Cambodia: num kom are folded by the tray for Khmer New Year in April, for weddings and for offerings at the pagoda. Inside the banana-leaf wrapper is a thin, soft, chewy skin of glutinous rice dough around a sticky filling of grated coconut cooked with palm sugar and toasted sesame. The leaf leaves a gentle tea-like scent, and the cakes keep well for a day at room temperature, which makes them good for sharing. A brittle leaf is what trips people up: straight from the packet it splits along the veins as you fold, and the dough leaks out. Chef's tip: pass each leaf piece briefly over a gas flame or dip it in hot water until it turns glossy and pliable before you start folding.

120 min

Cambodian Desserts

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Chek k'tis

Ask for something sweet at a Phnom Penh dessert cart on a rainy-season afternoon and you may be handed a warm cup of chek k'tis: chunks of small, tart-sweet bananas bobbing in coconut milk with clear, chewy tapioca pearls. The coconut milk is sweetened with palm sugar and seasoned with a good pinch of salt, which makes it taste rich rather than cloying, and a knot of pandan gives it a grassy vanilla scent. It is also cooked at home as an offering-day treat and eaten warm or at room temperature. The usual error is using very ripe, spotty bananas, which melt into grey sludge; firm, just-yellow fruit holds its shape and blushes pink as it cooks. Chef's tip: let the coconut milk only shiver, never boil hard, or it splits and turns oily.

30 min

Cambodian Desserts

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Samlor proher

Home cooks in the villages around Siem Reap make samlor proher when the garden is full: a light, clear soup crowded with pumpkin, banana blossom, long beans, little aubergines and leafy greens, seasoned with a lemongrass kroeung and a spoonful of prahok. Toasted ground rice is stirred in near the end, giving the broth a faint body and a nutty, popcorn-like aroma. It is everyday lunch food, eaten with steamed rice and perhaps a piece of grilled fish, and it tastes savoury, sweet from the pumpkin and gently earthy. Leaving the prahok raw is the big no; it must be mashed and boiled in the broth for at least 10 minutes, so it cooks through and its sharpness rounds out. Chef's tip: slice the banana flower straight into lime-acidulated water, or it will turn black within minutes.

60 min

Cambodian Soups

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Num kachay with soy-lime dip

Bright green and blistered gold, these little chive cakes are fried to order on oiled griddles at Phnom Penh's Russian Market and at morning carts outside schools. A dough of rice and tapioca flour is packed with chopped garlic chives, steamed until translucent and then pan-fried, so each cake has a crackly shell and a soft, bouncy, slightly sticky inside. At the stalls they come with a sweet fish-sauce dip; this vegetarian version is served with a sweet-sour soy, lime and garlic dip with crushed peanuts. A frequent slip is frying the cakes raw, which leaves them gummy in the middle and greasy outside. Chef's tip: steam them a day ahead if you like, chill them uncovered, and fry from cold; the dried skin crisps even better.

50 min

Cambodian Snacks & Starters

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Num kong

Stacked on trays at morning markets across Cambodia and pressed into the hands of guests at Khmer New Year, num kong are rings of glutinous rice dough sweetened with palm sugar and fried until deep bronze. Bite through the crackly, caramel-glazed shell and the inside is soft and chewy, almost like mochi, with a smoky toffee flavour from the palm sugar and a coating of toasted sesame. They go with strong iced coffee or jasmine tea. Most failures come from oil that is too hot: the outside darkens in a minute while the inside stays raw and pasty, and trapped air can make a ring pop and spit. Chef's tip: knead the dough until it is completely smooth and crack-free, then fry at a steady 160 °C for a good 6–7 minutes; patience gives the shatter-crisp crust.

60 min

Cambodian Desserts

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Majarisco

Its name blends 'majado' (mashed plantain) and 'marisco' (seafood), and along the coast of Piura and Tumbes, near the Ecuadorian border, it's what cevicherías and beach restaurants serve when you want something hot and filling. Mashed green plantain is folded into a sauce of garlic, onion, ají and seafood juices, with prawns, squid and mussels running through it, so every forkful is creamy, garlicky and briny. Serve it with lime and salsa criolla. Mussels must be alive: tap any open ones and discard those that don't close, and discard any that stay shut after cooking. Overcooking the seafood is the most frequent mistake; it goes in at the end, just until pink and opaque. Chef's tip: keep the mussel cooking liquid and use it to loosen the mash; it's pure seafood flavour.

55 min

Peruvian Fish

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Seco de chabelo

Piura's picanterías, near the dry northern border, serve this rough, savoury mash at lunch: green plantains, roasted or boiled and pounded, mixed with fried strips of carne seca (salted dried beef) and a quick sofrito of onion, tomato and ají amarillo. It is dense, salty and smoky, with the plantain's starchy sweetness, and is eaten with salsa criolla and fried ripe plantain or chifles (plantain crisps). The legend says it was invented for a soldier called Chabelo in the War of the Pacific. Use carne seca or cecina from Latin shops, or unseasoned beef jerky. Pounding the plantains smooth is the classic mistake: chabelo should be lumpy and rustic. Chef's tip: soak the dried beef in warm water for 30 minutes and taste a piece; if it's still very salty, change the water and soak again.

60 min

Peruvian Meat

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Chuño phuti

Chuño are potatoes freeze-dried the ancient way on the Altiplano: left out on frosty nights, trampled to squeeze out the water and dried in the high sun, so they keep for years. In Puno and across the border in Bolivia, they are soaked, crumbled and fried with onion, then scrambled with egg and fresh cheese to make phuti, a hearty breakfast or supper eaten with a hot tea. The texture is dense and slightly chewy, and the flavour earthy and a little tangy. Chuño is sold dried in Andean shops; it must soak overnight (ideally 24 hours, with the water changed) and then be peeled, which adds time before you start. The mistake is not soaking or rinsing enough: under-soaked chuño smells strong and stays hard in the middle. Serve with a fresh tomato salsa or uchucuta. Fresh cheese is usually made with animal rennet, so use a vegetarian one if needed. Chef's tip: squeeze the soaked chuño hard between your palms before crumbling; the drier it is, the better it fries.

40 min

Peruvian Vegetarian

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Arroz con pato

Chiclayo and the northern coast claim arroz con pato as their own, and family lunches and big Sunday gatherings there often centre on a deep pot of it: duck legs browned and simmered in dark beer and a purée of coriander and spinach, then rice cooked in the same green, duck-rich liquid with peas, red pepper and ají amarillo. The rice is moist and loose, the duck tender with crisp edges, and it is served with salsa criolla and, often, papa a la huancaína. The beer contains alcohol, and not all of it cooks off; for an alcohol-free pot use alcohol-free beer or the stock swap in the ingredients. A common mistake is skipping the browning, which leaves flabby skin and a pale, fatty rice; render the duck slowly first and pour off excess fat. Chef's tip: let the cooked rice rest under the lid off the heat for 10 minutes before fluffing.

95 min

Peruvian Rice & Grains

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Ensalada de pallares

Around Ica, on Peru's southern desert coast, pallares grow in irrigated valleys and dry into fat, flat beans the size of a thumbnail; the region holds them in high regard and sells them by the sack at the Ica market. Cooked until creamy and dressed while warm, they become a filling salad that sits on the table beside fried fish, rice or a plate of boiled sweet potato, and it works as a light lunch on its own. The onion is cut the Peruvian way, in fine half-moons, rinsed so it stays crisp without biting, and the ají limo gives a fruity heat that you can turn up or down. A frequent slip is dressing the beans straight from the fridge: they stay chalky and the lime slides off instead of soaking in. Using dried beans adds an overnight soak; good jarred or canned large lima beans make it a 20-minute dish. Chef's tip: dress the beans while they are still warm with half the lime and salt, then add the onion, tomato and the rest of the lime just before serving.

20 min

Peruvian Salads

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Pesque de quinua

Up on the Altiplano around Lake Titicaca, where quinoa grows at almost 4,000 metres, pesque is everyday food: quinoa cooked until it collapses, then beaten with milk, a knob of butter and crumbled fresh cheese until it looks like a loose, savoury risotto. Puno families eat it for a warming lunch or supper, often with a glass of milk poured over or a fried egg on top, and in the cold dry air it is exactly what the body wants. It is soft, nutty and mildly salty. The step people skip is rinsing the quinoa, and the natural saponins then leave a soapy, bitter edge; rub it under running water until the foam stops. Serve with a tomato salad or a spoon of uchucuta for some heat. Andean fresh cheese is usually set with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian fresh cheese if needed. Chef's tip: cook the quinoa in a little more water than usual and leave it a few minutes longer than for a salad, so it turns creamy and the grains burst.

35 min

Peruvian Vegetarian

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Shámbar

Mondays in Trujillo mean shámbar: market stalls and huariques across the city put out pots of this thick, smoky soup of cracked wheat, chickpeas, broad beans, peas and canary beans, cooked with smoked ham hock, pork ribs and pork skin, then stirred through with a fried paste of ají panca and garlic and a handful of mint. It is earthy, porky and rib-sticking, and each bowl gets a scoop of crunchy cancha just before eating. Soak the beans and the wheat overnight. People often cook everything together from the start, and the peas turn to mush before the chickpeas soften; cook the hardest pulses first. Chef's tip: toast the wheat in a dry pan before soaking it; it gives the soup a nutty depth the locals look for.

180 min

Peruvian Soups

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Inchicapi

From the riverside kitchens of Iquitos and the Peruvian Amazon comes inchicapi, a festive chicken soup traditionally made with a free-range hen for birthdays and fiestas. Raw peanuts and a little maize flour are ground and stirred into the broth, which turns it creamy, pale and nutty, and pieces of cassava, garlic, ají dulce and sacha culantro (a long, serrated, strongly flavoured coriander) finish it. It is served with rice, boiled plantain or cassava. If you can't find sacha culantro in Asian or Latin shops (sold as culantro or ngo gai), use a big handful of coriander. The pitfall is adding the peanut paste dry: it clumps and catches on the bottom, so loosen it with broth first and stir often. Chef's tip: use raw, not roasted, peanuts; they keep the soup pale and give it the right fresh, milky taste.

75 min

Peruvian Soups

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