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Fish Soup Recipes to Soothe Your Soul and Lift Your Spirits from Riblja Corba and Ukha to Nom Banh Chok. Riblja Čorba, a Fish Soup Recipe from Kotor, Montenegro. Copyright © 2023 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Fish Soup Recipes to Soothe Your Soul and Lift Your Spirits from Riblja Corba and Ukha to Nom Banh Chok

These fish soup recipes will soothe your soul and lift your spirits, not only because they’re recipes for old broths that are rich in history and rooted in old cultural traditions, but fish is also very good for you. Fatty fish such as salmon are high in omega-3 fatty acids which can improve your mental health and boost your mood.

Just a quick post today to share three fish soup recipes to soothe your soul and lift your spirits. Because if you’re like me you’re no doubt feeling down about events in the world right now, from Putin’s war on Ukraine, which is destroying lives, families, cities, histories, and cultures to the climate catastrophe in Australia that’s also resulted in death and destruction.

I’m going to leave it there for today, as I need to cook soup – not fish soup, but a new soup recipe I’m developing that’s rooted in the past and my own family’s heritage in the lands we now know as Ukraine and Russia. I’ll share that with you shortly. In the meantime, take care of eachother, sisters and brothers, friends and strangers.

Before I tell you about these fish soup recipes, we have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-funded. If you’ve enjoyed our recipes or other content on the site, please consider supporting Grantourismo. You could buy us a coffee and we’ll use that donation to buy cooking ingredients for recipe testing or contribute to our epic original Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon.

Another option is to use our links to book accommodation, rent a car or campervan or motorhome, buy travel insurance, or book a tour on Klook or Get Your Guide. Or purchase something on Amazon, such as these James Beard award-winning cookbooks, cookbooks by Australian chefs, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, cookbooks for culinary travellers, travel books to inspire wanderlust, or gifts for Asian food lovers, picnic lovers and travellers who love photography. We may earn a small commission but you won’t pay extra.

You could also shop our Grantourismo store on Society6 for gifts for foodies, including fun reusable cloth face masks designed with my images. Now let me tell you about these fish soup recipes. 

Fish Soup Recipes to Soothe Your Soul and Lift Your Spirits from Riblja Corba and Ukha to Nom Banh Chok

Riblja Čorba, a Fish Soup Recipe from Kotor, Montenegro

This recipe for riblja corba, a fish soup from the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. is one of my favourite fish soup recipes. Riblja corba was created as a way for fishermen to use the small fish that nobody bought.

Fishermen’s soups have a long tradition in Montenegro, so it was fitting that we learnt to make this fish soup recipe from a chef cum boat captain with a seafaring heritage when we were last in Kotor.

Ribla Corba, or more correctly Riblja Čorba, is a wonderful fish soup that you’ll see on many menus in the historic city of Kotor. Not surprisingly, as Kotor is intrinsically linked to the sea, as are its people.

As you’ll see when you hike up to Kotor’s Castle of San Giovanni, the steep slopes of the majestic fjord-like mountains guide the deep green waters to the sea, where many of Kotor’s men throughout history have earned their keep.

Whether it was the Venetian maritime influence or just an affinity the locals feel to the sea, the men of Kotor have built a reputation for being able sea captains as well as canny fishermen. They also know how to cook a delicious fish soup. 

While we tasted some wonderful fish soups in Kotor that were made with the addition of tomatoes, the best were the clearer versions of the soup where the fish flavours took centre stage.

One of our favourite fish soups was at an atmospheric little restaurant called Cesarica, where chef, fisherman and sea captain, Rino Janovic, offered to show us just how simple his riblja corba recipe was to make. It quickly became one of my favourite fish soup recipes.

Rino’s seafaring traditions go back several generations. In his restaurant in the Old Town or Stari Grad of Kotor, he pointed to a black and white photograph of his grandfather’s sister working at a fish canning factory that was at Muo, where we rented an apartment. Rino’s father was a director of a shipping company and his uncle a sea captain.

“Everyone has some kind of an association with the sea here and they all know how to fish,” Rino told us. “We always eat seafood. My grandfather would not have a meal without it; there was always seafood on the table, and he ate riblja corba every day. He lived until he was 101, and he was riding a bicycle and kayaks until he was 92, and he fished until he died.”

Riblja Čorba, a Fish Soup Recipe from Kotor, Montenegro

Russian Fish Soup Recipe for Ukha – A Traditional Fish Soup Made with Salmon

My grandparents identified as Russian though were born and raised in the land we now know as Ukraine, well before it existed as a nation, when it was part of the Russian empire and then the Soviet Union.

As a child I listened intently to my baboushka and papa’s stories of childhoods spent foraging for mushrooms, summers spent on the Crimea and Black Sea, and memories of their cities, the cities they came of age in, Odessa and Kiev, so my heart is breaking right now. The war on the Ukraine is Putin’s war, not Russia’s war.

That’s to explain why I’m digging out my fish soup recipes and about to make a bit pot of broth at 11pm, as there are few things more comforting than a big bowl of warming soup with just-out-of-the-oven sourdough. This Russian fish soup recipe for ukha is based on a centuries-old traditional Russian soup said to be a favourite of emperors and peasants alike.

My family recipe makes an easy fish soup, made with salmon that’s fragrant with fresh dill, although historically this fisherman’s soup was made with several types of fish and a fish head stock. 

With its roots in an ancient Sanskrit word for broth, ‘ukha’ wasn’t always a fish soup. It was thought to be a clear soup made with chicken and vegetables, and a seasoning of salt, pepper, and spices such as paprika, saffron, cloves and cinnamon, until the 17th century when it became known as a fishermen’s soup.

Like other Slavic fish soups, such as riblja corba from Montenegro, above, ukha was a broth that fishermen made at the end of their day with whatever they had left of the catch, and historically was made with several types of fish – usually perch, pike, trout, and/or salmon – and was traditionally made with a fish head stock or even a stock made from a whole fish, with filleted fish pieces added later.

Russians and Ukrainians, like other Slavs, love their soups, especially their fish soups, and perhaps it’s due to my genes that I was drawn to another soup-loving culinary culture, that of Cambodia, and the region of Southeast Asia more largely.

I grew up slurping soup for breakfast, lunch and dinner, in summer and winter, spring and autumn, and along with borscht and shchi, this fragrant fish broth was one of my favourites and remains one of my favourite fish soup recipes to this day. This recipe is based on a Russian family recipe though I’ve tweaked it. Serve it with plenty of sour cream and dark rye bread.

Russian Fish Soup Recipe for Ukha – A Traditional Fish Soup Made with Salmon

Authentic Nom Banh Chok Recipe for Cambodia’s Beloved Khmer Noodles

This authentic nom banh chok recipe for Cambodia’s beloved Khmer Noodles makes nom banh chok samlor proher, a popular breakfast dish of freshly-made rice noodles doused in a yellow-green coconut-based fish curry that at its best is richer and creamier than other iterations of this dish.

It’s garnished with fragrant herbs, seasonal vegetables, edible flowers, and wild herbs and it’s another of my all-time favourite fish soup recipes.

Nom banh chok refers to both the fresh ever-so-lightly-fermented rice noodles that are still made daily by hand by artisanal noodle makers all over Cambodia, just as they’ve always been made, as well as the delicious breakfast noodle dish, comprised of the rice noodles doused in a (predominantly) fish based soup or gravy or curry, served with local vegetables, and garnished with aromatic herbs, foraged flowers and wild leaves.

Cambodia’s most beloved dish, Cambodia’s most quintessential dish, and Cambodia’s national dish for so many Cambodians – indicative by the fact that locals translate the dish to foreigners as ‘Khmer noodles’ – nom banh chok has long been ‘Cambodia in a bowl’ for me and is perhaps my most favourite Cambodian food and one of my favourite Southeast Asian noodle dishes and definitely one of my favourite fish soup recipes.

Centred around Cambodia’s indigenous noodles, nom banh chok showcases Cambodia’s much-loved ingredients – rice, fresh fish, prahok (fermented fish), coconut milk, palm sugar, seasonal vegetables, and kroeung, the spice paste distinguished by aromatics such as lemongrass and kaffir lime that are so intrinsic to Cambodian cuisine.

And it’s garnished with those wonderful foraged wild leaves, aromatic herbs and edible flowers so important to Cambodians for their fragrance and flavour, as much as their sense of aesthetics.

If you’ve visited Siem Reap’s majestic Angkor Wat and the Angkor temples, admired their sublime sculptures and carvings, witnessed its ancient traditions of dance, music and martial arts, stepped inside a traditional wooden house, and wrapped a Cambodian silk scarf around your shoulders, then you’ll know exactly what I mean.

Authentic Nom Banh Chok Recipe for Cambodia’s Beloved Khmer Noodles

Please do let us know in the comments below if you make any of these fish soup recipes as we’d love to know how they turn out for you.

Support our Cambodia Cookbook & Culinary History Book with a donation or monthly pledge on Patreon.

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About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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  1. Janet says

    March 11, 2022 at 12:10 am

    Oh Lara and Terrence I loved these recipes before you compiled them here but I love these stories. I so hope to get to Kotor and meet Rino one day and eat his wonderful soup and I will think of you two. I have my own confession….. I used dried noodles for your nom bahn chok. Insert The Scream emoji! No fresh Cambodian noodles here in Adelaide. Take care, you two! xx

  2. Lara Dunston says

    March 11, 2022 at 12:15 am

    Hi Janet, thank you so much for your lovely message! So appreciated :) I also hope we can return to Kotor one day and dine in Rino’s atmospheric little resto. If you beat us to it, enjoy! You’re going to love it.

    Re nom banh chok – there’s a stall ran by a young Cambodian woman at Adelaide Market. She may be able to help source fresh noodles. But I’m sure it tasted delish anyway. Please share a pic of your nom banh chok with us if you make it again – on Instagram or Facebook or Twitter. We’d love to see it.

    Thank you so much for taking the time to drop by to leave a comment :)

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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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