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Shrimp Fried Rice with Shrimp Paste Recipe for Cambodia's Bai Char Kapi. Chinese fried rice recipes. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Shrimp Fried Rice With Shrimp Paste Recipe – How to Make Cambodia’s Bai Cha Kapi

This shrimp fried rice with shrimp paste recipe makes Cambodia’s bai char kapi, a classic fried rice distinguished by sweet plump prawns and the pungency of shrimp paste. If you love the salty, funky flavours of shrimp paste and fish sauce, you’ll love this. You don’t? Then leave out the shrimp paste and you’ve got a fantastic shrimp fried rice.

This Cambodian shrimp fried rice with shrimp paste recipe makes bai char kapi. Bai char – which you’ll also see written as bai cha, bai chaa, bai chha, bai tcha, and bay cha – is fried rice (‘bai’ is rice and ‘cha’ is to fry or stir-fry) and kapi is shrimp paste. I’ll deal with the difference between shrimps and prawns below.

Just like our recipe for Cambodian fried rice, this shrimp fried rice with shrimp paste recipe is super easy to make if you have leftover steamed rice in the fridge – day-old steamed rice is good, but a couple of days old is even better. In fact, fried rice in China and Southeast Asia exists mainly to use up leftover rice.

While there are many countries around the world with wonderful fried-rice style dishes where the rice is boiled, par-boiled or braised, here in Southeast Asia it’s mainly a dish that exists so leftover rice doesn’t go to waste. And that, dear readers, was the subject of a story I spent last week writing, which I’ll tell you more about here soon when it’s published and I’ll share the link.

You won’t see this shrimp fried rice with shrimp paste on menus all over Cambodia, as most Cambodians prefer fish sauce and their beloved fermented fish paste called prahok to shrimp paste in my experience. However, you’ll come across this fried rice dish wherever you find shrimp paste made and sold, whether it’s made from river prawns or prawns from the sea.

If you’d love to learn more about Cambodian cuisine, which is one of the most misunderstood and under-appreciated of Southeast Asian cuisines, then please consider supporting our epic Cambodian culinary history and cookbook project. We’re always looking for patrons and you can support this important, original, first-of-its-kind book on Patreon for as little as US$2 or US$5 a month. If you can’t, please do browse our recipes, particularly our Cambodian recipes.

Shrimp Fried Rice With Shrimp Paste Recipe – How to Make Cambodia’s Bai Cha Kapi

There’s an infinite array of Cambodian fried rice dishes, with each home cook, street food vendor, banquet cook, and restaurant chef adding their own little twists and tweaks to the classic Chinese-Cambodian fried rice, and this shrimp fried rice with shrimp paste recipe is just one of many variations on the classic Cambodian fried rice.

One of the reasons that fried rice is so popular here in Cambodia is that so many Cambodians still cook rice in a pot over an open fire, especially out in the countryside – not everyone can afford electric rice cookers, nor does every village have electricity – so there’re nearly always leftover rice after a big meal.

Home cooks will reach for whatever veggies are ready or herbs they have at hand. Our neighbours, for instance, will pick some leaves from a tree, wander into the yard next door to grab some lemongrass, and, if they have family coming over for a meal, grab one of the chickens or ducks from the yard.

After a big family feast, leftover rice will be used for fried rice the next day and the crunchy bits from the bottom of the pot will be laid out on a tray on the rooftop, steps or motorbike seat to dry in the sun to use as rice crackers, which are served with this Cambodian natang (or in neighbouring Thailand, the Thai take khao tang na tang).

As long as you’re using shrimp paste, this Cambodian shrimp fried rice with shrimp paste recipe could be made with any crustacean, frankly, so don’t get hung up on whether you’re using shrimps or prawns. In its simplest form, I’ve seen this dish sold simply as fried rice with shrimp paste. No other protein, just some diced carrot, Chinese greens and omelette.

If you’ve got some leftover crab meat or someone gave you a box of lobsters you’re struggling to find something to do with (I know, maybe not the best example), or you have some squid or calamari in the fridge, by all means use it. Take inspiration from paella a la marinera (maybe not a great example either, as traditional paella is not made with seafood, and paella is made in a big flat plan, not a wok), but you know what I mean. Feel free to substitute and get creative.

Tips for Making Cambodia’s Shrimp Fried Rice With Shrimp Paste Recipe

We have very few tips for making this Cambodian shrimp fried rice with shrimp paste recipe as it’s just so easy. As with any fried rice dishes, always prep all your ingredients first as you’ll want to work quickly. Take care not to over-do anything. You want your shrimps or prawns to remain firm and just-cooked, not soft and over-done.

You always want your vegetables to be nice and crunchy so they still taste fresh. The beauty of fried rice, like so many dishes, is that contrast of textures that we all love. Nobody wants a fried rice that’s all soft and mushy.

We use a local shrimp paste, but you’ll probably have greater luck finding a Thai shrimp paste than a Cambodian shrimp paste. You could also add a little fish sauce to this if you really love funky, fishy flavours like me. I have to confess to preferring fish sauce to shrimp paste, I can eat fish sauce on absolutely anything, so I recommend you have fish sauce on hand amongst the condiments in your caddy at the centre of the table.

Readers often ask us what fish sauce brand we prefer. We always try to use local Cambodian fish sauce brands for Cambodian dishes but we do recipe-test dishes with Thai fish sauce brands as they seem to be the most ubiquitous around the world, and we find the Thai fish sauce brand Megachef to be the most consistent and our readers have told us that they agree.

Readers also ask us about the wok we use. How we wish we had a fantastic carbon steel wok, but we use an everyday wok we picked up at our local markets in Siem Reap. However, if you’re purchasing your first wok we recommend this seasoned carbon steel wok to get a little bit of that smoky flavour through your shrimp fried rice, which is always desirable in any fried rice.

Cambodian Shrimp Fried Rice With Shrimp Paste Recipe

Shrimp Fried Rice with Shrimp Paste Recipe for Cambodia's Bai Char Kapi. Chinese fried rice recipes. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Shrimp Fried Rice With Shrimp Paste Recipe – How to Make Cambodia's Bai Cha Kapi

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This shrimp fried rice with shrimp paste recipe makes Cambodia’s bai char kapi. If you love the funky flavours of shrimp paste, fish sauce and prahok, you are going to love this recipe. If you don’t then you might just want to leave this as a shrimp fried rice.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Course: Main
Cuisine: Cambodian
Servings: 4
Calories: 442kcal
Author: Lara Dunston

Equipment

  • Carbon Steel Wok

Ingredients

  • 50 g dried shrimp
  • 80 g carrot diced finely
  • 8 pieces Chinese Kale
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 200 g fresh shrimp peeled and chopped
  • 3 eggs beaten
  • 1 tbsp shrimp paste
  • 4 cups day-old steamed rice
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions

  • Soak the dried shrimp in water in a small dish. Finely dice the carrots and separate the pieces of Chinese kale, then blanch both for a few minutes and set aside.
  • Heat a little vegetable oil in a wok on medium high and add the garlic and stir fry until fragrant.
  • Add the shrimps (peeled, heads and tails removed, and chopped into halves or thirds depending on their size) and stir-fry them with the garlic for a minute or so. Do not cook the shrimps right through as you don't want to over-do them and they'll continue to cook through the next couple of stages.
  • Push the shrimps to one side and add the eggs, stir fry as if making scrambled eggs until just-cooked and set the eggs to the side with the shrimps.
  • Add the shrimp paste to the ingredients in the wok, drain the dried shrimp and add those, along with the carrots, kale, cooked rice, salt, pepper, sugar, and soy sauce. Stir-fry, combining everything well, for just a few minutes until cooked.
  • Taste and adjust the salt, pepper, sugar and soy sauce to suit your taste as necessary, and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 442kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 37g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 434mg | Sodium: 2022mg | Potassium: 783mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 14908IU | Vitamin C: 141mg | Calcium: 353mg | Iron: 5mg

Do let us know if you make our Cambodian shrimp fried rice with shrimp paste recipe as we’d love to know how it turns 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.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Miranda says

    September 14, 2020 at 2:47 pm

    Hi, like you, I don’t like too much shrimp paste either. But I guessed that just like anchovies in puttanesca (love your recipe, btw) it tends to melt away and blend. I only put in half a tablespoon and it was pretty well-balanced, but my kids probably would not have liked any more than that! Thank you!5 stars

  2. Lara Dunston says

    September 14, 2020 at 4:06 pm

    Hi Miranda, so pleased it turned out well for you! Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. Much appreciated :)

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Lara and Terence are an Australian-born, Southeast Asia-based travel and food writers and photographers who have authored scores of guidebooks, produced countless travel and food stories, are currently developing cookbooks and guidebooks, and host culinary tours and writing and photography retreats in Southeast Asia.
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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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