Khmer Chicken Curry (Curry Sarch Mann)

There are many kinds of curry and it makes little different taste by different countries.We know that curry is originally from India, and by the culture influence, the curry has become one of our Khmer national dishes and since then it was adapted by other countries in the same region. Khmer curry might be not exactly same like Indian curry but more closer to Thai curry. For Cambodians, curry is a very special food and is cooked only for special event or occasion only, for example on Khmer New Year, Pchum Ben or a special day. And by the traditional and local way, to cook curry takes longer time as we have to make our own fresh curry paste from fresh Lemongrass, Turmeric, Kaffir Lime leaf, Garlic, Shallot…etc before cooking, even such peanuts are used in the curry paste as well (I remember when my mother told me to grind and mix all those lemongrass, turmeric…with our heavy stone mortar & pestle; I was very lazy to do it as it took like 30minutes to get all of them ground & mixed well together, and when finished my hands were yellow color - it took a few days to get the color gone from my hands). We even have to make and take the milk from the coconut. So it’s a long process to get all done. And we never cook for a few portions but with a big pot which could serve 10people or enough to eat for 2-3days. This is a story of curry from my experience. But since there is ready-made-curry-paste is available, I never want to think of making my own paste anymore. Curry can be cooked with many kinds of meat such as beef, chicken or pork. But the fast recipe is chicken because chicken is tender, - no need to cook longer time like beef or pork. And as I have mentioned in my note that I don’t use fish sauce in my recipe while the local taste needs to use fish sauce and shrimp paste extra for cooking; however, you will find out that it’s also great and delicious without using stinky fish sauce and shrimp paste even more healthier for sure.

Recipe for One Portion:

Ingredients: 200g of Chicken thigh boneless and skinless (or chicken breast), 1 mid size of Potato, 1 mid size of Onion, 1/2of mid size of Eggplant, 400ml of Coconut Milk, 100ml of Low Fat Milk, 2sp of Oil, 1sp of Red Curry Paste, 2 + ½ tsp of Sugar and 1 + ½ tsp of Salt.

Method: 

1. Slice chicken into small pieces, peel and chop potato and onion into small pieces. Chop eggplant into small pieces as in the picture, do not need to peel the skin.

2. Heat up pot and pure oil then put red curry paste to fry for 1minute. After that put chicken to fry for another 1minute. Then pure coconut milk, low fat milk and chopped potato in and mix them well together, after that cover and cook for 5minutes.

3. After 5minutes, open and start to put sugar and salt in. Stir it well little bit, then put chopped onion and eggplant. Cover and cook around 10minutes. Add extra salt or sugar up to favorite, then ready to serve with Steamed Rice.

Note: Red Curry Paste is spicy so do not need to put extra red chili.

Language Tip = English =) Khmer

Chicken = Sarch Mann

Coconut = Dong

Coconut Milk = Kti Dong

Delicious = Chha nanh

Lemon Grass = Sleuk Krie

Milk = Teuk Dess Ko

Special = Pi Sess

Stinky = Sar Ouy

Glass Noodle Salad With Chicken Breast (Nhoam Me Soor Sach Mann)

Glass noodle salad is one of the main food that considered as a lunch or dinner for Cambodians. We love it as much as other kinds of salad. The preparation doesn't take much longer than preparing the vegetable salad, just a few more minutes to cook chicken breast and soften the glass noodle but the methods are same. Different vegetables and meat are used depending on favorite, but to be a real Khmer glass noodle salad - Khmer/Asian basil, bean sprouts and fish sauce are mainly used, and by the local flavor we usually use bacon rather than chicken breast. However, the recipe here is invented by my own favorite and up to where i am now, i create it by using the vegetables that are easy to find. As i mentioned previously, we can make salad from available veggies that we have in our kitchen, make it easy (not complicate)... the delicious foods are depended on the cook and to be a good cook must know how to create a food from what we have, so try and let's see how it works for you! 

Recipe for Two Persons:
Ingredients: A small pack of Glass Noodle (80g or 100g depends on the pack size), 200g of Chicken Breast, 1/2 Tomato, 1/2 Carrot, 1/2 of a green spicy Paprika, 100g of Iceberg Salad, 50g of Cabbage, 1/4 of a Purple Onion (or 2cloves of Shallot), 2cloves of Garlic, 2sp of fresh Lemon or Lime juice, 1/2sp of Sugar, and 2tsp of Salt.
Method: 
1. Peel and slice carrot, tomato, paprika, iceberg, cabbage and purple onion into very thin and small pieces. Peel and chop garlic into very small pieces, and smash the peanuts a little bit.
2. Put glass noodle in hot water and bring to boil for 3minutes, then rinse out with cool water and keep to use. And steam chicken breast in pot, make sure well done. Then slice chicken breast into pieces of finger size.
3. After all, start to put all veggies, chopped garlic, smashed peanut, glass noodle and chicken breast that prepared already mix them well together with lemon juice, sugar and salt. Then taste it whether sweet-sour and salty enough up to favorite.

Note: If you don't like peanut do not use it, but i suggest to use to bring great taste, and if you love basil (few leaves) and bean sprout (100g) use them for your ingredients. And don't forget your chop sticks to serve if you like, but for Cambodians we use fork and spoon :)
Language Tip: English =) Khmer
Glass Noodle = Me Soor
Chicken = Sach Mann
Make Salad = Nhoam
Tomato = Peng Pors
Carrot = Karrot
Slice = Jit (J pronounces like joy)
Peel = Bork 
Mix = Chro Bal, Nhoam
Sweet = Pha aem
Sour = Jou (J is pronounced like joy)
Salty = Prai 

Yummy Caramelized Pork (Khor Sach Chrok)

When you hear about 'Caramel', in your thoughts it must be a kind of sweet dessert but the Caramel here is a kind of food. Caramelized Pork is a very delicious Khmer food, and it's one of my favorite. We can cook with different kinds of meat such as: Beef, Fish or Pork, but Cambodian people like to cook by Pork, esp boneless pork thigh with fat and skin which gives fantastic taste.The way of cooking are same, but different period of cooking, short or long time is depended on how tender the meat. Recipe below I choose pork with little fat. This food can be served with steamed Rice or Bread up to favorite.

Recipe for Two-Three persons: 

Ingredients: 800g of Pork, 1big size of Carrot (about 200g), 6cloves of Garlic, 4sp of Sugar, 2sp of Soy Sauce, 1tsp of Salt and 1/2tsp of Grind Pepper.

Method:
1. Cut Pork into cube pieces as in the picture, peel out skin of Carrot then cut into pieces, peel Garlic and chop each of Garlic into half.

2. Heat up pot and put sugar in, make it caramel, then put chopped garlic in, cook it a bit in caramel. After that put pork, carrot, soy sauce and pepper mix them together into caramel, then cover.

3. After 10minutes, open the cover and turn meat to other side to get caramel color on meat. Make sure to have some water enough in the pot, avoid burn. But usually when cook, the water come out from the meat if not, have to add small amount (about 150ml) of water in.

4. Then cover and cook it with small flame about 30-45minutes to make meat become very soft & tender. After that put 1tsp of salt in, and cook about 15minutes more, then taste it...add extra salt or sugar up to your need and it's ready to serve.

Serving: Add a bit of Coriander, Parsley or Spring Onion on the top if you like it.

Language Tip: English =) Khmer

Carrot = Karot

Caramel = Chhoeng, 

Cook = Chom In, Slor(often used)

Cut = Kat

Eat = Nyam

Delicious = Chha Nhanh

Garlic = Khtoem Sor

Like = Chol Chit

Peel = Bork

Pepper = Mar Rich

Pork = Sach Chrok

Soy Sauce = Toek Sa Iv

Salt = Om Berl

Slice = Chit

Spring Onion = Sloek Khtoem

Sugar = Skor Sor

Stir-Fried Eggplant With Minced Meat (Chhar Trop)

Fried eggplant with minced meat is a common food for Cambodians. Usually, we first bake eggplant until it became very soft all part, and then peel out its skin before slice and take it to fry with minced meat. But here, I choose an easier and faster way for those who have no much time, and it's also delicious this way. I cook it this way most of the time, I rarely bake it. We can fry eggplant with different meats(pork, chicken, beef...sliced or minced meat..etc or without meat, up to favorite), it is served with steamed rice.

Recipe for One person:
Ingredients: 1 medium size eggplant, 150g of minced meat (Pork), 10g of spring onion, 4cloves of garlic, 2sp of oyster sauce, 2sp of oil, 1/2tsp of salt and 1tsp of sugar.

Method:
1. Peel the skin of eggplant and chop it as size of finger, chop garlic into small pieces, and cut spring onion as small pieces.

2. Heat up the frying pan, pure oil in. Then put the garlic and fry it till get good smell. After that fry minced meat with it for a while, then put oyster sauce, salt and sugar in. Stir it well together again before put sliced eggplants.

3. Put sliced eggplants in, then stir it a bit and cover it about 10minutes. Then  put it on a plate, and add spring onion that prepared on the top. It's ready to serve with steamed rice.

Language Tip: English =) Khmer

Chop = Pus

Eat = Nyam

Eggplant = Plaer Trop

Garlic = Khtoem Sor

Fry = Chhar

Oil = Preng Chhar

Minced Meat = Sat Chenh Chram

Peel = Bork

Pork = Sach Chrok

Salt = Om Berl

Slice = Chhit

Spring Onion = Sloek Khtoem

Sugar = Skor Sor

Stir-Fried Chicken With Ginger (Chhar Knhei Sach Marnn)

This is one of my favorite food. I got recipe from my father who is very good at cooking (he's not a cook but loved cooking though his real profession's engineering); as I remember, I was 9 years old at that time. This recipe has always reminded me of my childhood (the time I was my dad's assistant in our small lovely kitchen, listened to the nice music from an old radio while cooking, during 90s what music that we often heard playing on radio are the music of 60s and those are real music not like now). I believe there are so many things that passed already but are still the nice memories which always stay with us anytime and anywhere, and the importance it makes us happy again whenever we think of it. It's simple but delicious for sure. 

Recipe for Two persons:

Ingredients: 100g of  Ginger (choose the young one), 10g of Spring Onion, 500g of Chicken breast, 5cloves of Garlic, 5sp of Oil, 1tsp of Salt, and 2tsp of Sugar.

 

Method: 

1. Slice Chicken breast into pieces as size of Basil leaf,  not too thick or thin. Peel out the skin of Ginger then slice it into small pieces and very thin (strips). Cut Spring Onion into pieces (3cm long), & mince the garlic.

2. Heat up frying pan then pure the oil that you prepared in, after the oil hot put the minced garlic in for 10 seconds then put ginger strips and fry it together till become a bit light brown color to have nice smell (not too brown, otherwise it will have bitter burnt taste). Then put chicken in and stir it well, after that cover for 5 minutes.  

3. Start to put salt and sugar in, and stir it for awhile then taste weather it's sweet and salted as you want or not (add extra salt or sugar up to you flavor). And last, put the spring onion in and mix it well  for a second then ready to serve.

Note: This food is served with steamed rice (recommended, Jusmine rice).

Language Tip: English =) Khmer 

Chicken = Sach Marnn
Chop = Pus
Garlic = Khtoem Sor

Ginger = Knhei

Fry = Chhar

Oil = Preng Chhar

Peel = Bork

Salt = Om Berl

Sugar = Skor Sor

Slice = Chit

Spring Onion = Sloek Khtoem