Khmer Cooking Class

One of the most unique things to do while visiting a country is to take a cooking class and make some local food. We scheduled a class with Le Tigre de Papier Cooking School. We took a three hour class which includes a trip to the local market. They provide you with a menu to choose the specific dishes you want to cook. This school is different from others I have seen. Most have a set menu of food that everyone cooks simultaneously. There were 12 people in our class. We each chose one starter and one entrée. I opted for fresh spring rolls with shrimp and amok chicken. Douglas selected tom yum soup and amok scallops. (Amok is a local dish made with your choice of meat. It is served with rice.) Our group chose mango sticky rice for the dessert.

We began with a walk across the street to the Old Market, known as Psah Chas. It is a massive outlet located in the center of the city and carries everything from food, clothing, souvenirs, and cleaning products, and it even has hair salons and nail shops. Who would want to get their hair or nails done in this outdoor, overly crowded, dirty market is beyond me. Every inch of it is occupied by vendors. Our cooking teacher led us directly to the food section. She walked us through the aisles of fresh produce and raw meat. There were several things I could identify but there were much more that I could not. If you are squeamish, have a weak stomach, or if you are a germaphobe, you would not last one minute in this market. The smell was almost unbearable at times, but the produce looked good and very fresh. The instructor pointed out all the ingredients that are used for Khmer cuisine. She also explained some of the many unrecognizable fruits and vegetables we passed. In less than 30 minutes we made it through the entire food section and back to the restaurant to start cooking.

Everyone was given an apron and chef’s hat. All the ingredients and tools we needed were laid out for us to begin prepping. The instructor did a good job showing us how to do each step correctly. It was a long process but we learned a lot about Khmer cuisine. At the end of the day we all ate our food with great joy and pride for what we created. Everything was delicious!

The instructor for the class

Food section inside the Old Market

unsure of the name of this one...

mushrooms

tiger prawns

sweet potato chips

Amok seasoning is very popular in Cambodia.

Bowl of lemon water provided for us to clean our hands before cooking. Despite how they look, they are lemons, not limes.

All dressed and ready to cook!

Ingredients for fresh spring rolls - carrots, cucumbers, lemongrass, bean sprouts, and basil

Prep time...

....pounding lemongrass

vegetables have been shredded, chopped, and separated

Ingredients for amok chicken

Amok seasoning ingredients...lemongrass, garlic, shallot, ginger root, and turmeric

Minced vegetables get mashed in the bowl, called a pilon (wooden mortar and pestle)

We mashed those ingredients for about 10 to 15 minutes. It was a serious arm workout!

instructor shows us how to cut a carrot for decoration

very nice...seemed pretty easy.

our turn...

It's not as easy as it looks...

boiling vegetables for fresh spring rolls.

cooking shrimp for spring rolls

all ready to stuff the spring rolls

Rice paper is used to wrap the spring rolls. Dip the rice paper in a bowl of water and place on wooden board. Use fingers to add more water to any dry spots.

Final product....fresh spring rolls with fish sauce.

melting palm sugar, a key ingredient in Khmer dishes

Ingredients for tom yum soup - onion, lemongrass, tomato, mushroom, coriander, galangal, sweet chili, hot chili, garlic, and ginger

begin by placing a few ladles of hot water into pan

the men working hard....all were making tom yum soup

next you add the vegetables, chicken, spices, chicken powder (not stock), and palm sugar

pouring the finished product into bowls

Completed tom yum soup

3 1/2 hours later.....our meals are ready to eat. Everything was so flavorful and scrumptious. It probably tasted even better because by this time, we were starving!