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| outside Ta Prohm |
We were a bit miffed to arrive, after bumping over unpaved roads, at a boat dock and told it was another $15 each to see the floating village. We had naively been under the impression he would take us ashore from the village. We later discovered why. The floating village really is floating in the middle of Tonle Sap Lake's shallow shores.
We know the country as Cambodia, but the history and region are Khmer. What's that? The empire that built Angkor Wat and many other temples through Southeast Asia was the Khmer empire. The empire ran through today's Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam and ran from about the 8th century to the 13th century. Today the term "Khmer" is still used throughout the country.
When you walk through areas that cater to tourists the restaurants will often have signs saying what foods they serve: Western, Thai, Khmer. The difference between Thai and Khmer food is primarily spiciness. Thai food uses a lot more peppers to get really firey hot in spice level. Khmer food is spicy in terms of flavor versus heat. Thai curry will be hot spicy, Khmer curry would be considered mild and often doesn't have any peppers in it at all.
The two national dishes would be considered Amok and Lok Lak. Amok can be made with any meat or fish and can be described as close to a green curry, but again, without the spicy heat. Lok Lak, usually beef, is served on a bed of lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes and dipped in a sauce consisting of lime juice, salt and black Kampot pepper.
When you walk through areas that cater to tourists the restaurants will often have signs saying what foods they serve: Western, Thai, Khmer. The difference between Thai and Khmer food is primarily spiciness. Thai food uses a lot more peppers to get really firey hot in spice level. Khmer food is spicy in terms of flavor versus heat. Thai curry will be hot spicy, Khmer curry would be considered mild and often doesn't have any peppers in it at all.
The two national dishes would be considered Amok and Lok Lak. Amok can be made with any meat or fish and can be described as close to a green curry, but again, without the spicy heat. Lok Lak, usually beef, is served on a bed of lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes and dipped in a sauce consisting of lime juice, salt and black Kampot pepper.
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| Khmer BBQ pan |
My first post on Cambodian food covered national dishes. This post is mostly photos from my visit to the local food market in Siem Reap. First, let me share a video of a roadside snack. I had read about these rice snacks on the internet and so when I saw them on the road to Tonle Sap Lake, I had our tuk tuk driver stop.
This is a chè vendor. It's a dessert made with sweet syrup or pudding and then whatever you want: beans, jellies, tapioca pearls, fruit, etc.
This is a chè vendor. It's a dessert made with sweet syrup or pudding and then whatever you want: beans, jellies, tapioca pearls, fruit, etc.
I've been eating a lot more Asian food this last year. In particular, I've been ordering a lot of ramen and then making a lot of congee at home with my homemade bone broth. I often use a rotisserie chicken for my congee, but pork is my favorite meat and I wanted something with more flavor to top off the congee.
I've tweaked a recipe I found on the internet by adding a few more ingredients and adjusting the amounts. I wanted the pork to be on the saucier side.
Asian-style Pulled Pork
1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp ground allspice
1/3 cup brown or coconut sugar
2 Thai chilis - minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp sesame oil
3 lbs pork shoulder
In a slow cooker combine all the ingredients except the pork. Turn the heat on to high for about 5 minutes in order to melt the sugar into the liquids.
Cut the pork shoulder into large chunks. Put into slow cooker and toss to coat with the sauce. Lower the heat to low and cook for 6 hours.
Take two forks and shred the tender pork into pieces, coating and mixing with the sauce that has been created.
Use to top noodles, rice, congee, ramen, or to fill steam buns.
Many times tourists traveling to Thailand will also venture to Cambodia to see the famed Angkor Wat temples. After all, it's only a 30 minute flight or day's journey away. Had I understood my friend's visa predicament, I would have flown directly into Cambodia, but instead I landed in Bangkok and had to make my way to join him.
The city near Angkor Wat is Siem Reap. You can get a connecting flight there from Bangkok for as little as $50, I'm told, but I opted to take the land journey. This gave me two options - train or bus. In the end I took the bus after my friend had taken the train the day before. Here is what we learned and why I recommend the bus.
Train
My friend's Thai visa ran out and so he needed to be out of the country or pay a fine for overstaying his visa. Therefore, he had to cross to Cambodia on the day that I was flying over from the U.S. and he could not wait for me. He opted to take the train and later discouraged me from taking it myself.
There are two daily trains that leave for the border with Cambodia - at 05:55 in the morning and the afternoon one at 1:05. They start at Hualamphong station in downtown Bangkok and make a few stops as it heads out of the city. In fact, when I was deciding, my hotel concierge was telling me not to go all the way downtown so early in the morning when the train was going to pass by a closer station to my airport hotel anyway. The issue, according to my friend Rod, is seats. He got on at the Hualamphong station and ended up with the last seat. He warned me if I got on at a later station, I risked having to stand for part of the journey, who knows how long.
The city near Angkor Wat is Siem Reap. You can get a connecting flight there from Bangkok for as little as $50, I'm told, but I opted to take the land journey. This gave me two options - train or bus. In the end I took the bus after my friend had taken the train the day before. Here is what we learned and why I recommend the bus.
Train
My friend's Thai visa ran out and so he needed to be out of the country or pay a fine for overstaying his visa. Therefore, he had to cross to Cambodia on the day that I was flying over from the U.S. and he could not wait for me. He opted to take the train and later discouraged me from taking it myself.
There are two daily trains that leave for the border with Cambodia - at 05:55 in the morning and the afternoon one at 1:05. They start at Hualamphong station in downtown Bangkok and make a few stops as it heads out of the city. In fact, when I was deciding, my hotel concierge was telling me not to go all the way downtown so early in the morning when the train was going to pass by a closer station to my airport hotel anyway. The issue, according to my friend Rod, is seats. He got on at the Hualamphong station and ended up with the last seat. He warned me if I got on at a later station, I risked having to stand for part of the journey, who knows how long.
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| We called it Pigeon Park, in front of Royal Palace, because locals sell corn and feed the pigeons |
My trip this month to Cambodia had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. A friend is traveling Southeast Asia and when he said he was going to Angkor Wat, I mentioned it was on my Things to Do Before I Die list. When I found an airfare for as low as $522 round trip, I couldn't pass it up. It's been 30 years since I was last in Asia - 1986. In that time the internet and wi-fi have come into existence as well as dozens of new airlines. It's made travel that much easier and affordable.
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| with our tuk tuk driver, Mr. Song |
I've just returned from two weeks in Cambodia and I was pretty impressed. While it's still a developing country, it has a lot going for it. Cambodians are very friendly people and we had nothing but pleasant encounters with everyone.
They work in US Dollars $$$! Talk about making life so much easier! Most of the time you will find things priced in US Dollars, but if you ask, they'll quickly tell you the dollar equivalent price from their Riel. Because they only work with paper money, you may end up getting change back in a mixture of dollars and riels. For instance, if your bill comes to $8.50 and you give them a $10 bill, you'll get $1 and then 2000 riel in change. Basically, 1000 riel equals a quarter. When coming from the U.S., bring nice, crisp bills. They do not want old, raggedy dollars and I even saw a restaurant argue over accepting a $20 with a rip.
In the mood for some Middle Eastern fare this weekend? (Oct 22/23) I have a couple options.
The first one is an annual event, so you only have Saturday in which to attend. The Armenian Food Festival takes place at St. James Church in Midtown from 11am to 8pm. While Armenia does not fall in the Middle East, the foods have merged and reflected the influence of Armenian resettlement communities, namely Persia and Lebanon.
The Festival is a great party bringing together the greater Sacramento community.
Many of the colorful cuisines featured at the St. James Armenian Food Festival originated and matured in Constantinople (Instanbul) where Armenians had a viable community life during the Byzantine Period.
Date: October 22, 2016
Time: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Location: Trinity Cathedral Great Hall, 2620 Capitol Ave, Sacramento, CA 95816
Admission: Free until 5 p.m. After 5 p.m.: $5 General/$2 Seniors/Free for children under 12
Menu: Traditional Armenian foods including shish kebab, pilaf, kufta, lamajhoon, yalanchi, kadif, bourma and more.
The second one is Kasbah on J Street. Kasbah is the hookah lounge located across from Tapa the World. Formerly owned by the same owners as Tapa, it was bought by employees Debbie Chang and Tanya Azar, who have tweaked the menus.
The food reflects the flavors of the Mediterranean, utilizing spices and flavors of the Middle East and North Africa, and lending themselves to sharing and socializing. You can
toast with Kasbah's selection of worldly cocktails and beverages such as BrazilianCaipirinhas, Lebanese wines and a selection of beers from around the world.
Inside there are comfy cushion banks akin to floor seating in the Mideast, or choose regular table dining.
If you want, you can choose to enjoy smoking a hookah out on the patio. On weekends you can enjoy the dancing of talented belly dancers.
At a media event we enjoyed an array of small bites, including hummus, baba ganouj, grilled veggie kabobs, and kefta tagine meatballs. Everything had an abundance of flavor from the adept use of spices.
The one worrisome bite was the stuffed dates. They are stuffed with chorizo and blue cheese and then battered and deep fried. In all my years eating Mideastern food, that's a new one for me. While I get the need to kinda bind the whole thing together for cooking, I'd rather forgo the batter and roast them in an oven instead.
That aside, we had an enjoyable time and at Kasbah, finishing off with fresh made baklava.
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| courtesy of Cityscape Lounge |
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| courtesy of Cityscape |
Now there is a new old place for the most spectacular views of San Francisco. Make your way up to the 46th floor of the Hilton at Union Square to the newly reopened Cityscape Lounge. Originally opened in 1971, it has been closed to the public since 2008 while it was used for private parties only. It is now open to the public from 5 to midnight every day.
What makes Cityscape so outstanding is the breathtaking 360 degree views through 14 foot floor to ceiling windows. It also helps that the Hilton's Tower 1 benefits from not having any other skyscrapers directly around it to obstruct the view. From this vantage point you can see:
- the Golden Gate Bridge
- part of the Bay Bridge
- Angel Island
- Coit Tower
- Union Square
- Nob Hill
- even Mt. Diablo over the top of the Oakland Hills!
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| toward Angel Island |
The Lounge itself is two levels. The center is where the bar is and there is plenty of seating at a higher level which provides a more expansive vantage point. The lower level has comfy couch seating at the windows for great distance views. All or part of the lounge can be reserved for private parties and events. In our case, we were at the northeast corner of the building with views spanning the Golden Gate to the Bay Bridge.
To get to Cityscape, go to the Hilton on O'Farrell Street and look for the Tower 1 elevators behind registration.
More pictures:
Some of the highlights from the locally-inspired menu include:
» Avocado Hummus with farmer’s market vegetables, unfiltered olive oil and lavosh
» Spiced Cucumbers with sesame, crushed chile, scallion and burnt peanut
» Ahi-Salmon-Hamachi Poke, sweet onion, inamona jus, micro wasabi and lotus root chips
» Dungeness Crab with spicy giardineria, natural tobiko and grilled brioche
» Cheese and Charcuterie with beet pickled egg, quince, grain mustard and lavosh
Signature cocktails include:
» Nob Hill Manhattan
» Noe Valley Old Fashioned
» Pacific Heights – Martell Cordon Bleu Cognac, Cointreau and squeeze of lemon
» Presidio – Maestro Dobel Diamond Tequila, St. Germain, ruby red grapefruit and lime
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| center lounge area |
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| bar |
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| toward Oakland at sunset |
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| Golden Gate to Angel Island |
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| courtesy of Cityscape Lounge |
