Cambodian Shrimp Skewers

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

This recipe was so tasty that I'm going to add it to my permanent collection to enjoy on a regular basis. The reicpe is deceptively simple and easy, needing nothing more than a pound of shrimp, some scallions, garlic, salt and pepper, and a little cornstarch to hold it all together. After shaping the shrimp paste on bamboo skewers, I grilled them to a golden brown on my electric grill. The finished appetizers were so tasty that they needed no condiment, and disappeared faster than you can say 'bamboo'.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month along with my 'Lord Jim' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

01:28 AM PDT Permalink |

Deep-Fried Spring Rolls

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

These crispy little treats were the star of the show. I used ground turkey for the meat element of the filling, along with shredded carrot and cabbage, scallions, and garlic. I seasoned the filling with fish sauce, soy sauce, and oyster sauce, and served the deep-fried rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce. The result was so tasty that I was grateful that the recipe made two dozen rolls, so there were enough left over for dinner the next evening.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month along with my 'Lord Jim' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

05:01 PM PDT Permalink |

Rice Paper Fish Rolls

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

Every time I make any kind of Southeast Asian cuisine, I always make some variation of these light and lovely rice paper rolls. This time, I grilled some catfish to add to the filling of red leaf lettuce, fresh mint, grated carrot, and julienne cucumbers. The flavors of Asian fish sauce, lime juice and rice vinegar in the dipping sauce completes the dish.

The recipe will be posted at the end of the month along with my 'Lord Jim' film review.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

05:11 PM PDT Permalink |

Spotlight on Spice: Lemongrass

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

Lemongrass is one of the most widely used elements in Asian, Caribbean and African cuisines. Its scientific classification is Plantae Magnokiophyta Liliopsida Poales Poaceae Cymbopogon. There are about fifty five different species of lemongrass, which are also known as barbed wire grass, fever grass, citronella grass, silky heads, and Hierba Luisa. Lemongrass is a perennial, native to temperate and tropical climates, where it grows in thick tufts.

Lemongrass adds a citrus-like flavor to recipes, and is available fresh, dried, or powdered. Only the soft, inner core of fresh lemongrass is edible, but the harder stalks may be crushed to release its flavor and aroma. Lemongrass is used to flavor teas, soups, and stews, and is also valued for its antiseptic and medicinal properties. Citronella grass is used as a mosquito repellent, as well as in perfumes, soaps, and candles.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

02:08 PM PDT Permalink |

Sources for Cambodian Ingredients

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

Many if not most of the ingredients needed to prepare a Cambodian meal are quite readily available at grocery stores and Asian markets. But in the event that you don't have a variety market in your community, you can order most of these products at AsianFoodGrocer.com, GroceryThai.com, and ImportFood.com.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

04:10 PM PDT Permalink |

Cambodian Serving Dishes

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

When I make tropical foods, I like to use colorful serving dishes. Most of the time, I like to use natural materials such as baskets and bamboo. And since there's a lot of seafood on this menu, I'm going with standard ceramic dishes in a palette of blues and greens.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

04:08 PM PDT Permalink |

Special Cambodian Cooking Utensils

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

In addition to my regular cookware, for my 'Lord Jim' Cambodian menu, I will need a wok, and a grill. Since a charcoal grill yields better flavor, I'm going to make the extra effort to build a fire instead of using my electric countertop grill. The dishes that will be grilled outdoors are the beef skewers, the pork and pineapple skewers, the chicken wings, and the pork ribs.

To subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

04:06 PM PDT Permalink |

Beverages to Go With a Cambodian Meal

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

Most of the Cambodian beverages I've been able to discover are fruit based concoctions like blended smoothies and tropical punch. Cambodia also has a national brewery, however, I doubt that I will be able to find any Cambodian beer here in town. So I may have to settle for a more widely distributed Asian beer like TsingTao. Or I may even serve a lightly sweet wine such as White Zinfandel or Johannesburg Riesling. The flavors of Cambodian food are quite similar to Thai food, with lots of coconut milk and ginger, both of which go well with sweeter, more fruity wines. Hibiscus tea also sounds tasty. So...Maybe I will serve a variety of several different beverages.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

04:02 PM PDT Permalink |

Deciding on My 'Lord Jim' Cambodian Menu

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

For my 'Lord Jim' Cambodian menu, I have decided on an abundant array of finger foods:

Rice Paper Fish Rolls
Deep-Fried Chicken Spring Rolls
Shrimp Paste Skewers
Beef Skewers
Pork and Pineapple Skewers
Prawn and Vegetable Stir Fry
Broiled Chicken Wings
Cambodian Fish Cakes
Roast Pork Ribs
Spicy Noodle Stir Fry

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

10:18 AM PDT Permalink |

Researching Cambodian Recipes

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

Most of my inspiration for my 'Lord Jim' Cambodian menu came from the KhmerKrom website. However, similar versions of many of those same recipes are contained in my cookbooks. As usual, the recipes I create for my menu will be adapted and synthesized from them all.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

12:08 AM PDT Permalink |

Cambodian Cookbooks

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

Among the many cookbooks in my library, only Corinne Trang's Essentials of Asian Cuisine, The Complete Chinese and Asian Cookbook, and Bangkok to Bali in 30 Minutes have any Cambodian recipes. These handy volumes, which have served me faithfully through many Asian meals, have quite a few choices. But I'm still probably going to get some of my inspiration from the web.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

03:25 PM PDT Permalink |

Cambodian Recipes on the Web

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

When researching Cambodian food on the Internet, a simple keyword search for 'cambodia recipes' turned up 162,000 hits. I only had to visit a few of the top sites to discover more than enough recipes for a Cambodian dinner. So, with remarkably little effort, I have already begun to develop Lord Jim Cambodian menu. Here are four of the best:

KhmerKrom Recipes

AsiaRecipe.com

Cambodian Cooking Class

Asia Online Recipes

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

01:47 PM PDT Permalink |

My Cambodian Cooking Experience

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

In my four years of creating menus for Chopstick Cinema, I have featured Cambodian food twice. My first menu included Lemongrass Broth with Chicken and Rice, Marinated Seafood with Mango Salsa over Cambodian Cole Slaw, Carmelized Shrimp, White Fish Steamed in Banana Leaves (Amok Trei), Vegetable Stir-Fry Medley with Baby Corn, Jasmine Rice, and Coconut Pudding with Tropical Fruits. Last year's Cambodian menu featured Cambodian Fish Cakes, Sweet & Spicy Pork Ribs, Ginger Chicken Wings, Pork Skewers with Coconut, Fresh Spring Rolls with Ginger Dipping Sauce, and a Pickled Vegetable Medley. Both were tasty and successful. But I've still never eaten in a Cambodian restaurant...

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

01:43 PM PDT Permalink |

Stocking a Cambodian Pantry

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

I've been preparing Asian food for ChopstickCinema for four years now, so my pantry is pretty well stocked with the basics. For a Cambodian menu, I will need Asian fish sauce (nam pla), soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, coconut, lime, mint, corriander, basil, lemongrass, chili peppers, kafir lime leaves, curry powder, and sesame oil. And with the exception of the fresh ingredients such as limes, mint, basil, chili peppers, garlic, and lemongrass, I have pretty much everything I need.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

11:26 PM PDT Permalink |

Popular Cambodian Favorites

This Month's Film: Lord Jim
Cuisine: Cambodian

A dish called Amok Trei, seasoned fish or meats steamed in banana leaf parcels, is considered by some to be the national dish of Cambodia.

Appetizers (Mahope-Sra) include spring rolls, both fresh and deep fried, grilled chicken wings, skewered meats, dumplings, frog legs, fried seafoods, and fish cakes.

Soups (Salor) tend to be broth-based, such as hot and sour, or savory stews, featuring a seemingly endless variety of vegetables such as winter melon, spinach, taro root, cabbage, mushrooms, as well as all kinds of meats and seafoods. And Rice Soup (Bor-Bo), is a traditional favorite.

Salads (Nhoam and Lap) are often topped with meats or marinated seafoods.

There are an infinite number of Stir-fry combinations (Char), many of which are categorized as Caramelized (Kho).

Deep-fried dishes (Chien) are popular and widely varied, as are steamed dishes (Chamhoy), boiled dishes (Sngo), grilled meats and fish (Dot), as well as those that are baked or broiled (Ang).

Fried Rice (Bai Lieng) and Fried Noodles or Noodle Soups (Num Pa-Chok, Mee, Katiev Char) are everyday staples.

Many dishes are served with tangy dipping sauces (Tirk Salouk), which are made with lime juice and fish sauce, seasoned with ginger, chili peppers, garlic and other seasonings.

Desserts often take the form of puddings and custards, made with coconut and fresh fruits.

For questions, comments, or to subscribe to Chopstick Cinema's monthly menu and film review, send e-mail to cheiter at thingsasian dot com

11:47 PM PDT Permalink |