Cooking a Traditional Thai Green Curry

This is a post from the orphanage I volunteered at in the Kampong Speu region of Cambodia.  Whilst myself and the other volunteers were there the directors were in the process of finding a new cook for the children and volunteers; the previous cook (unfortunately a woman who abused her position and skimmed from the food money and on one occasion beat a child) had been dismissed.  Whilst this was a problem for the orphanage - nannies and the manager had to step up and do the cooking - it gave us a chance to buy local produce from the market and cook for ourselves. 

In our volunteer house we had a simple 2 hob gas cylinder stove - so we had to really think about what we could cook!  We decided ironically, since we were in Cambodia, on a Thai green curry.  So here's our ingredients and recipe:-

Ingredients 

• Onion
• Ginger
• Chilies
• Lime
• Lemongrass
• Coconut milk
• Roast Chicken
• Potato
• Oil

Recipe

1. Peel and chop onion, add to pan with a little oil and sweat down. 
2. Peel, cube and boil 2 baking potatoes 
3. Peel and grate ginger, finely chop chilies (to taste). 
4. Add the lemongrass to the onions and make a paste with the chilies, ginger and lime juice. 
5. Drain potatoes 
6. Add coconut milk to the green paste and mix well.
7. Finally, add roast chicken and potato into the curry sauce and simmer. 

We used a rotisserie chicken bought from a stall that was set up outside the market one day.  The stall only came a few times and we were so happy when it did!  It saved us from having to deal with the somewhat daunting task of cooking the market chickens...

You can garnish the curry with an extra slice of lime, more chilies or some spring onion.

Our hob:

Some of the ingredients from the market:

The coconut cream and roast chicken pieces:

Green curry simmering:

The final result!

I confess to not being a cook back home in Scotland at all, although I do enjoy baking!  So, my little foray into cooking a traditional dish in Cambodia was a surprising success! 

Shopping at local markets can be a shocking experience, but the fresh produce that can be found there is remarkable and the abundance of herbs and spices incredible! So go for it... try cooking with fresh local ingredients when you're traveling. 

A Traditional Cambodian Market: Kompong Speu Province.

In the Kompong Speu province the orphanage is situated in the village of Treng Trayeung - it has a local market where you can get just about anything done from sewing, to hair washing, nails painted, and of course buy local produce and clothing as well as visit my favourite little coffee shop!

I still remember my very first visit to the market - I think it's impossible to forget! - the smell, well, stench of meat, rubbish and all sorts of foods.  There's flies everywhere, and the ladies perch on their stalls with sticks and plastic bags tied to the end of them swatting the flies away (a somewhat futile task, but they persist anyway.)

However, once you get used to it, you can actually see a very interesting and colourful array of foods; including herbs, spices, lentils, meats, fish, eggs, rice, corn plus a whole host of other foods a lot of which I had no idea what they were!

There's also local dishes pre-made and ready to take away and eat; things like curries, fish stews, rice pancakes with beansprouts and warm corn on the cob.  One of the Khmer 'delicacies' which as a Westerner I found difficult to even look at is Balut; a fertilized egg.  In Cambodia it's eaten as a street food just with a little salt and lime!

Vegetable stall

The chicken's which look like rubber dog toys!

Rooster tied to a stall

Fish parts in a bucket...

More chicken parts

The fruit stall where I bought bananas for breakfast

The green spiky fruit is a Durian and they smell so bad hotels have signs saying 'No Durian Allowed'

Shrimp and cockle buckets

Cutting the fish

Hairdressers

I never did find out what these squares are that look like soap - lard maybe?

The vegetable stall I always went to - the lady here loved giving me lots of free chilli's and spring onions! 

Coconut's

Lots of spices and grains, also the black fermented eggs!

More spices, lentils and garlic.

The good eggs I used for making omelette's!

The day the rotisserie chicken's came! So delicious!

Grilled fish

The rotisserie chickens

Mushrooms

More lentils, beans and spices!

Sticky coconut dessert treats the kids loved!

Chickens tied and awaiting their fate...

Colourful Spices!

No part of the animal goes to waste in Khmer culture.

Chopping the pig trotters!

All parts of the cow

Took a strong stomach to take this photo!

Khmer lady at the meat stall. 

Golden Money Tree at the market.

Back to the Coffee Shop...

After shopping at the local market, it's always nice to head to the little oasis among the mayhem which is the coffee house - despite Treng Trayeung being a very poor rural village the family who own the coffee house were always so generous with us: giving us free coffee's and tea (or iced tea if we asked) and one day the mother even cut us up an unripe mango (this is the way the Khmer eat Mango) with salt sugar chilli dip. 

Iced coffee with sweet milk

Cute pot of loose leaf tea

The whole coffee shop family!

The daughter and little brother

I will definitely miss my morning trips to the local market; there was always something new and interesting to discover.  For these local Khmer people of Treng Trayeung this market is where they grow up, where they play, where they learn the skills from their parents and finally where they will take over the market stall from them.  Most children of the families in the market will live here all their lives carrying on the business.  I'm glad I got to experience a local market and ultimately grow to really like it. 

Night Time Market in Phnom Penh

This weekend we ventured back up to Phnom Penh (or PP as it's locally known!) My weekends are spare time to do what I like and I can leave the orphanage to visit other places and sight see.  There are 4 of us just now and we booked Eighty 8 Backpackers Hostel to stay in (review to follow).

One of the best things to do at the weekends in Phnom Penh is visit the night market.  So far I've been to the new market (daytime) and a rural local market; so I was keen to see how this compared.

We took a Tuk Tuk which cost us $2.50 there & back between 4 of us (so super cheap).  Tuk Tuk drivers will usually ask how many people there are & charge $1 per person - this can be haggled down though - so don't accept this first price!

The night market is set up in a huge square, just across from the river front.  It's a bustling hive of activity and the smell of sizzling food is amazing! There are lots of food stalls set up around the square all cooking a variety of Asian dishes.  In the centre is large woven mats where people sit with their food and chat amongst the buzzy atmosphere of the night market.

For our dinner we chose chicken kebabs which had peppers, onions and carrots on the skewers as well.  You could choose which kebabs you wanted and they would barbecue them for you.  See pictures below:

There was also a variety of other obscure delicacies; including chicken feet and whole mice. 

I also had a freshly made shake; you could choose from coconut, mango, pineapple, ginger beer, passion fruit or banana. 

The shake stand

Behind the food stalls were loads of other clothing, flip-flop, jewelry and handbag stalls - it's a great place to just wander round and soak up the atmosphere. Hang on to your bag for dare life though, pickpockets & opportunistic child thieves are common here and even out Tuk Tuk driver warned us about them! 

The mats in the centre for eating. 

Clothing stalls

There was also a stage with lots of entertainers and performers - although the Cambodian sketches were impossible to follow the rest of the crowd seemed to find them hugely funny! 

So, there it is: Phnom Penh's bustling night market!

Thanks for reading :-)