Ok so we've been in Siem Reap 3 days and this was our first street food experience. A tuk-tuk driver at our guest house organized a small tour of different stands. We had dumplings and stir fried noodles, grilled fish and mango salad, grilled beef and papya salad and a banana and Nutella crepe - Cambodia was a French colony.
The stir fry actually had flavor (unlike in the establishments surrounding the temples) and that was accentuated by the sweet and sour sauce we added from a bottle on the table... Hmmm was that a good idea? The dumplings were piping hot and filled with scallions and... maybe potatoes? These we ate surrounded by families at the Shu Yu Night Market where carnival rides and their accompanying cacophony were our backdrop.
Next stop a grill stand across from the fish market. The fish was coated in salt and grilled whole over a wood fire. It came with mango salad, shredded green mango in fish sauce - not my favorite. The fish was grilled perfectly and the flavor was mild with just a hint of the salt coming through. A good dish but not great. Also not great? The flies that were constantly buzzing around and the silverware just sitting out in a communal bin. Good idea? What was great was the conversation about life in Cambodia we had with our guide.
Into the city's old market for what I was looking forward to, grilled beef. The beef was juicy and brimming with sweet and smoky flavor. The papya salad with added chili was also very good. The tea with ice cubes and chopsticks from the container on the table? Time will tell.
Finally, on to Pub Street and a leftover from French colonialism -the crepe. Our purveyor was a master of his craft beating the dough into submission quickly slicing the banana onto the dough and folding and flipping the crepe until golden perfection. The result? Inedible. I think the dough must have been left by the French.
All in all a good experience. It was nice to eat where and how the locals do. It figures the only disappointment was the food that is made mainly for tourists.
Tomorrow we hit the market for an early morning breakfast and then a tour to sample the flavors of rural Cambodia with an expat who has been here 20 years.
Thanks for reading!