On our last day in Siem Reap, I skipped the sightseeing and decided to take a Khmer cooking class. Like I said before, I didn't always enjoy the food there but this trip made me change my mind a little bit-especially with the amok chicken I ate for three days straight. It's now my new favorite food and I've been using my home made amok paste in my kitchen the past couple nights.
You'll be able to find a lot of places to learn how to cook, specially on Pub Street, but a friend recommended Le Tigre de Papier, so I went with that. Put aside about 3 hours to make a starter and a main while they provide dessert. The class starts with a tour of the wet market section of the Old Market. I lasted about 10 minutes before I saw a huge rat and panicked. I know that this doesn't make this whole cooking class business sound very enticing but believe me, there are rats in ANY food market you will go to, specially a wet market in a developing country so don't let this stop you.
Thankfully, all our ingredients came from the restaurant and not bought from the market. I breathed a sigh of relief lol
I decided to make amok chicken as my main + fried spring rolls as my starter.
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| The wet market at the Old Market |
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| The taste of Cambodia-> shallots, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, turmeric, chili, kaffir lime |
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| Filling for the spring rolls included taro, sweet potato, carrots and shrimps |
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| Finished product-fried spring rolls + Amok chicken= yumminess! |
Afterwards, my family picked me up and we went to a Buddhist temple to get "our futures told" Though not really tarot cards or palm reading, we were able to experience our cards being read by elders and monks.
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| You can buy animals such as turtles and birds to give as offerings (you release them later on) Look at this poor guy running for his life. |
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| Choosing a card. My future is bright <3 (if it's not good, they won't read it to you!) |
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| A monk in his saffron robe |
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| Ananda offering her incense after her prayer |
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Lastly, we went to Artisans d'Angkor, a school that teaches its students how to master a particular craft, be it textiles, painting, wood work or silver, among other things. Worth a visit for some (more expensive but better quality) souvenirs!
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| The silk process |
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| Student at work |
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| Worth a visit! |
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| Last meal was Cambodian Barbecue. So-so. Make your meal a bit more special by going somewhere else (we did have crocodile and frog meat here though) |
That's it Cambodia. See you again soon! I love you so much!
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