K went for a decidedly healthy fruit salad with yoghurt and muesli. I chose the Khmer breakfast soup, called borbor (also babar or bobor). This dish apparently has roots in the Chinese rice porridge, congee, variations of which are found all over Asia. However, this rendering, besides being vegetarian, was less a gluey rice gruel and more of a barley broth consistency. Made with nutty wholegrain rice, sweet pumpkin, chewy mushrooms, and little slivers of ginger for the occasional zing, it was a nutritious way to refuel.
On the walk home, we were caught in a very sudden and heavy downpour. This was the first rain we had seen in Siem Reap, proving that the wet season isn't quite over yet. It rained on and off during the afternoon, so we busied ourselves at home.
We are attempting, as far as possible to eat and cook the local cuisine in every country we visit. Despite having taken a cooking class, I must admit that I am struggling a little to get a handle on the Khmer flavours. Certain key ingredients have become apparent: palm sugar, peanuts, lime, tamarind coconut milk, lemongrass and turmeric appear in many recipes. However, I have found very few naturally vegetarian dishes, and have trouble vegetarianising those that aren't, as they have a heavy emphasis on meat or fish as the principal component. Even the street food doesn't inspire me, which largely seems to comprise meat of various forms on sticks, skewers, or rotisseries.
The lack of native meat-free food perplexes me for a Buddhist country, although one of the founders of the Peace Café does say that there are few vegetarian Buddhists in Cambodia. This would explain the lack of vegan restaurants around the temples, which have sprung up in Vietnam to serve the monks there, and the absence of 'mock meat'.
At a loss of what authentic Cambodian food to prepare, I reached for a trusty Indonesian recipe for gado-gado salad that is highly flexible based on the ingredients to hand.
This time, I used daikon radish, cucumber, tomato, fried tofu, and hardboiled eggs. The 'salad' was dressed with a peanut sauce made with lime, soy sauce and coconut milk. With no pestle and mortar in our basic kitchen (the horror), the sauce was a little chunkier than I had intended. Normally the salad would contain potatoes or rice cakes for carbohydrate, but lacking these I served it on rice. Aside from the sauce, the preparation is minimal for a tasty and healthy meal. I must research some Khmer vegetarian recipes (and get a pestle and mortar).
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