Sapodilla is the size and shape of an egg. It has skin like a hairless kiwi fruit and can be eaten in the same manner - sliced open and the soft flesh scooped out. The flesh has the grainy texture of a ripe pear and tastes slightly of caramel. It works well in smoothies and pairs well with coffee. However, we had it sliced in half with banana and mango.
After yesterday's adventures around Angkor Wat, we took the opportunity to take it easy today, staying in the cool shade of the bamboo-and-palm gazebo at our apartment.
Feeling peckish in the afternoon, I took the opportunity to practice my spring roll rolling skills. Using purple radicchio in place of the usual lettuce gave a good contrasting colour to the orange of the carrot.
We ventured out once it was cool to splash out on dinner at The Sugar Palm. This restaurant turned out to be an inspired choice. On the first floor of a purpose-built Khmer-style house, the lighting was soft against the dark hardwood floor and furnishings. After a starter of tofu skewers with a rich satay sauce, we ordered the tofu amok (a vegetarian version of the traditional fish-based amok trei) and a Khmer vegetable curry.
Sharing the two dishes was an interesting way to contrast the flavours. The Khmer red curry was chunks of potato, green beans, onion and soft aubergine in a rich, flavoursome and slightly oily sauce with pronounced spices. The amok had been steamed in a banana leaf into an almost soufflé-like texture, and was a much more subtle, aromatic and creamy sauce with delicate pieces of tofu and the all-important, slightly bitter amok leaf. These were complemented excellently by a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc (Allan Scott), which had none of the grassy, vegetal flavours I associate with that varietal, instead offering crisp citrus that cut through the richness of the food.
Our excuse for eating out was to catch the evening performance by the local disabled community at the Night Market.
Entitled "We are the Champions", the short play was supposed to take place near Island Bar, but our information must have been out of date, as none of the bar staff or stallholders knew anything about the phantom theatre.
Instead we wandered happily around the market, which was much less pressured and chaotic than many of the daytime versions. Where the stallholders were friendly and willing to take the time to chat, we stayed and eventually bought. We moved quickly through areas where products we did not want were thrust under our noses to cries of "you buy!"
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