A Khmer-Style Cooking Class

Our adventures in Battambang continued the next day (after eating bat) with a Khmer-style cooking class at Smokin' Pot restaurant. There were 10 of us taking the course and our morning started with a stroll through the local market - which colorfully displays fresh produce, but also makes you sick from the smells of live fish still flopping around and the large chunks of red meat hanging in the heat with flies swarming near-by. This was all part of the cooking-course adventure, as our chef/instructor chatted with the locals to barter prices and give us an informative run-down of all the ingredients we would be working with.

Back at the kitchen, we made three typical Khmer dishes: Fish Amok, Beef Loc-Lac and Chicken with Banana Flower soup. We each had our own little frying pan and ingredients - and he showed us what to do, and then we all did it. It ended up being way more food than this girl could eat. But I must say, for someone who doesn't cook regularly, I was quite impressed with the end result. And, included in the price of the course, we all got to take home a cookbook! It might collect dust on the shelves when I get back, but it's a fun little souvenir, and when feeling ambitious, I might just whip up a dish back in SF - that is, if I can find all the ingredients the recipes call for (highly unlikely)!

That was our morning/early afternoon in Battambang. The rest of the day we lazily strolled the streets and spent some time catching up on our journals and reading books. We repeated our dinner restaurant - the White Rose. It was so tasty the night before and super cheap - that we thought another night of $0.50 fruit shakes and a noodle dish would hit the spot. We were right! The next day we were heading to Siem Reap - on what is claimed to be the "most scenic boat ride" in Cambodia. It's about 8 hours on a boat and we'll be sitting up top to enjoy the views, so cross your fingers for a good cloud cover so I don't get too sunburned.