12 Facts About Cambodian cuisine

Over time, Cambodian cuisine has incorporated elements of Indian, Chinese and more recently French cuisine, and due to some of these shared influences and mutual interaction, it has many similarities with the neighbouring Thai, Vietnamese and Lao cuisines.

Many spices in Khmer Cambodian cuisine were introduced by the Indian merchants around the 2nd century.

The Chinese began arriving in Khmer Empire in the 13th century, bringing their cuisine with them, from which Cambodian cuisine adopted an extensive use of noodles and stir frying.

Cambodian cuisine is not well known within the United States and is usually compared to Thai food by many Americans.

Oyster sauce was introduced by Chinese immigrants and has become a common ingredient in Cambodian cuisine cooking used to add a tangy-sweet flavour to meats and stir-fried vegetables.

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Cambodian cuisine uses different squashes, such as bitter melon, winter melon, kabocha, and luffa, root vegetables, such as carrots, cassava, lotus rhizomes, potatoes, radish, sweet potatoes and jicama and other vegetables, such as cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, cauliflower, chayote, shallots, yardlong beans and maize.

Since the 1980s, the role of meat in the Cambodian cuisine diet has increased significantly and nowadays the consumption of meat, such as beef, pork and poultry, has become common, especially in the capital region.

Cambodian cuisine noodles are made out of rice, wheat and tapioca flour in varying thickness.

Cambodian cuisine desserts include puddings, sweet porridges and agar jellies.

Cambodian cuisine produces popular Golden Muscle Liquor and Wrestler Red Wine, whereas Sombai manufactures a line of premium infused rice wines.

In June 2021, a series of promotional videos under the slogan "Taste Cambodia" featuring Khmer foods and culinary activities in different Cambodian cuisine regions commissioned by the Ministry of Tourism of Cambodia were released.

Cookbook "From Spiders to Water Lilies, Creative Cambodian Cooking with Friends" published by non-governmental organization Friends-International has received the 2009 Gourmand World Cookbook Award as the "Best Asian Cuisine Cookbook", becoming the first book from Cambodia to win the award.