On vacation you have these amazing cultural experiences and some include food. You wonder, how can I get this back home? Are there any restaurants that serve this? Instead of wondering who can make this food for you, why not learn to make it yourself? But how do I know what’s in it?
When I was in Cambodia I had an amazing local dish called, amok. It’s a lot like curry but a little milder in spice but still full of flavor. It’s amazing and I’d never had it before. For the high dollar amount of $6 I was able to get it at the nicest restaurant in town, served in a coconut shell! I was so enamored, I needed to bring this back home with me. I bought some dry spice mixes but I wasn’t sure that was enough. My fellow travel companions and I searched around and found a cooking class. What a great way to bring this new dish home with me and have a great experience learning something new. Plus, I could teach friends and family back home the delicious ways of Cambodia cooking.
The Cambodian cooking class was great. For the cheap price of $12 a person you learned how to make two dishes and ate what you made. That’s cheaper than a good dinner at a restaurant back home.
We chopped vegetables and fresh spices. Used a gigantic mortar and pestle to make our own ground spices. We took turns on the stove cooking our appetizers, main dishes and dessert. We watched what our classmates were making. We worked on plating our dishes and then stuffed ourselves with the delicious food we made. It was mostly tourists from around the world but taught by local Cambodians. It was a really fun time learning and conversing with people.
I highly recommend trying this wherever you are. It’s a souvenir that provides long lasting rewards. You have a great experience and it keeps on giving when you return home. All assuming you can get the right ingredients. But that’s ok. Embrace spontaneity and just go for it. Make mistakes or create your own version.
It’s all good. Do the best you can with what you are given.
$6 Amok at Sugar Palm in Siem Reap
This is the photo of the amok I made in my cooking class. We even made our own bowls!
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