CAMBODIAN DESSERTS

Although local eating habits are quite different from the Western way of composing a meal, starter, main course, dessert, and Cambodians consume real dishes for breakfast, there are however a variety of desserts and sweets that Khmers like to eat outside and with meals and often outside, as evidenced by the many dessert stands that set up around markets often in the early afternoon and stay until late in the evening.

These stands offer Bong'aem, desserts composed of various ingredients that can be given as desired in small bowls, in which we will often add sweetened condensed milk, coconut milk, sugar and crushed ice.

Throughout the day, we will also find cakes -Name- often made from rice and various fruits, steamed or even fried, some of which are eaten mainly during festivals and traditional ceremonies.

CAMBODIAN DESSERTS

NAME BOMPONG

Cambodian rice cake, stuffed with coconut, palm sugar

The name bompong, Cambodian rice cakes that owe their name to their pipe shape, are filled with brown or white palm sugar, and grated coconut. The whole thing is often sprinkled with a little more sugar, grated coconut and white sesame seeds.

Count between 500 and 1000 riel for a cake.

BONG'AEM DOMNAB

Bong'aem domnab is a set of candied small fruits -jujubes, papaya and kantout ...- or dried -such as for bananas and lotus seeds ..., of which you can select three or four kinds to constitute your dessert. strictly speaking.
Add sweetened condensed milk, liquid sugar, crushed ice on top.

Count 1500 riel for a small bowl.

BONG'AEM LOT

Also named batch like the famous short batch noodles, this dessert is also made from rice. Green or pink, these are also the noodles that can be found in Vietnamese "three-color" desserts.

Their texture, soft, and a little gelatinous, constitutes an interesting experience for visitors. Some Cambodians like them because they would be good for health, consuming them alone, with condensed milk or a little coconut milk, a little liquid sugar and crushed ice, where associated with other bong'aem, such as for example the proklong, or chahouy kmao ...

Count a bowl for 1000 riel, a little more if you add more bong'aem.

BOBOR CHADEUV

We especially know the bobor as being a rice soup, served flavored, with a little meat or fish, or plain as an accompaniment to dried fish or kho, during breakfast or meals taken at the end of the day. , but there is also a sweet version of the famous porridge, the bobor chadeuv.

Unlike the first, the bobor chadeuv is a slightly sweet dessert, cooked from beans and sticky rice - bay domnab, which gives it this rather compact and sticky texture.
It is eaten as is, without adding ice or condensed milk.

Count between 1000 and 1500 riel for a bowl.

BONG'AEM CHAHOUY KMAO

We usually associate two, sometimes three kinds of bong'aem among the metal containers lined up on the dessert stands of the markets, to which we add a little crushed ice, condensed milk and liquid sugar to constitute his dessert à la carte. .

If the bong'aem offered may vary depending on the location, we will always find Chahouy Kmao, or Chahouy noir, a kind of jelly made from plants with a slight liquorice taste.

It is also this jelly that is found in certain Chinese drinks that can be found on sale all over the country and which are believed to be good for your health.

Count 1000 to 1500 riel for a bowl.

BONG'AEM KROB CHEA

Krob Chea are small seeds of a local aromatic plant, similar to basil. When soaked in water or a liquid, this little seed, crunchy like a kiwi seed, has the particularity of being coated with a small, somewhat gelatinous membrane.

Apart from the fact that these seeds are, according to the Cambodians, good for health, the addition of Krob chea in a bowl of Bong'aem is pleasant mainly for the texture it brings to the dessert, crunchy and soft at the same time. , giving off no particular flavor. We will add them in particular to a bowl of Chahouy ...

Count between 1000 and 1500 riel per bowl ...

POT CHOMHOY & POT KOMBAO

Typical dessert of the country, consumed as a small sweet snack by Cambodians and especially children, Pot Chomhoy is not sold in town, and it is rather random encounters on the small country roads, in hanging pots. on bicycle racks you will find your happiness.

A small portion in a banana leaf that makes a superb improvised little bowl, a little grated coconut on a slightly sticky, but mild flavored dough, made from corn, the Pot Chomhoy is even better served a little hot.

Usually, Pot Chomhoy vendors also offer Pot Kombao, slightly sweet white corn, steamed and flavored with coconut, sesame, and sugar.

Count around 500 riel for a small portion.

CHAHOUY, THE KHMÈRE JELLY

Chahouy is actually a kind of jelly made from seaweed. They are made into small jars, flavored with nuts and coconut milk, which are very popular desserts for children. Many street vendors will sell these little pink pots at 500 riel a piece.

We also find Chahouy for dessert "for adults", and whose jelly is mixed with chicken egg which gives the dessert its golden color and a taste close to flan, always served with a little ice and milk. coconut.
It is a refreshing and pleasant dessert, slightly sweet.

JACQUIER'S NEST, PLEATED FLOWER AND CORE

Named so because of their respective shape, the shape of a small flower, a fruit stone or even filaments rolled up like a nest, these small orange-yellow egg cakes that are found in Thailand, are tasted in Cambodia at the way of all the other "Bong'aem": a little coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk and crushed ice.

The texture of their soft, slightly grainy paste goes marvelously with Chahouy, a jelly flavored with coconut or egg, with which they are generally matched on dessert stands. They are also served with small portions of taro or soy cake.

We sometimes find the three assorted cakes in trays, sold by a few street vendors who tour picnic places. They are then eaten as they are, as small snacks to snack on.

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