Often located inside markets, small stalls offer all kinds of local dry products, difficult to find in mini-marts and other supermarkets flourishing in the beautiful districts of the capital, but nevertheless essential for the preparation of Khmer cuisine. , guarantors of the authentic flavor of cooked dishes.
If some stalls offer in addition to a few household products, "general" grocery products such as salt, oil, vinegar, and other sauces often imported from Vietnam, China or Thailand, alongside cloves of garlic, onions. red beans and other dried beans, carefully stacked, some stalls specialize, offering a range of typically Khmer products.
We will therefore find there pell-mell, sellers of prahok, smoked or dried fish, sellers of molasses - drawn from the sugar palm and widely used in Cambodian cuisine, fried pork skin, legumes of all kinds, or even sellers of chewing plants "making tobacco" among the elderly.
Fish sauce embellished with garlic chilli, the so-called Koh Kong sauce enhances, without being too spicy, dishes of shellfish, fish and grilled chicken. It is also with this sauce that the "Koh Kong" prawns are marinated, one of the rare Cambodian dishes where the prawns are served raw.
There are industrial versions, imported from neighboring Vietnam or Thailand, with a much sweeter flavor than the sauce made by hand in Cambodia. Depending on taste, it will sometimes take a more acidic or slightly saltier turn.
Contrary to what the name suggests, Koh Kong fish sauce can be found on every market stall across the country, but it's especially delicious in Kampot!
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