Lok lak lunch. An essential joy of visiting Cambodia.
The side dish of Kampot pepper, garlic, chilli and salt – I like to lift that egg and blend the pepper mix through the steamed rice.
Heaven on a plate. At Bgari Restaurant, Sisowath Riverside Street No.1, Phnom Penh.
Lunch is a selection from a Phnom Penh “Street Buffet”.
I’m opting for the “lemon grass chicken” take-away.
Bits of chicken off-cuts (plus bone), the lemon grass as edible tiny ringlets, and some “demonic” red chilli.
With steamed rice.
Verdict: full of flavour.
(Back in my guest house and within a minute of “tucking in”, Miss Brindle, the neighborhood cat, appears on my balcony to “serenade” me. She is rewarded with the bone bits but – no surprise – she leaves the leftover chilli untouched.😊)
South-East Asia & Plastic: this is from one very simple lunch.
Pork, vege and rice USD2.50, from a popular street vendor in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
(Tasted good, too!)
This visit I have seriously reduced my plastic consumption:
● I’ve washed & reused a plastic bowl/spoon/fork/knife;
● go out always with a used plastic bag in my pocket for incidental purchases (those little cold cans of beer);
● given my empty plastic water bottles to housekeeping to recycle.
But still …
A taste of something different for lunch today: Italiano classico on the riverfront in Phnom Penh.
Khmer food is on “hold” and opting for pasta spaghetti with olive oil, herbs, extra Parmesan and clams.
They nail it. The pasta is “to the tooth”.
A good choice, for under USD10. Bgari Italian restaurant, on Street 1. I will be back.
PS: they also do a good breakfast cappuccino here and we Melburnians are very picky about coffee
The Travel Maccas Guide: eat it or not, Maccas gives a good global price comparison.
In Nha Trang, Vietnam, this large meal is VND120,000 (USD5.10/AUD7.30)
The Nha Trang “Banh Mi Sandwich” with fresh orange juice: a nice brunch/lunch spread for VND70,000 (USD3/AUD4.25).
Don’t waste the garnish “greens” – Vietnamese mint and “wild lettuce”, which has a sharpish taste.
A typical llmeal at a small tourist restaurant, down a nondescript hem, off a main street in busy Nha Trang, Vietnam.
Crumbed prawns, coleslaw and sticky rice.
“Tourist” prices here are modest by global standards: VND100,000 (AUD6).
Bò kho is Vietnamese braised beef.
Packed with potato and carrot, just like Grandma made it, but also with plenty of Asian Five Spice and chilli.
Toss in a handful of fresh coriander and Vietnamese mint, add a slightly toasted, crispy baguette and you have a delicious but not over-filling lunch.
VND40k/AUD2.30
Who doesn’t adore Vietnam’s bánh mì baguette? Light and crusty.
Time to “re-acclimatise” to Aussie food (fly home from Vung Tau tonight) so lunch is a good ol’ snag & egg in a roll. With tomato sauce.
After a month of mostly preservative-free Asian eating, Aussie food can give you a hard kick in the belly.
Read the ingredients label: we tend to consume the entire Periodic Table at every meal.
That’s the “price” of convenience food …
(This tastes good, btw)
Vietnam Lunch: the young bloke next to me was eating a plateful of these, with rice.
Being of daring spirit and with a yearn to learn, I had to try one too. Delicious!
Similar to a Cantonese ham sui gok, it is a light, hollow, doughy “puff” coated in baked rice “bubbles” (a la crispy rice crackers) and, I presume, pan fried.
These being hollow, you could have a lot of fun experimenting with various fillings such as paté or mince, or do vegetarian with diced tomatoes and onions; maybe a sweet version with raisins and citrus peel, and serve hot with vanilla bean ice-cream.
(I’ve impressed myself with these ideas. What am I doing, pretending to write? I should be pretending to “chef” …)
Haxtrax 