Cambodian Noodle Soup Recipe

Cambodian noodle, local name as នំបញ្ចុក (Num Banh Chok) is very common for Cambodian people as for breakfast, lunch and even dinner. They are getting popular among visitors these days and also known as the healthy diet. 

Previously, the soup for the noodle was only with Khmer soup (សម្លខ្ជាយ green fish soup that used fingerroot as the focus) but now you can eat them in many ways as people keep develop the menu to fit the taste of the customers nowadays. Some regions have specific ways of eating noodle. I would recommend eating noodle in Kompot province and Siem Reap province. Preah Dak village, on the way to Banteay Srei temple, is believed to be the village with Cambodian noodle tradition. You can stop by this village to learn how they do it. One restaurant in Siem Reap town also makes their own noodle - fresh. 

Actually, when they talk about Cambodian noodle, they refer to rice noodle that goes along with the green fish soup. 

There are many kinds of noodle that you cannot distinguish easily. Rice noodle with big or small fiber but has different names in Khmer and eat with different kinds of sauces and different ways of cooking and eating:

• មីលឿង Egg noodle (yellow noodle)
• នំបញ្ចុក Num Banh Chok - what I am talking in this article.
• គុយទាវ Kuy Teav
• បាញ់ស៊ុង Banh Sung
• បាញ់ហយ Banh Hoy
• បាញ់កាញ់ Banh Kanh

Read more story of Cambodian noodle here. នំបញ្ចុក Num Banh Chok alone can go with difference dishes as below.

-        នំបញ្ចុកសម្លខ្មែរ Noodle with Khmer soup (with Fingerroot)

-        នំបញ្ចុកសម្លការី Noodle with Red Curry (chicken, duck meat)

-        នំបញ្ចុកសម្លណាំយ៉ា Noodle with fish Namya soup

-        នំបញ្ចុកទឹកប្រហុក Noodle with prohok/ fermented fish (from Siem Reap region)

-        នំបញ្ចុកទឹកត្រី កំពត Noodle with fish sauce and coconut milk (from Kompot province)

-        នំបញ្ចុកទឹកម្ហេច Noodle with clear fish soup (from Kompot province)

-        នំបញ្ចុកផាក់ឡូវ Noodle with paklov​​ (Braised Pork Organ)

-        នំបញ្ចុកស្រុះ Noodle with Vietnamese soup (from Phnom Penh)

-        នំប​ញ្ចុកសម្លក្កាត Noodle with fish soup with vegetable ​(from Siem Reap region)

-        Noodle eat together with papaya salad

-        Noodle eat together with grilled fish and ripe tamarind dip sauce

-        Noodle in the rice role that put

Cambodian noodle - a complete dishCambodian noodle - with different soups: red curry, and green fish soupSide vegetables 

Noodle from Kompot with clear fish soup    

How to prepare the dish?

There are three sections of the noodle dish, the noodle, the soup and the side vegetables. These three comes together as a Cambodian noodle dish. This dish uses a lot of wild and aquatic edible flowers and plants as I mentioned in my previous post about edible plants

• Noodle preparation
• Khmer Soup preparation
• Side vegetable preparation
• How to eat

A. Noodle preparation:

·       Instant noodle (convenient but not very tastily)

·       Fresh noodle – can be found in the local market, 1kilo of noodle = 0.75$-1$

·       Making own noodle, fresh and the best – it takes so much time from preparing rice to become noodle (in the old day, people make noodle for the ceremony or party, for more people). Since it is taking time, many families quit doing the business.

B. Soup preparation: 

Ingredients

·       Fish

·       Lemongrass

·       Turmeric

·       Coconut milk

·       Fingerroot

·       Garlic

·       Peanut

·       Sugar

·       Salt

How to cook

​How to prepare the soup

I mentioned many dishes above, everything (noodle and side vegetables are always the same) is the same except this soup that needs different ways of making. It is very complicated process and it needs time for the preparation (1-2.5h depends of types of dish). To understand more, please watch the video through this link here:

• Khmer Soup: Here, Here and here
• Red curry soup: here
• Fish Namya soup: here      

C. Side vegetable preparation

What are they?

In order, these vegetables are from common to least common by people from regions. 

·       Cucumber

·       Water lily

·       Water hyacinths

·       Banana blossom

·       Cabbages

·       Herbs (few types from the garden)

.       String bean

·       Sesbania

·       W​ater celery

·       Mempat tree leaves

How to prepare them

• Leaves and flowers like water hyacinths, sesbania, water celery and Mempat tree leaves, just clean and keep them out of water
• Other vegetables with skin like cucumber, waterlily, banana blossom, and cabbages need to peel, string bean (just cut), clean them and cut very small, then keep in the fridge for freshness.
• Sides: green chili (dried and shredded chili is the best) and salt. 

This article is inspired by @Mukul_BD and a part of two articles of edible plants and edible plants from the wild.