Cambodian vs Thai
January 3, 2008
Phil VIA DPA: Tanya Steel at Epicurious offers ten food predictions for 2008.
4) Cambodian is the New Thai: A triangulation between Vietnamese, Chinese, and Thai cooking, Cambodian’s emphasis on noodle dishes, curries, stir fries and prahok, the strong-flavored fish paste, will grow in popularity. Cambodian food has stronger flavors than Vietnamese, slightly more subtle that Thai and is not as heavy as Chinese.
Matthew Fishbane, in fact, broached this very subject in Salon six months ago: Will Cambodian food ever catch on in America? In the story, Fishbane tracked down Ratha Chau, owner of what was then called the Kampuchea Noodle Bar in New York. Ratha’s quote to close the story is as much a commentary on the Cambodian condition as it is an answer to the story’s title.
Chau says “regular people,” like the neighbors who dropped in specifically to overcome a fear of oxtail soup, don’t want to know if the food is “authentic.” They just want good food. “If Nadsa came in here, she’d say, ‘This is not Cambodian!’” he explains. “She knows a lot more than I do, and she’s probably right.”
