this blog revolves around my study and understanding of our region, through the regional studies programme. i hope you like it! haha navigate by clicking the images on top.
Many rice varieties are available in Cambodia, including aromatic rice and glutinous or sticky rice.
Below is an explanation of the use of rice cakes during the Khmer New Year, where rice cakes are made traditionally by everyone.
“ Celebration of Khmer New Year is one of most important Khmer holidays, that our people religiously observe in *Kampuchea Krom* (lower Cambodia now known as South Viet Nam since French government illegally gave part of our land to Viet Nam on June 4, 1949). As in Khmer ancient time, our Khmer Krom people would keep on following our tradition; despite of many years suffering from injustice and hardship under Viet Nam government, we still prepare and celebrate Cambodian New Year.
Our houses will be clean through out and colorful decorations will displaces at our *Watts* pagodas, and on the altars there will be *num anksom* sweet rice cake with pork, *num anksom chet* banana sweet rice cake and several types of *num kom* sweet rice flour cake, along with fruits, drinks and other food offerings.
Like many Khmer Krom families, each year, a few days before New Year, my family would dedicate a day just for making rice cakes. Some of my relatives, neighbors and friends would get together usually at our house. Some brings sweet rice, some bring mung beans, some bring meat for the cooking event. We would makes and shares hundreds of *num anksom chrouk* , *num anksom chet*, and *num kom*. We would take some sweet rice cakes to local Watts for food offerings to our ancestors, but most cake we shares with friends, family and the poor.
Wrapping num anksom and num kom requires very skillful hands. Back home, this year, I am sure my great aunt and one of my aunts will be appointed for wrapping the cakes again. It's look easy to wraps those sweet rice cakes but it is not. I think anyone can make num anksom and num kom but not everyone can wraps as neatly as my great aunt and some of the Khmer Krom ladies at our villages. Each cake they made always looks exactly the same and it always came out perfect! I've came up with an easy way to wrap num anksom, it don’t looks as nice and neat as my great aunt cakes, but the recipe is authentic and I hope it will help any one who loves to make Khmer ethnic food *num anksom*.
It's always bring a good feeling to see my family having fun, laughing, talking and singing while cooking. It is good to see that our people will put away the differences, sadness, and worry to celebrate our tradition holidays.I am very proud to see that in spite of oppression against us, most Khmer Krom people are not willing to give up our Khmer culture and tradition.
Happy Cambodian New Year every one!
May you and your family will be richly blesses with love, happiness, health, wealth and good luck.”
Rice Dish 1: Ansom chek
A cylindrical rice cake wrapped in banana leaves filled with bananas from Cambodia.
It is used in celebration of Khmer New Year, one of the most important Khmer holidays.
Rice Dish 2: Num anksom sach chrouk
sticky rice cake with pork, also used during the Khmer New Year.
Rice Dish 3: Baked Coconut Rice Pudding
Includes: Pudding rice, coconut milk, lime rind, sugar, butter, star anise, fruit
Kralan, often described as cake, is made of steamed rice mixed with beans and peas, grated coconut and coconut milk. This is then stuffed inside a bamboo stick inside which it is then slowly roasted.
Often made and eaten during Chinese New Year and Khmer New Year.
These are just a few of the many rice dishes in Cambodia, mostly make of sticky rice or pudding rice. Most are eaten during the Khmer New Year season too!
-Geography
Phnom Penh is the Kingdom of Cambodia's capital and largest city.
The country is bordered by Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Also, it is surrounded by Tonle Sap and the Mekong River which provides water for fishing.
-People
The citizens are mostly referred to as 'Cambodians' or 'Khmers' although the latter is used only for ethnic Khmers.
-Culture
Cambodia was once the powerful Buddhist and Hindu Khmer empire, which ruled most of the Indo-Chinese states from the 1000s to the 1300s. Most are Buddhists, but there are Muslims and other religions too. A large part of the population focus on agriculture.
-Other placses of interest
Angkor Wat is a temple frrom the Khmer empire's age; it is the best preserved temple from that time. Its size shows how Cambodia was a major regional power at that time. After a long series of wars with neighbouring kingdoms, Angkor was sacked by the Thai and abandoned in 1432 because of ecological failure and infrastructure breakdown. After Angkor was abandoned, the buildings were swallowed up by jungle creating a myth of a hidden lost civilization.
an inside look into the cultural enclaves in singapore.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008; 11:18 PM
before the field study to the burmese, thai and filipino enclaves in Singapore, i hadn't really understood the immense number of foreignors living in Singapore. somewhere in the depth of my mind, i never really stopped to think about it. So well, the trip was indeed eye-opening and definitely taught me a lot more about the people from South East Asia who reside in Singapore and their interesting culture.
the trip was a while ago, in late august.
well first we visited a burmese buddhist temple where burmese congregate. Called the Sasanaramsi, it took 10 years to be built. There, we learnt a little about buddhism and how there are two types of buddhism. Also, burmese buddhist scriptures were written in the Pali language, which is close to Sanskrit, an ancient indian language. It's really nice to see how everything is connected in one way or other. The temple used Teak wood and marble in its construction, because these materials are abundant in Myanmar. Did you know the colour fo the robes worn for monks differ from different types of Buddhism too? Other interesting facts we found out were that the buddha statue in the temple was carved out of a large marble hill(Sagyin Hill) bought by a guy named U Kyaw Gaung. It stands at 11 feet high and weighs ten tons and was shipped to Singapore in 1921.
later on we went to the Golden Mile Complex, which housed many thai businesses like shops, eateries and clubs. the place has been plagued with negative comments on its unsightly exterior because of owners adding unauthorised externsions. There were many thai people there, and the place had the smell of thai food like bamboo and dried fish, which are a common staple for the thais. There was even a thai deity statue at the front of the mall. most people here looked less cohesive than in the burmese enclave, which might be due to the thais having more immigrants and thus it might be harder to be close as a community.
