11 Cambodian Street Foods You Must Try!

Riding through Cambodia on a motorbike allowed us the opportunity to get away from the touristy areas and get stuck into some diverse street food. Street food is so much cheaper than eating in the restaurants and, more often than not, it is much tastier. Go further afield for more affordable and more authentic street food. Eat where the locals eat. You will find they really do appreciate having foreigners enjoy eating their local dishes and, of course, if you learn to tell them the food is delicious, their faces will radiate with huge smiles! So do learn how to say delicious – Chhnang (ch-nang)!

To eat or not to eat?

Some tourists worry about hygiene and getting sick (Bali Belly / Dehli Belly, etc.) from the street foods. I eat street food all the time and don’t get sick; however, I have been eating it for years now. Furthermore, on my first visit to Bali in 2004, I did get sick, and it wasn’t pleasant. *It wasn’t the street food that made me sick, as I hadn’t yet eaten from a food cart at that time.

Tasty Cambodian Street Food

1. Nom Pang – Pork Baguette

This is a delicious remnant of the French colonial period in Cambodia (1863-1953). Our favourite is the pork baguette with several different types of pork, including a spread of pork mince, pork sausage and roast pork. Nom Pang will usually include pickled vegetables and sometimes up to three different sauces. These baguettes are so delicious! You can also buy egg, fish, ham and chicken baguettes, as well as many other options.

2. Num Kachay – Chive Cake  

This traditional Cambodian food comes in two varieties. Round fried cakes with rice flour dough on the outside and a green filling of chives, or it can be bought as a square cake in which the chives are blended into the rice flour mixture. We tried the round filled num kachay and really enjoyed them.

3. Kuy Teav – Noodle Soup 

This is a favourite breakfast dish in Cambodia and is typically sold by vendors before midday. The delicious broth is made from pork or beef bones. This noodle soup is served with beef, chicken or pork; it will often include pork or beef balls. Garnished with bean sprouts, lettuce or sawtooth leaves and a lot of fresh herbs; this soup is colourful, tasty and filling. Condiments on offer will usually include chilli – fresh, dried, pickled or chilli sauce – pepper, lime, sliced garlic, soy sauce and sugar. We really enjoy noodle soups and often had this for breakfast.

4. Ang Dtray-Meuk – Grilled Squid 

You can usually find seafood hawkers with small charcoal-burning grills on the streets. At the famous seaside town of Kep, there is an abundance of skewered barbecued squid for sale at the ‘Crab Markets’. The squid is usually lightly marinated with lime juice or fish sauce.

5. Grilled Fish

While we are talking seafood and grills, I will mention the whole cooked fish. These are sandwiched between split bamboo skewers. We love eating fish, and if you can get the tamarind dipping sauce with it, the mess of eating it is very worthwhile.

6. Mouan Ang – Grilled Chicken

We often stopped at the roadside barbecues as we rode from one town to the next. One of our favourites was the grilled chicken. Whether it was chicken pieces, skewers or even quail, it was always delicious. Away from the main cities very few Cambodian’s speak English, so we often had to point to what we wanted and then hold up one or two fingers to indicate how many, or how much of a particular food we wanted. The Cambodians are lovely, friendly people who were eager to sell us their food and were really pleased when we liked it. Even without a common language, we still managed to have a laugh with the locals. The universal common sign language of ‘the smile’ goes a long way.

7. Barbecue Rat

While I am talking about the barbecue, I will mention briefly about the barbecue rat we ate. On the ride from Siem Reap to Battambang, Dwayne felt like something barbecued. We stopped to buy lunch at a roadside barbecue, and we were a little shocked by what they were cooking. Barbecue rat! Never one to miss an opportunity to try something different we bought a rat, which they served to us with a little salt & pepper mix and limes. The rat was delicious… and I know it’s been said before, about many foods, but….it did taste like chicken! These rats are caught amongst the rice fields and are considered a delicacy in the Battambang region. Read more about the BBQ rat here!

8. Fried Bugs

Another popular Cambodian street food is fried bugs. Grasshoppers, crickets, silkworms and water beetles, just to name a few. Yes, we did eat some, and the flavours they cook them with were delicious… I’m not a big fan of the bugs though.  Read more about the bugs, insects and creepy crawlies here

To watch the video of us consuming these creepy crawlies (or trying to) click here ….. Munching on Insects in Cambodia

9. Neorm Svye Kchey – Green Mango salad

We found many mango salads being made along the roadsides. The salad, in the photo below (left), was being made with crushed up crab pieces (shell and all). Unless you have a cast-iron stomach, I would steer clear of the salad with the fermented crab. The mango salad with dry shrimp is much nicer. We did have quite a few mango salads, and they were all delicious… an absolute must! I actually make this salad all the time now, and you can get the recipe here – Green Mango Salad!

10. Kralan – Sticky Coconut Rice Cooked in Bamboo

We often found ourselves riding down a road and suddenly there are numerous stalls (in the middle of nowhere) all selling exactly the same thing. This made us a little curious, so we eventually pulled over to see what was for sale. One such example was these small lengths of bamboo. Not knowing what was inside, and unable to ask the lady selling them (no English), we indicated we would take one. The top of the bamboo was plugged with leaves. After a short ride, we found a shady tree to stop under, and we opened up our little curiosity.

To our delight, we found delicious sticky rice, which I have since learnt, is called kralan. It is very popular and is thought of as a specialty in Battambang where it is quite famous. It is made by cooking rice, black beans, coconut milk and sugar in the bamboo.  Really very tasty.

11. Gah-Fay Dteuk-Gork – Ice Coffee

Dwayne could never pass up an opportunity to have an iced coffee with his noodle soup… it was breakfast after all. Cambodian iced coffee is sweet and robust. The strong black coffee is poured over ice and condensed milk.

We love food, and we love to travel… writing this post has given me severe pangs of longing to revisit Cambodia. Hopefully one day!!

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