What does Cambodian cuisine look like?

Cambodian cuisine is at the crossroads of different culinary influences: Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Indian, and French.

Rice is surely the most widely used cereal. It is not uncommon nor difficult to see how rice is transformed in Cambodia: into rice paper, rice wine, rice noodles… And for those who cannot eat gluten, it is quite pleasant to note that it does not necessarily need to be mixed with other flours.

Soups, curries, fried rice… are just some of the typical Cambodian dishes you will find throughout the country.
Stir-fried wheat noodles are also quite common.
Cambodian cuisine, much like Vietnamese cuisine, has been influenced by France during its years of colonization. It is therefore not uncommon to find baguettes served in the form of sandwiches. The Num Pang (នំបុ័ង) is a sandwich made with mayonnaise, meat, vegetables, and herbs, which you should avoid. The presence of gluten in this dish is easily identifiable, so it should not be difficult to avoid it.

Like their neighbors, Cambodians season their dishes with sauces: soy sauce and oyster sauce are commonly used. They represent one of the major risks of your stay in Cambodia if you are bold enough to try the local cuisine.

Cambodia also offers a variety of desserts made from rice, coconut, banana, and other fruits that you should be able to try with little risk or difficulty.

The paragraph « Some cambodian dishes detailed » offers a non-exhaustive list of typical dishes that may be compatible with a gluten-free diet.

Knowledge about gluten

Like many Asian countries, there is only little knowledge of what gluten is, in popular culture.
Few Cambodians follow a gluten-free diet: is this due to low detection or low occurrence of the disease in the population? The question remains open, even though some studies are beginning to show that lifestyle and genetics may influence this low occurrence. Unfortunately, due to a very small number of participants in these studies, it is not yet possible to draw any conclusions.

Regardless of the answer to this question, it means that knowledge about gluten-free diets and what they entail must be brought by tourists or expats. The moderate influx of Western tourists in the country does not allow this issue to be known by everyone, including, and especially, restaurant owners.
In the most touristy cities, and more specifically in the tourist neighborhoodof these cities, this is beginning to happen. Phnom Penh and Siem Reap are examples of this.

Reading Khmer and communicating with Cambodians

The Khmer language does not use the Latin alphabet, making it quite challenging for Europeans to distinguish the various characters. It is not uncommon to find street stalls that do not display any photos of their dishes, but instead have a small sign listing the different items being sold. Navigating through this can be tricky, and even when scrutinizing the ingredients at their stall, it is often difficult to understand what is being offered.
Of course, Google Translate can come to your rescue, but
– with the surrounding crowd, it is not always easy to proceed as desired
– translations are often quite approximate. I’ll let you judge with the translation below.

When it comes time to speak with Cambodians, who despite a generally good level of English (and French), it remains difficult because this knowledge is rarely found among street vendors and market sellers.

A street food culture

As in most Southeast Asian countries, everyone eats out, including most locals.

This results in supermarkets being small, and for people on a gluten-free diet, that’s often where they find a comfort zone. We scan the labels, scrutinize them, and then pick up that product in the next cities. Here, I did this less often, simply because the products are expensive, the choice is limited, and the labeling is more approximate than at home. It is also true that I didn’t really feel the need for it, as the products from the market and street stalls were sufficient for me.

Indeed, raw materials such as vegetables or rice noodles are very accessible in the market. The challenge of this solution lies more in the negotiation of prices, which is pervasive, and in accessing a kitchen. I will discuss this aspect further in the paragraph « Book accommodation with a kitchen?« .

Ressources about gluten-free travel in Cambodia

For our trip to Vietnam, I found numerous resources (website, Facebook group, Instagram accounts…), but I struggled to find as many for Cambodia.
My main resources were Find me gluten-free and Google maps. I also created an interactive map that I’m sharing with you in the paragraph « Interactive map: the tool that will ease your travel« . It was particularly useful in the larger cities.

Learn some basic words ?

I apologize in advance for what is to follow, but I must admit that I have not learned any words related to gluten to facilitate my exchanges with the locals.
On the one hand, I am unable to distinguish the different Khmer characters, making me incapable of recognizing the names of dishes, which is normally part of my preparation before arriving in a country. Moreover, pronunciation is difficult. It is not easy to make oneself understood. Even worse, due to this difficult pronunciation, a completely different word could be understood by your listener.

Know the pitfalls to avoid

The main points of concern lie in the sauces and the risks of cross-contamination.

The main hidden sources of gluten are:

Soy sauce: although used in Cambodia, its use is much less systematic than in other Southeast Asian countries. However, when it is used, it often brings high-risk because most of the sauces sold in the country contrain gluten.
From what we have been observing, it is generally not incorporated into curry preparations. However, it does appear in the preparation of stir-fried dishes (fried rice, stir-fried noodles) and the iconic Lok lak, for which vegetables and meat are sauted in soy sauce.

Oyster sauce: this sauce, which is less known in Europe, has a brown color similar to soy sauce and is thick. This sauce, which was once made only from oysters, is now prepared with oyster extract, soy sauce, and cornstarch. Contamination can therefore come from the soy sauce but may also arise from the thickening agent, which is not always corn starch. This sauce may or may not contain gluten.
It can be used to prepare stir-fried dishes (rice, noodles, vegetables). It can thus be found in the preparation of Lok lak. It can also be used in the preparation of certain soups.

Stock cubes: to be completely transparent, I did not eat soup in Cambodia, and I have no idea if the use of stock cubes is something that is becoming popular in the country.
My advice would be to not hesitate to ask about any dish that is soup-based or has broth.

Rice paper sheets: while in neighboring countries (Vietnam, Thailand), it is particularly important to ensure that their preparation has not been mixed with wheat flour, I had less of that impression in Cambodia. My experience is also likely biased by the fact that I consumed them either at markets or directly from small rice paper producers. They were selling it by doing delicious fresh spring rolls. My experience might have been different in restaurants, so it is wiser to remain vigilant and not hesitate to ask the question.

Prepare your communication with restaurants

Before my arrival in the country, I downloaded the explanatory map created by Coeliac travel, which I have attached here (by clicking on it, you will be redirected to the PDF link of the map).
Just like in Vietnam, my feedback regarding this card is rather mixed. It was probably too long; people had to skim through it. Also, it is useful to know that a portion of the population has reading difficulties. Although the figures have improved significantly, with illiteracy rates dropping from around 20% to 12% between 2008 and 2020, this remains a reality, especially among seniors. Some will tell you directly, while others, being more timid, may not necessarily feel comfortable saying it.

That’s why my preferred solution was not the direct use of Google Translate, but rather the use of images to try to explain my situation. Feel free also to showcase the potential sauces already present at the stand (soy sauce, oyster sauce…) to help you make yourself understood.

In addition to these very basic visuals that are not always understandable for someone who cannot read, don’t hesitate to use the voice function of Google Translate: type your message and instead of having your interlocutor to read the translation, press the small speaker icon in the app.

Learning more about the composition of dishes has greatly helped me and allowed me to better target my requests. In the section « Some Cambodian dishes detailed, » I share the information I’ve learned on this topic.

Book accomodations with a kitchen ?

As mentioned above, there is a true culture of eating out, and finding accommodations with a kitchen can be more complicated than it seems. Most locals themselves do not have kitchens.
With a maximum budget of €10/night/person, we never came across accommodations with kitchen. It is not impossible that at higher prices you may easily find places that meet this criterion, particularly on Airbnb. For purchasing your raw materials, I recommend doing so at the market: it will be cheaper and likely of better quality. Go armed with your best negotiation skills.
If you are traveling long-term and trying to keep your expenses down, you will probably be less inclined to choose accommodations with kitchens. It is feasible, and we have done it. However, one must be aware that this implies taking more risks.
Your choice will therefore be based on your situation as well as your sensitivity.

Pack gluten-free food?

If you are leaving for a few weeks, I recommend taking gluten-free snacks such as cookies and energy bars. It is true that these products can be found in some grocery stores and that certain street vendors offer snacks. However, searching for them requires time and lead to additional contamination risks.

Regarding sauces, I left without any and I didn’t miss them. It’s still possible to find some directly in the country, as shown in the photos below showing a find made in Battambang.

Street stalls vs local restaurants

You have probably understood by now the difference between street stalls and restaurants do not lie in the type of dish you will find there, but rather in the level of service. Below, I summarize the advantages and disadvantages of each. Please note that these are only generalizations and may not always be true.

Some cambodian dishes detailed