Cambodia: Sugar palm with coconut milk

Ingredients 

• 50 gglutinous rice 
• ½ tspsea salt 
• 625 mlcoconut milk 
• 4fresh sugar palm fruit, peeled, pitted or 200 g tinned sugar palm fruit, drained, sliced 
• 3 tbspliquid palm sugar or shaved palm sugar (jaggery) 
• 80 mlcoconut cream

Cook's notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Instructions

Soak the rice in water for 20 minutes, then strain. 

Add the rice to a saucepan, along with the salt and half of the coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the rice softens. 

Meanwhile, if using fresh sugar palm fruit, peel the fruit and remove the stones, working over a bowl to catch the juices. Thinly slice the fruit, and then set the juice aside. 

Add the sugar palm fruit and remaining coconut milk to the rice. 

Stir, then cook for a further 5 minutes, or until the rice becomes translucent. Stir in the palm sugar and cook for a further 2 minutes. 

Divide the rice among four bowls. Drizzle each with a tablespoon of the coconut cream and serve warm.

By

Luke Nguyen, SBS.COM.AU

MY PHNOM PENH: Youk Chhang, Genocide archivist

Fri, 22 April 2016

Audrey Wilson, the Phnom Penh Post

Youk Chhang is the director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia and a Phnom Penh native. On the 41st anniversary of the city’s fall this week, he sat down with Audrey Wilson to recall some of his favourite sites of memory in Phnom Penh – and his hope for the capital’s future.

Russian Embassy

In the old days, this building belonged to the National Bank of Cambodia, and my uncle worked there. It was the tallest building in the city. Any employee of the National Bank could buy an apartment. Every other weekend, we would go there. On the fourth floor, you could see the river and the view. They had a soccer field, tennis court, volleyball court. It was very private. It’s also the first place in Phnom Penh to grow the royal yellow flower – I remember because I used to pick it and sell it to the foreigners. When I returned, it had become the Russian Embassy, so I had no access to it. It’s something that the past has taken away, and I want it back. 

Battambang Restaurant