Repeat the Past

The lesson of history is that no one learns.

 Deadhouse Gates (2000) by Steven Erikson

Khmer Mango Salad

Continued from yesterday’s post about Khmer salad dressing, here’s another salad:

Mango Salad or Ngiom Svay in Khmer

1 large green mango, julienned
1 small carrot, julienned (optional)

3/4 lb. boiled shrimp, peeled

4 large shallots or 1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

A bunch of mint leaves

A bunch of basil leaves

¼ cup roasted peanuts, roughly ground

¼ cup fish-sauce dressing

Toss mango, carrot (if using), shrimp, shallots, mint and basil leaves together. Add the dressing and toss again. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

Note: Southeast Asian markets usually carry young green mangos. If you have one in your neighborhood, try there. If not, you can use those large mangos found in most western markets. Pick the hardest ones possible. Those mangos usually taste sweeter than the green ones. If you prefer a tarter taste, add extra lemon/lime juice to your salad.

Mango salad is the most loved of all Khmer salads. We make it with all kind of protein, from smoked fish to dried shrimp to pork belly to fresh seafood. Try it with a combination of pork belly and shrimp. 

Khmer Mango Salad

Khmer Salad Dressing

Fish-sauce dressing

5 garlic cloves

3 red chilies (optional)

½ cup fish sauce

½ cup lemon juice

½ cup sugar

A pinch of salt

Pound the garlic and chilies in a mortar. Spoon out and place the garlic/chili mixture in a bowl. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well. Taste and adjust accordingly.

Note: Except for beef and fish salads (the pleah variety), this fish-sauce dressing is used in majority of Khmer salads (ngiom) and a few relishes (chrourk). You can also use it as a dipping sauce for boiled/broiled seafood. Drizzle some fish-sauce dressing over broiled or deep-fried whole fish and serve it with some sliced cucumbers and tomatoes.

To start, here's a very popular salad:

Cambodian Cabbage Salad

Cambodian Cabbage Salad or Ngiom Spai Kdaob in Khmer

1 cabbage, about 2 pounds, quartered and thinly sliced

3/4 pound boiled chicken breast, shredded

1 medium carrot, thinly sliced into matchsticks

4 medium shallots, thinly sliced

3 oz bean thread soaked in hot water for 30 minutes and drained (optional)

1 red or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced (optional)

A bunch of mint and basil leaves

1/3 cup of roasted peanuts, roughly ground

1/3 cup fish-sauce dressing

In a large bowl, toss everything together, setting aside the peanuts and the dressing. When you’re ready to eat, toss the salad with the dressing and sprinkle with peanuts and serve. 

Note: The traditional recipe calls for chicken, but you can also make it with boiled pork belly or shrimp or a combination of all three.

Another salad, with apples as the main star:

Apple Salad

Apple Salad or Ngiom Pomme in Franco-Khmer

3/4 lb. boiled shrimp, peeled

3 large Granny Smith apples, julienned

3 medium shallots, or 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

Some mint leaves

Some basil leaves

¼ cup roasted peanuts, coarsely ground

¼ cup fish-sauce dressing

Toss apples, shallots, shrimp, mint and basil leaves together. Add the dressing and toss again. Sprinkle with peanuts and serve.

Note: Use crunchy apples, the sourer the apples, the better.

Riddle Me This

Darling girl, as big as you are, you still stand shorter than grass.

Tough Love

Don’t shoot those you hate; don’t lend to those you love.

Khmer Proverb 

Women and Civilizations

Rice seedling raises the soil, a woman cultivates her man.

Khmer Proverb

How the Hare saved the Shrimp, the Fish and the Crabs: A Khmer Folktale

There was once a wolf who roamed the fields for food, and when a cool breeze started blowing he would go to dried up lakes and ponds to catch fish. One time, upon arriving at a small pond which had almost completely dried up but for a muddy hole full of shrimp, fish and crabs, the wolf exclaimed, “Surely today is my lucky day.”

Upon hearing what the wolf had said, the shrimp pleaded, “We are your food, Brother Wolf, but we’re muddy, we won’t make for delicious food if you eat us in such a state.”

The wolf then asked, “What can I do to make you delicious?” The shrimp replied, “You should clean us first.” The wolf again asked, “there’re many of you, how can I do so?” At which the shrimp told him not to worry if he followed their directions. The wolf agreed.

The shrimp told the wolf to lie down in the mud, “then we will cling to your fur and then you can take us to clean in a lake with clear water. Then you can finally enjoy us.”

The wolf was a bit excited and foolish so he did exactly as he was told. The shrimp, fish and crabs clung to the wolf’s fur and the wolf went around looking for water until he saw a large lake with clean water. He walked into the water and the shrimp and fish and crabs jumped into the water and told the wolf to go back and bring all the remaining shrimp, fish and crabs, “after you bring all of us here, you can eat us all later. We will be waiting for you here.” The wolf went back and brought the rest of the shrimp, fish and crabs to the lake.

When the shrimp, fish and crabs learned that the wolf had moved all of them, they submerged deeper into the lake. It was too late when the wolf realized he had been tricked by the shrimp. He became enraged and decided to persuade other large animals to join him into drying up the lake. He found elephants, tigers, rhinos and snakes, big and small, to join in his effort. The snakes acted as a dam while other animals tried throwing water out of the lake.

The shrimp, fish and other animals living in the lake were frightened by what was happening. They tried to come up with a solution to stop those animals from drying up the lake. A climbing perch offered to go look for the hare who was known as a clever judge, who helped animals and humans alike. The climbing perch crawled in the sunlight in search of the hare. At nightfall, the hare came out looking for food and saw the climbing perch crawling and asked, “Where are you going, Brother Climbing Perch?” The climbing perch pleaded, “Please take pity on me, Brother Hare. All the fish in the lake have asked me to come and seek your help. You are known to be wise and you are kind to humans and animals in difficulties. Right now there are buffaloes, elephants, tigers, rhinos, snakes and flamingos working together to dry up the lake so they can catch us. The boas and snakes are acting as a dam across the lake.” The climbing perch continued “Please help save us.”

The hare told the climbing perch to go back and tell everyone not to worry, “I’ll go and help you out.” The climbing perch then crawled back to the lake with the news.

In the morning the hare came to the lake and saw many animals trying to dry up the lake. He picked a green leaf with holes eaten by worms from a nearby tree to use as a letter. He then called out to the animals and said, “Listen to me everyone. Indra, King of the Gods, has ordered me to bring this letter to all of you. The letter says that Indra will come and break the legs of the flamingos and other water birds. He will break the necks of all the wolves and pull out the tusks of all the elephants.”

Upon hearing the letter, the animals panicked and stampeded over each other. Rhinos, elephants, buffaloes rushed away, stampeding on the snakes, causing the dam to burst. Water floated back into the lake and drowned the animals to death, who then became fish food.