2 Awesome Cheap Cambodian Cooking Classes!

Are you travelling on a budget? Always wanted to do a cooking class? Me too! I have always wanted to learn to cook food from a different country; in that country, by a native of that country. Do you know what I mean? I don’t want to learn to cook Khmer food in Australia by a Chinese cook, for example. I’m a good cook, and I cook a huge variety of food., such as Thai, Indonesian, Italian, French and good old Aussie kangaroo on the BBQ, to name but a few. BUT this was my chance to learn to cook Khmer food from a Khmer chef! FOR ONLY USD10.00!!!! It was cheap enough that Dwayne also chose to do it with me. And let me tell you it is a lot of fun doing it as a couple.

Being as cheap as it was, we decided to do two. We cooked in the morning at Coconut LyLy Restaurant and Cooking School and the afternoon at Nary Kitchen Restaurant and Cooking School. I’ll tell you about each in turn, because, although they were very similar in the market tour and one of the dishes that we cooked, each was a very different experience for us.

Coconut LyLy Restaurant & Cooking School

The first class we did in the morning was with Coconut LyLy. Coconut LyLy is owned and run by LyLy. LyLy is a graduate of Paul Dubrule Cooking School. Coconut Restaurant and Cooking School is a family affair with mum and his brothers helping with the cooking and teaching. Our teacher for the day was Lim. We were the only two students so you could say we had a private lesson. Lim suggested a menu of four dishes, but because it was just the two of us, we were able to change one of the dishes to another of our choice (they have nine different recipes to choose from).

Lim began the lesson by taking us to the markets to purchase fresh ingredients.  Most of the contents are purchased earlier in the morning as the markets open to guarantee freshness, and it also cuts down on the preparation time, so we have more time to cook and learn. The trip to the market was enjoyable. Having spent the last year in South East Asia, the markets themselves are no longer a novelty or a surprise, I have been to so many and often buy my food there myself… yes, even meat. What piqued my interest was having many of my questions about the food answered. Like “what are those green things, and how do I cook them?” And being the only two students, we could monopolise his time.

Lim purchased a few fresh ingredients such as lemongrass, galangal, shallots, turmeric, finger-root, and fresh pressed coconut cream. He also showed us some of the already purchased ingredients we would be using in our cooking.

And now for some of the weirder stuff…

Next, we made the fish amok. ‘Fish’ amok is the only authentic amok, all the others… chicken, pork, vegetables etc. are made for fussy tourists who don’t eat this or that. So instead of saying fish amok, it should just be amok. This recipe took the longest to make. We had to pound the ingredients (lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf, finger-root, galangal, turmeric, shallot, garlic, dry chilli, shrimp paste) in the mortar for about 10 minutes until we had a smooth paste.

We then learned how to make a banana leaf bowl. The bowl is made with careful precision. If the leaf splits, the amok curry will run out while cooking. I broke mine, so I had to redo it, but Dwayne got it first go.

Once the amok was ready, it was set aside until it was time to cook. Next up was the green mango salad. After we shredded the mango and carrot, the mortar and pestle returned. First, we had to smash up some dried (soaked) shrimp and then mix up a dressing.

We also made a quick, very delicious, sour chicken soup. It was flavoured with lemongrass, lime leaves, galangal, garlic and lime juice. Simple and flavoursome. The food was cooked and ready to eat, so we sat down to our four-course lunch. What a feast!

Nary Kitchen Restaurant & Cooking School

We returned to our hotel room to put our feet up for a couple of hours before going to another cooking lesson in the afternoon. This time we went to the cooking class at Nary Kitchen, which we learnt was the first cooking school to open in Battambang. Nary and Toot are the wife and husband team of Nary Kitchen Restaurant & Cooking School. In this cooking lesson, we were not the only participants. There was an English couple, Tom and Jess, and a couple from Germany, Alissa and her partner.

Again the cooking class started with a tour of the market. It was the same market, and we saw most of the same things, but we still came away from the market with more knowledge than we had on the way in. Our market guide bought some fresh ingredients, and at the end of the market tour, we were all carrying fresh produce with which we were going to cook.

Once back at Nary Kitchen and shown to our cooking stations, Toot asked if we wanted a drink before he began his introduction. Dwayne certainly appreciated being able to enjoy a rum and coke as he cooked, and later we ordered a bottle of red wine. It was almost like cooking at home!

First, we cooked Fish Amok (the only dish we doubled up on that day). We made a paste by pounding the ingredient in the mortar until our arm muscles burned. This time, however, we cooked in partnership, so when I was tired of pounding, Dwayne took over and vice-versa until it was smooth and ready to mix with the coconut milk and fish.

In this class, the banana leaf bowls were already made for us, but Toot did a demonstration with one. Once the amok was ready for cooking, we moved on to the fried spring rolls. We didn’t make the spring roll wrapper, just the filling with grated taro root, carrot, pork and spring onion. We were taught how to wrap the spring roll and then deep-fried them.

Next, we made Beef Lok Lak. Traditionally lok lak is made from beef. There is no such thing as chicken lok lak, pork lok lak etc… again these variations to lok lak are simply made for fussy tourists. The Khmer people don’t call it beef lok lak, just lok lak because it goes without saying that it is beef… comprehendo?

For lok lak the beef is cut into small pieces and marinated in several sauces, including oyster sauce, soy sauce, etc., before being stir-fried and served with salad and a fried egg. Lastly, we chopped some bananas and cooked them with tapioca, water and coconut milk for dessert.

OK, it was time to plate up and eat! We put all the food, bar the dessert, on one plate and then got a big spoonful of steamed rice. Three of us shared a bottle of red wine, and the others had a beer. It was a great meal and nice to share with other travellers as we swapped stories of our travels.

Our thoughts on the classes

Both classes were great hands-on experiences and excellent value for money. Both cooking classes were a lot of fun and were run by professional people. They were both informative; we would recommend either.

We thought the food we cooked at Coconut LyLy was nicer and Dwayne had a beer with his lunch.

Dwayne loved the social atmosphere and being able to purchase wine/beer/spirits during the class at Nary Kitchen.