Submitted by Christina Mueller

Nite Yun, the owner of Lunette in San Francisco dishes on the ancestral food of Kampuchea (known in English as Cambodia) in My Cambodia. Yun pulls a thread through the dishes of her youth in Stockton, California, through her travels in Cambodia, from her first restaurant, Nyum Bai, with sweets inspired by SoCal’s Khmer doughnut shops.

Celebrating Khmer Cooking in Cambodia and California

Yun organizes the book following the big chapters of her life. Raised in Stockton by parents who escaped the Cambodian genocide, Yun develops as a cook in stages. At first, surrounded by fellow Khmer, Yun learns the foundations of Khmer cooking. These essentials – Kroeung (a fragrant paste of lemongrass, galangal, turmeric, garlic, shallots and lime leaves) – is at the very center of the Khmer kitchen, along with rice, fish sauce dressing and crispy garlic oil. Along her journey, Yun masters these flavors, adding new flavors that speak to her current environment.

To start recipe testing, I made a vist to the vast Asian grocery in San Francisco, New May Wah. There, I found mud fish sauce, Thai sauce, and many of the other ingredients called for in this cookbook. For fresh galangal and lemongrass, I headed to my local farmers’ market where a Central Valley farmer sells galangal, lemongrass, bird’s eye chiles, and other necessities.

Recipes I Made

After selecting the recipes I wished to make, I started off making Master Kroeung (p. 27). I don’t have a big enough mortar and pestle to hand-crush the aromatics but my Cuisinart worked just fine. Then Fish Sauce Dressing (p. 37). Now I was ready.

: mud fish sauce on the shelf

: kroeung in the Cuisinart

The dressing was put to immediate use in Chicken Cabbage Salad (p. 203) which I served alongside Garlic + Pepper Pork Ribs and rice. I loved the sald – savory, garlicky, sweet, sour while the kids found it too fishy. Everyone loved the ribs. They would’ve been even better if I had marinated them for the full 24 hours, as Yun suggests. Grilled Corn with Coconut Milk + Green Onion (p. 160), one of the dishes inspired by Yun’s visits to Cambodia, was instantly familiar. “This tastes like the corn at Baan Thai,” (a local Thai restaurant) my oldest said.

Because of their familiarity with Thai and Chinese flavors, my family enjoyed other dishes I cooked as well. Stir-fried Kroeung (p. 183) was chicken thighs stir-fried with kroeung, palm sugar, and the mud fish sauce I had purchased at New May Wah. Topped with fresh holy basil and chiles from the farmers’ market, it disappeared in an instant. Coconut Pork (p. 187) met with a similar fate. Marinated in coconut milk, garlic, sugar and Thai seasoning, then seared, the meat’s edges were crispy and sweet, balanced by a deep savoriness.

I even managed to get the kids to eat eggplant by serving them Charred Eggplants with Pork + Shrimp (p. 206). Minced pork and shrimp are stir-fried with oyster sauce, palm sugar and soy sauce, then placed atop charred eggplant. The sauce brings the dish together, the crispy shrimp and pork add texture and it all works well.

: Grilled Corn with glazing sauce

: Charred Eggplant with Pork and Shrimp

This time I marinated the beef overnight before making Kampot Noodles with Coconut Fish Sauce Dressing (p. 143). Coca-Cola Chciekn (p. 153) rested overnight stuffed with garlic and shallot and brushed with oyster sauce and pepper. Though I have not yet tried the fish dishes, every dish I served my family was a success. There’s something about the sweet-savory-garlicky flavors of southern Asia that resonates with my people. I also savored Yun’s family story, her commitment to bringing Khmer cooking to a larger audience. And I appreciated understanding just a bit more about a part of the world that I don’t spend enough time exploring.

Who Would Like This Cookbook

Anyone who likes a sense of place to accompany their cooking. Yun’s stories drive the recipes. Once I had the ingredients in hand (not a challenge in Northern California where I live), the recipes were a fun exploration, a window into a Bay Area community that is not often seen. I’d recommend this book to anyone who likes to dig a little deeper to explore their local food scene.