Snacking like a Cambodian

I am a big-time snacker. At my first office job, I used an entire drawer of a filing cabinet to store treats to get me through the day. In graduate school, I would pack my meals for the day of class/work and also include 3-5 snacks, resulting in the use almost of every piece of tupperware I owned. Over the years, I've come to notice that not everyone is a snacker or as avid a snacker as I, but there is instead a spectrum of snacking. On one end are folks like me, and on the other are those that wake up, eat breakfast and are just fine and dandy until the lunch hour rolls around. In addition to being impressed by people who aren't completely incapacitated by hunger at 10:30am, I am sometimes a bit embarrassed by how often I need to snack when in the presence of those that just simply don't.

A few months ago, two Khmer colleagues at my office were shifted to the room where I sit and I was pleased as punch to have some company around. We had all spent a week together in the field conducting a round focus groups, and I felt like we got along very well. But then I realized that they had no idea about my snacking. My previous officemate was also a 9-10 on the snack-scale, so we had a mutual understanding, but I didn't know where my new officemates stood. On our first day together, my stomach began to rumble on schedule at 10am, and I began munching nonchalantly on some crackers. A few minutes later, low and behold, my co-worker whipped out her own tupperware (from a bag of multiple snack containers) and we both snacked away.

Over the next few days, my officemate began to share snacking advice. She introduced me to her favorite snack foods, which were common snacks among Cambodians and completely new to me. Three of these items have since become staples in my snacking regimen.

Before introducing them, I should say that I have some selection criteria for good snacks in the office. Office-time snacks are different from movie-time snacks or bedtime-snacks, and these three snacks perfectly fit my criteria.

Criteria for a good work-time snack:

1) Not messy. Nobody likes a snack that contaminates a laptop or work papers.
Example: I tried to bring lychees in as a snack when I first got here. I L-O-V-E lychees, perhaps my favorite fruit. But my lord, they are messy. Peeling even one resulted in juice all over my hands, desk, squirted onto papers and into keys of my computer. Lychees quickly got the snack-axe.

2) Low odor. Again, nobody likes a snack that contaminates their airspace.
Example: I remember multiple officemates brining in tuna salad at my office in NYC, and while certainly a tasty treat, it can be a tad intense for those at the next desk over. Here in Southeast Asia, I've noticed a shared stance on the odor factor. In some hotels in Cambodia, there will be "Please no durian" signs (a fruit with a notoriously pungent, feet-like smell) and just this past weekend in Thailand I noticed that the stinky fruit is prohibited in subways.

3) Not too tasty. Come again?
That's right, I've realized the key to a good snack is one that isn't so delicious as to sidetrack you from work. Example: There's this place in town that makes brownies. These brownies are the embodiment of everything I look for in a baked good: sweet, varying in chewy and crunchy, and just ever so under-baked in the middle so you get the goodness of a brownie and brownie batter all in one. Early on, I bought one at lunchtime to nibble on as I crunched some stats in the afternoon. Around 2pm, I opened my brownie up, took a small bite and turned back to my laptop. And then my memory gets foggy.... all I know is the next time I looked at the clock it was 2:20pm, my brownie box was empty, I was licking chocolate off my fingers, and my laptop had gone to sleep. Bad snack choice.

TOP THREE CAMBODIAN SNACKS
1) Jicama/Bangkuang
- This is a strange, unassuming root vegetable. Before peeling, it looks like pretty unappetizing and even after peeling you might expect it to taste like a turnip or a potato. The first time my coworker offered me one, my expectations were low but now I buy them by the kilogram and eat them daily. The texture is just fantastic. A lot of crunch accompanied by some woodiness and a whole lot of water. It's kind of like a cross between a coconut and a water chestnut. And the taste is extremely subtle, mellow sweetness like a coconut and fresh like an asian pear. Several co-workers explained that this food is popular to eat in the dry/hot season as it is believed to cool down the body.

2) Guava/Tro Baek
- Looking a bit like a lumpy pear, this fruit is a popular tropical fruit flavor. Interestingly, when eaten raw it rarely tastes much like its replicated taste. I've seen small pink-fleshed varieties in India, but here in Cambodia they are fist-sized and white on the inside, with a taste verging on lemony-pear. These guavas also come equipped with very hard seeds at the center, which can break a tooth if you're not careful. Fun fact: A guava contains about 4 times as much vitamin C as an orange, making it nutritious and delicious.


3) Green mango/Svay Keo Lameat
- Mangoes themselves are not a new fruit to me, but up until this year I had always eaten them very ripe, dark orange and very sweet. Here in Cambodia, a common snack is a green, less-ripe mango that is characteristically sweet and sour. The ratio of sweet:sour varies by mango, and I find that for most the scale is tipped more to the sour side. This mouth-puckering snack is often accompanied by a dipping powder, made up of chili spice, sugar and salt. This is definitely the most intense of the three snacks in my routine.

Okay, enough blogging. I need a snack.

Introducing: Mr. Shrimp

A few months ago my roommate and I adopted a kitten from a French couple who were moving on to Tanzania for work. They had originally found the little guy on the street, and he was so miserably flea-ridden that they called him "Sac à Puces," which translates to Sack of Fleas. By the time he came to live with us, he had overcome his pest problem and we bestowed him with an equally dignified name: Mr. Shrimp. He's a great Khmer kitty, who divides his days between napping spread eagle below the fan, cuddling, attacking feet and chasing plastic bags.

Postcard from Cambodia

This video by Asia Media Lab has been circulating around the past few days; it's a captivating and thoughtful display of snippets of daily life across Cambodia. There are so many times I want to capture a moment in time here, and send it back home to share... Also, it's looking like my mom and her best friend are going to come out to this neck of the woods soon, so I hope this gets you both excited for your journey!

Another Dairy Adventure

A few weeks ago, riding a wave of confidence from my yogurt-making success, I decided to step up my game and try making another dairy favorite: ricotta cheese. Like yogurt, cheese is really not part of the local cuisine here in Cambodia, and as it is not readily available it can be quite expensive where it is sold.

During some routine data analysis at work the other day, I was able to quantify just how much dairy is consumed here compared to other food groups. One set of data showed that of 1,134 children, only 10.9% had consumed any milk product in the last 24 hours; whereas 99.6% had consumed rice, 94.8% had consumed fresh or dried fish, and 58.1% had consumed some kind of fruit or vegetable. Additionally, almost half of the families in this study reported that they never buy milk products. In comparison to other foods, dairy is pretty low on the scale of diet preferences for Cambodians. This makes a lot of sense given that, according to some studies,* lactose intolerance is more prevalent in this part of the world and milk is not traditionally part of the diet. I, however, am from the heavily cow-populated, dairy-obsessed land of the Upper Midwest. At the Minnesota State Fair, we have an entire building (okay, a barn) dedicated to dairy products. We have a Butter Princess crowned each year, who has her very own bust carved out from a giant block of butter. And then there is the All-You-Can-Drink-For-25cents Milk Booth. Growing up in this dairy culture, I definitely consumed a milk product at least once a day, much like most Cambodian children consume a fish product at least once a day, given that they grow up surrounded by streams, rivers and the ocean.

The idea of making ricotta was at first intimidating, but it is probably one of the simplest recipes I've ever followed. And unlike yogurt, you get to eat the results almost right away. To enjoy your own homemade ricotta, follow these simple steps:

-- Heat up 4 cups of whole milk + cream on the stove. You can use all milk, but the outcome will be less rich and creamy. And your milk to cream ratio should be no more than 1 cup cream : 3 cups whole milk.

-- Heat until the mixture begins to get frothy, kind of like a latte. Try not to let it boil. You can see how it is getting there in the picture above.


-- While you are waiting for the milk/cream to heat up, squeeze out 3 tablespoons to juice from limes or lemons. Make sure you don't have seeds in your juice.


-- Once your milk is hot enough, turn off and remove from heat. Pour in the lemon/lime juice and stir 2-3 times slowly and gently. You will start to see some curds within seconds.

-- Let the mixture sit undisturbed for 5 minutes. While it's sitting, line a sieve with 2-3 layers of cheesecloth and put over a big bowl.

-- Nest, pour the mixture (which is now curdled) into the cheese-clothed sieve. Let it sit for 1 hour. All the whey will drain into the bowl and you can throw this away. Some people keep their whey, but I'm still not sure what you can do with it. If you have any ideas, let me know!



-- After letting it sit, scrap ricotta from cheese cloth into container for saving, or eat right away.


* Sahi T 1994 Genetics and epidemiology of adult-type hypolactasia. Scand J Gastroenterol 202:7–20.

Change in Plans: Crazy for Cambodia

I am coming upon completing my 7th month here in Cambodia, and time has been passing at an alarmingly swift rate. When I began this blog, I mentioned that this position would take me to 3 different countries over a span of two years, but there has been a slight change in this plan...

After arriving and discussing my work plan with the office here, it become clear that 6 months was a very tight timeframe to design/finalize research plans, collect data, transcribe/enter/clean/analyze this data, write up reports and present findings for several studies. Additionally, being here for 6 months would leave me with only 4.5 months in my next location, making it an even tighter schedule there. So, while I was incredibly excited about being in completely different geography for part of this year, it ultimately made the most sense for me to stay put.

This has turned out to be a fantastic decision because though all the data has been collected for the 3 studies I'm working on, I've only begun analysis and write-up. Additionally, I've fallen in love with Cambodia, the city of Phnom Penh, the projects I'm working on, and my co-workers. This is a truly beautiful and wondrous part of the world and I feel quite lucky to have the opportunity to be working here.

Angkor Wat Run

A few years ago, I began running. This is a simple statement, but given my history of athletic misadventures it is actually something I am really proud of. And after completing my first 10K here in Cambodia, I feel like I can now actually call myself a runner.

I grew up with a lot of encouragement from my dad to get involved in "physical activities," but my success in these activities is pretty funny in retrospect. In elementary school, I played kickball and one game, when it was my turn to step up to the plate, I kicked the ball and broke my ankle. That's right, from just kicking the ball. In high school, I joined the softball team and played as left-fielder. My coach was wise as this position saw little action, so I was safe most of the time. But one game, the opponent's batter hit a grounder to left and it was a my make-or-break moment. The ball tumbled toward me, I picked it up, wheeled back my arm and threw... but let go too late and the ball went straight into the dirt about 2 meters in front of me. The next week I changed positions, and became the "team manager," where my organizational skills were much more beneficial to the team. And running had long been the bane of my existence. Every year of elementary school, our class had to run a mile and I just couldn't make it. We had to make 4 laps around the school, each time dropping a clothespin in a bucket to help us keep track. By the time I was a 4th grader, I was so over this exercise and decided to casually drop two clothespins in at once to reduce my distance. However, when I huffed and puffed across the finish line, first among my classmates, the gym teacher knew something was up. I ended up having to do that 4th lap anyway.

For as long as I can remember, my dad had always been a runner. I never really understood the appeal; he would suit up in his running shorts, shirt and a hat, tie up his laces and set out, only to come back beet-red, sweaty and out-of-breath. But one exam period during university, I was stressed and remember him telling me to try going for a jog to work out some of the exam anxiety. I began doing slow laps around the track at McGill's gym and soon realized I could now actually make a full mile, slowly but surely. And beyond that, my dad was absolutely right. Whether it was the distraction of focusing on just moving my legs one in front of the other, or the rush of endorphins that came from this action, running was leaving me feeling clear-headed and exhilarated.

I began to run more consistently about two years ago. Again, the stress of graduate school combined with an uncertainty about finding a job after graduation led me back to running as a way to "sweat it out." I would rise early in the morning and jog about 1.5 miles through Brooklyn, and come back ready to face the day knowing that I had already accomplished something that, for me, was not easy. It was empowering in a way I hadn't expected.

Before I landed in Cambodia, several people had told me about an annual half-marathon that is held amidst the temples of Angkor Wat in Siem Reap. Feeling like I might be ready to push myself further, I made a resolution to run the 10K portion of this race. My goals were clear: 1) Try to run the whole thing and 2) Try to make it in under 1 hour. And it's fills my heart with joy to say that I accomplished both these goals.

The actual run was one of the most amazing things I've ever done. Everyone lined up outside the entrance to Angkor Wat, and as the starting call was made we all began to move forward as a group. It was early in the morning, the sun had just come up, and the air was cool and damp. I looked to my right to see this incredible temple aglow in the light, and in front of me were a sea of heads bobbing up and down and a jungle beyond. As each runner began to find their own pace, the density of the crowd lessened and I found myself hearing nothing but my breath, the breath of those around me, and the scattered but consistent beat of our feet hitting the road. As if running past the awesome presence of Angkor Wat wasn't enough, our path took us through the gate into Angkor Thom, around the intricate, beautiful temple of Bayon, and beyond.

In addition to the setting, the atmosphere of the race blew me away. The event and all the proceeds are to raise awareness and benefit landmine victims, and many of the 10K runners were amputees running with prosthetics. And they were darn good, whizzing past me time and time again. And as the first runners began to loop back and pass all the runners who trailed them, everyone who was still working towards the halfway mark would cheer and stretch out their hands to high-five and encourage those in the lead. It didn't feel like a race, it felt like this random event made up of people from around the world, and everyone had joined together to complete the run. And this was highlighted by the fact that everyone got a medal, which read: Angkor Wat Run Finisher.* Finishing was what was important.

I get it now, why my dad ran. I'm hooked as well, and it's totally worth being beet-red, sweat-soaked and out-of-breath. :)

* Sidenote: When I got back to my hotel with this medal around my neck, one of the hotel staff ran up to me and said, "You won! You won!" For a split second I thought about saying, "Yes, yes I did!" But ended up letting him know that every runner got one, and I was, sadly, not the winner.

** Credit to the amazing Lucinda (who finished the 3K while 8 months pregnant!) for the photos from the race.

Bluegrass in a Tuk-Tuk

A couple days ago, I came upon a really fantastic website: The Tuk-Tuk Sessions. I have no idea who is behind this project, but according to their website, "the impetus behind this (project was) born out of a desire to play music and give the world a visual tour of life in Phnom Penh. We want to capture the bustling, vibrant streets of the Penh, accompanied by equally vibrant tunes, punctuated with the mandatory horns, moto revs and slight chaos." Basically, a musical person or group is found, put in a tuk-tuk, and they jam out while driving around Phnom Penh and the whole thing is filmed in one take. Pretty neat.

To give you a sense of what it's like to commute in Phnom Penh, I wanted to share one of the videos that was born out of the project fe,aturing a really great bluegrass band here in Phnom Penh, Grass Snake Union. To make it extra special, they are covering a song by Trampled by Turtles, an excellent bluegrass band that hails from Duluth, MN! Hope you enjoy the trip and tunes.