This Global Kitchen | Day 15: Cambodia
Connect with Jess:
Hi friends! I’m Jess, a rookie expat! We’ve been in Cambodia for a whopping MONTH! I live here with my husband, who is Khmer-American, and our two children who are 5 & 3 years old.
Almost two years ago we felt the Lord leading us to another way of life, thus bringing us to Cambodia. We’ve traveled here annually for 4 years, but there are some things I was not, and could not have been prepared for in making this our home. We are still adjusting, and I am expecting that to be an ever-evolving process.
We knew about the state of the home before we moved, and we were confident in our ability to take this project on. We had renovated our kitchen in the states, how hard could it be in Cambodia?! As it turns out, it is very, VERY hard. The lack of online shopping alone is enough to drive you bonkers in planning for a kitchen. My sister-in-law is funding this project (thankfully) and requested a modern kitchen. I didn’t want to let her down, I wanted to create a Pinterest worthy kitchen. But as the days turned into weeks, and the quotes for kitchen cabinets were getting higher, we were forced to innovate, and make it functional for our family in the meantime.
So, I present to you with the stages of my work-in-progress-kitchen.
THE CLEAN SLATE STAGE
The home we are renting is owned by my sister-in-law, so we basically have the best landlord ever. We live in a townhome located in what’s called a “Borey” or planned community, which are becoming more common in Cambodia for the growing middle-class population. We are the first people to live in this home, and this is a photo of our kitchen when we first moved in…
ALL THE THINGS SHOWING STAGE
We are having lower cabinets installed but it will be another two weeks until materials are in. We had to forgo upper cabinets due to budget and opted for shelves for an open concept. My beautiful orange gas tank, my vent that still has its blue plastic wrapping. There is foil covering the hole in the corner that was cut by the builders and meant for a vent (we didn’t like the placement, so we cut another hole where the vent currently is). Our food, spices, and utensils are all on display. I’ve done my best to hide everything else with those neon green plastic baskets. Oh, and please note the microwave on the floor to the left. The reason for that is there is only ONE outlet in the entire kitchen that works. The two, perfectly placed countertop outlets are apparently just for decoration. They don’t work.
As someone who LOVES interior design, I couldn’t wrap my head around the iron gates around EVERY single window in our home. But as I learn to adapt, I realized that they make GREAT hooks. I’ve hung one of my favorite kitchen items, my cutting board of our home state, Washington. As well as measuring cups, potholders and a towel. My neighbor hangs her pots and pans on her window, and I think I may eventually do the same.
Photo 1: Recycling is a huge issue here in Cambodia, so please note the collection of bottles and bags under the sink, ready to be re-used for my kids’ art projects.
Photo 2: Here’s the stove top, vent and refrigerator. I am thankful to have a large, modern fridge, but I’ve found that in S.E. Asia it’s really unnecessary. We grocery shop every 2-3 days to ensure fresh meat and produce. So, if I were to photograph the inside, you’d see it’s hardly full. Refrigerators like this are great in the U.S. where we shop in bulk at Costco.
EMOTIONAL BREAKDOWN STAGE
This is my favorite part of the kitchen, and by far the most important. The table. I cried when it was delivered. During our transition to Cambodia we were homeless for five months. For five whole months we ate our meals in all sorts of locations. To have a table where we get to consistently gather, pray, and serve my family as well as my new community is something that I will never take for granted again.
THE COMPLETE(ISH) STAGE
Ta-Da! We did it! There was a point in time that I DEFINITELY thought we would never finish this kitchen. Indeed, my perception of time has been altered dramatically in the now two months we’ve been in Cambodia. Here’s a little update on what we came up with!
The biggest challenge was finding a contractor that specialized in making modern cabinets. While the modern style kitchen is evolving in Cambodia, it’s still not the standard. These cabinets do exist, but they’re imported, making them so much more expensive than, say, cabinets at IKEA for the same quality. Having them made was the most cost-effective way to achieve the look we were going for. We put together a design, picked out the wood and hardware, then contractors literally built them in my front carport. It was an interesting experience, we ran into some hiccups, like realizing our countertop was not level, but yeah know, adds character. We love the way the upper shelves turned out and I’ve come to love the functionality of them!
Thanks for stopping by and checking out my Cambodian Kitchen!
My Must Haves for My Expat Kitchen:
I am still working on stocking my kitchen. I’ve slowly been picking up the basics like a toaster, blender, and of course one of the first things we bought was a microwave. But there are some food items that my children and I just can’t live without: peanut butter. I’m very partial to Kirkland Brand because they have healthy tub sizes, so we stalked up on that before we left. The second is, microwavable popcorn because if I have to give up on modern conveniences like Amazon Prime, let me at least have my microwavable popcorn.
My Favorite Expat friendly Recipe:
Cracklin’ chicken
by Jess | TakingRoute.net
Cooking in a new country feels like I have to relearn how to cook all together. The available foods, the ingredients, the spices. Not to mention, I only have a two burner stove top with no oven means my days of baking are over. This recipe is my tried and true crowd pleaser, and you can alter it in many ways. Adapted from Nom Nom Paleo, stir fried veggies and rice, a very important food group in Asia.
Ingredients:
Ghee, butter, or coconut oil
chicken legs
spices of your choice
Melt your cooking oil of choice in a medium/large frying pan. I prefer ghee (you can make your own) but if you’re too lazy for that, butter or coconut oil work great.
Wash and pat dry your chicken with a paper towel. I love chicken thighs for this recipe, but my kids prefer little party wings.
Drying the skin is key for the crispy crunch. Salt and season the skin and lay the chicken skin side down in the pan. DON’T TOUCH IT!! Let it sit for a while until you see the chicken starting to brown through to the other side. Season the other side with your favorite and available spices. Rotate the pan every few minutes so that it heats all of the chicken evenly. After several minutes take a peek at one, if the skin is golden brown go ahead and flip them. Let it cook for a few more minutes and voila! You have some delish chicken that is truly cracklin’!
*Veggies stir fried is the only way my kids will eat them, so it’s pretty much what we do every night. We will rotate whether we have them with a side of rice or throw in some noodles with them. Make it interesting by switching up which types of veggies you use based on what’s in season and affordable. I start with onions and garlic sautéed in a bit of oil. Add the rest of your veggies with some seasoning, we usually use soy sauce, oyster sauce, and/or fish sauce. Throw in the leafy green veggies last as they don’t need to cook as long.
Enjoying a home cooked meal, wherever you are, doesn’t need to be one million steps or ingredients at that. If your kids are older, this is something they can prepare with ease. Enjoy!
