Cambodian food: 25 dishes to try

Khmer food is built on rice, fish, fresh herbs and a careful balance of sour, salty, sweet and bitter flavours. It's usually milder than Thai food, with chilli served on the side so you can adjust the heat. Here are 25 dishes to look out for.

Breakfast and noodles

1. Num banh chok: fresh rice noodles topped with a green fish curry and raw vegetables. Sold by street vendors in the morning.
2. Kuy teav: a clear pork or beef broth with rice noodles, herbs and lime.
3. Bai sach chrouk: grilled marinated pork on broken rice with pickles and a bowl of broth.
4. Bobor: rice porridge, plain or with fish, chicken or pork.
5. Lort cha: short, fat rice noodles stir-fried with bean sprouts, greens and a fried egg.

Curries and soups

6. Fish amok: fish steamed in a coconut curry custard flavoured with kroeung, often served in a banana-leaf cup.
7. Samlor korko: a hearty vegetable soup thickened with toasted rice, often called the national soup.
8. Samlor machu: a family of sour soups made with tamarind, pineapple or other sour fruits.
9. Khmer red curry: a mild, coconut-based curry with chicken or beef and sweet potato, often eaten with bread at celebrations.
10. Banh chheo: a crispy, turmeric-yellow rice pancake filled with pork, prawns and bean sprouts, wrapped in lettuce and herbs.

Grills and stir-fries

11. Beef lok lak: cubes of stir-fried beef with a lime-and-pepper dipping sauce, served with rice, salad and often an egg.
12. Cha kdam: stir-fried crab, most famously with green Kampot pepper in Kep.
13. Grilled fish: usually freshwater fish, served with herbs and dipping sauces.
14. Sach ko ang: grilled beef skewers, sold at street stalls in the evening.
15. Stir-fried morning glory: a simple, garlicky green vegetable dish.

Salads and dips

16. Pleah sach ko: a lime-dressed beef salad with herbs and vegetables.
17. Green mango salad: sour, salty and crunchy, often with dried fish or prawns.
18. Prahok ktis: a rich dip of fermented fish, minced pork and coconut, eaten with raw vegetables.
19. Tuk meric: the lime, salt and black pepper dipping sauce that goes with lok lak and seafood.

Snacks and sweets

20. Num pang: a Cambodian baguette sandwich with pâté, pickles and meat.
21. Nom krok: small coconut rice cakes cooked in a dimpled pan.
22. Num ansom: sticky rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves, made for festivals.
23. Kralan: sticky rice, beans and coconut cooked in bamboo tubes over a fire.
24. Fried insects: crickets, silkworms and, in some places, tarantulas, for the adventurous.

Drinks

25. Iced coffee with condensed milk, sugarcane juice and fresh fruit shakes are everywhere.

Tips for eating well

• Breakfast noodle stalls are often busiest and best before 9 am.
• Look for stalls with a steady flow of local customers.
• Rice is served with almost everything, and dishes are shared.
• Most dishes are mild; chilli, lime and sauces on the table let you adjust the flavour yourself.