With one of the largest Cambodian communities outside of Southeast Asia, the Seattle area is an ideal place to be introduced to Khmer cuisine. Twenty five years ago, the family-run Phnom Penh Noodle House in the Chinatown/International District was the city’s first Cambodian restaurant. My favorite standby when I revisit my erstwhile hometown is “Battambang’s Favorite.” The menu description of this dish reads: “Ground shrimp and pan roasted peanut with salted radish and pickled cucumber, served over a bed of roasted sweet soy sauce thin rice noodles and bean sprouts. Finished with a hardboiled egg, green onion, and cilantro.” Surprise the staff by saying, “Jeum riep sue” (“Hello,” in Cambodian). (The owner, Seng “Sam” Ung, has recently written a memoir about surviving the Pol Pot regime, entitled, I survived the Killing Fields.)
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"Battambang's Favorite" in Seattle
With one of the largest Cambodian communities outside of Southeast Asia, the Seattle area is an ideal place to be introduced to Khmer cuisine. Twenty five years ago, the family-run Phnom Penh Noodle House in the Chinatown/International District was the city’s first Cambodian restaurant. My favorite standby when I revisit my erstwhile hometown is “Battambang’s Favorite.” The menu description of this dish reads: “Ground shrimp and pan roasted peanut with salted radish and pickled cucumber, served over a bed of roasted sweet soy sauce thin rice noodles and bean sprouts. Finished with a hardboiled egg, green onion, and cilantro.” Surprise the staff by saying, “Jeum riep sue” (“Hello,” in Cambodian). (The owner, Seng “Sam” Ung, has recently written a memoir about surviving the Pol Pot regime, entitled, I survived the Killing Fields.)
