00:00Look, what a beauty!
00:02Chiu-chiu everyone, I'm Chef Na.
00:05Today I will be taking you to my favorite spot to eat in Phnom Penh.
00:09And this is Where the Chefs Eat.
00:13Something amazing about food culture in Phnom Penh is that it is a hub.
00:17People from different parts of Cambodia urbanize and then make a living.
00:22So when people come, they bring their own traditions from where they grew up
00:27and that makes the whole thing quite diverse.
00:30Everything is so vibrant.
00:31You can have access to a very affordable street food to a very high-end restaurant.
00:37And the choice is yours.
00:54Welcome to Beautiful.
00:55So this is one of my favorite restaurants when I come to Phnom Penh.
00:59Mat Phnom restaurant was founded about 10 years ago by a woman to promote the cuisine of Cambodia.
01:05This is also a place to show the diversity, the freshness and every characters of everyday and original dishes
01:13in a very beautiful, simple setting.
01:20So we have two amazing dishes that I grew up eating.
01:24This is one of the iconic salads in Cambodia.
01:27But not blossom is one of the flowers that we eat in Cambodia.
01:31We use it in so many different ways.
01:34But today we are using it by chopping it up and then make it into a salad.
01:38And you also have fresh river shrimp.
01:42You have shredded chicken, beautiful roasted peanuts and the herbs.
01:46And that gives you all the balance that also bursts in your mouth too.
01:50This is just a crispy fried fish.
01:54The outside is so crispy, but the inside is still super moist.
01:59And it comes with seasonal pickle.
02:00So this is seasonal ripe tomato.
02:03That being charred.
02:05That gives us a beautiful caramelized but also smoky flavors.
02:09And this is matured green mango.
02:11Just slice it, shred it and we have it with fish sauce.
02:15That balance the whole thing to accompany the fish.
02:18It just gives you the burst of flavors in your mouth.
02:21Oh, you know what?
02:24Welcome to Cambodia.
02:26When we have this beautiful dishes in front of us,
02:29without this beautiful looking rice,
02:33the whole thing wouldn't be considered as a meal.
02:36So welcome.
02:37Let's dive in.
02:39Let's have a piece of this beautiful, crunchy, but very moist seasonal fish.
02:45And then pickles.
02:51Mmm.
02:54Beautiful.
02:55Crunchy.
02:56Soury.
02:57Sour.
02:58Just melt in your mouth.
03:05Hey, I'm very, very excited about this soup.
03:09This is called lemongrass paste beef saver soup.
03:12One of the soup that I grew up eating a lot.
03:16We have the beef, the curry leaf.
03:18Sorry about this.
03:19This is curry leaf.
03:20In Cambodian, we call it flecantrobe.
03:23One of the leaves that we use,
03:25and specifically only in this soup.
03:28This soup also highlights the heart of Cambodian's fundamental component in cooking,
03:33which is the lemongrass paste.
03:35That not only gives us the aroma and balance on the deep flavors of our ingredients,
03:41it's also been helping us to stay healthy for thousands of years already.
03:46Let's dive in.
03:48Look at this.
03:50Beautiful.
03:52So here we go.
03:53Enjoy.
03:54Enjoy.
03:59You know, when I travel, I often try to find places to eat that only local goes.
04:06Because the locals have to approve it, right?
04:09And this is it.
04:11I'm surrounded by all the locals, and I can always expect the same result every single time.
04:20Look at this.
04:22This is one of the excitement that I had for coming here today.
04:27Because here now in Cambodia, it's the mango season.
04:31This is our steamed cigarettes with coconut and ripe mango.
04:38Here in Cambodia, we have fresh ingredients every single day.
04:44And you can taste the freshness so clean.
04:47And here you go.
04:50My gosh.
04:51This is one of the dishes that I could have every single day.
04:55Happy.
05:06I am now at Pizza Old Market.
05:08And we are just right next door to the Old Market or Psaca in our local language.
05:15Please come join me.
05:20So welcome to Pizza Old Market.
05:23It's just newly opened.
05:24It also shows a very deep respect to its roots by using the local and seasonal ingredients offering the diner,
05:31a la carte, or the chef tasting menu.
05:33So I am now getting ready for my amuse-bouche.
05:37And I'm very excited to know what it is.
05:46Are we ready for this?
05:47I think this is supposed to be for one bite.
05:49So let me do this all in together.
05:55The fragrance is incredible.
05:57The crunch is amazing.
05:59But then the pops of the sweet corns give me the contrast of the savory flavor from the fresh flavor
06:05of shrimps.
06:06First course, nine apple peppers.
06:15Look.
06:16What a beauty.
06:18It's a form of salad.
06:20So candelaweiner and seared and semi-slides.
06:23It's amazing.
06:23And there are some herbs.
06:25And the most important part, which are the thinly sliced lemongrass stock and coffee lime juice.
06:32A moment after.
06:34This is amazing, right?
06:36Edible flower, especially in the Western style, they use it to uplift the look of the dish.
06:42But here in Cambodia, when we think of edible flowers, they're meant to be eaten.
06:47It gives you a beautiful look, but also different texture and flavors to the dish.
06:59When it comes to Mekong crayfish, it's one of the luxurious ingredients that we don't commonly have access every day.
07:07So I'm very, very excited to dive in.
07:11Oh, look.
07:13The Mekong crayfish have been chopped into small, small, small pieces.
07:17I also have seen some of the mushroom as well.
07:21So, buon appetito.
07:27So rich, so creamy, yet light.
07:30The balance of the coconut water and the richness of the Mekong crayfish is so beautiful.
07:38And it's just so clever that they decided to make the foam almost like cappuccino style.
07:44Beautiful.
07:50Oh my god, the whole belly is just so soft.
07:56And this is so beautiful.
07:58Dining close to where I came from, the local market, brought me so much to the childhood memory, where food
08:06was a way to survive.
08:07But looking at something like this, very close to where I came from, gives me the hope of the future
08:14of this cuisine.
08:16I've been to Pizza Old Market a lot of times.
08:19Every single time, I still have the same feeling, which is very proud.
08:23I also would love to invite you.
08:25When you come to Phnom Penh, explore pizza.
08:27It delivers all the time.
08:28And this is the reason why Pizza is part of the Continent Traveler's Hot List.
08:43It reminds me of a woman on her bicycle every single morning in my village, having a part of this
08:52just behind her bicycle.
08:54And she announced,
08:57And this is it.
08:59But you know, it looks completely different.
09:02So this is the mousse from the coconut.
09:05And this is the black sticky rice.
09:08And it's been fermented.
09:11It's beautiful.
09:13Well balanced.
09:14Not too sweet.
09:15Very coconut-y.
09:16But then you got the crunch and the sour and the fermented flavors from the sticky rice.
09:21That is so beautiful.
09:29Here we are at our final spot of the day.
09:33This is one, two, three grilled seafood.
09:36I love coming back here because it's a very communal, relaxing setting.
09:41But focus on a very high quality ingredients.
09:54There are salmon fins.
09:56There are also some snails.
09:58And we're gonna be grabbing some of the dishes from the grill.
10:01But a few more from their inside kitchen as well.
10:07You know, you come here, you expect that you're gonna have a very beautiful, fresh, straightforward food.
10:14By the way, you know what?
10:16By the way, you know what?
10:17I have company.
10:18And this is happened to be my CEO slash husband.
10:26Hello.
10:27Yeah, this is my husband, Sharon.
10:29Is it okay?
10:30Yeah.
10:30Are you comfy?
10:31I can't wait to taste it.
10:33Good.
10:34Me too.
10:41The two fundamentals for this place and almost two other kind of the dishes here is one of them.
10:50This combo of sea salt and compote pepper.
10:53This combo with lots of lime juice will create an amazing dipping sauce that fits with everything.
11:03And this is something that I, as a chef, travel with.
11:08And another sauce is the sweet, sour, salty sauce.
11:12So it's very calicky and also very refreshing as well.
11:15So these two will be the lead for all the dishes we are having tonight.
11:20This is steamed glass noodles with crabs.
11:24The crab has been hidden at the bottom, looking so beautiful and colorful.
11:30Sometimes I would just come here, have a set of this and that would be my protein and my carb
11:36and a bit of the vegetable that would be in.
11:39So soviet here in Cambodia, we use lime juice to cook the shrimps.
11:44But the shrimp has to be super, super fresh.
11:46And now they have also have different herbs that also balance the shrimpy taste and also the dressing as well.
11:53You know, at home, we rarely have crab.
11:56So coming outside, this is where we would enjoy the seafood.
12:00And this is our seafood place.
12:02And crab with the last noodle, this is my favorite.
12:05Every time we come here, this is what we have.
12:08That's our favorite, not just yours.
12:10Yeah. Well, you know, we order a few things, but this will be my most favorite dish.
12:14All right. Yeah. All right. I approve that.
12:17Oh, oh.
12:19Woohoo. All right. One more is coming. Let's see what is this.
12:23Look at this. Look at this.
12:26Beautiful, very fresh grilled shrimps.
12:29Oh my God. It smells so garlicky.
12:32Woo. It's so beautiful.
12:34Aromatic and so fresh too. Can't wait.
12:39Do you want some of this?
12:41Sure. But I think I will be enjoying the noodle first.
12:44Okay. If I can.
12:45Oh, wow. Have it.
12:47Very long.
12:50So let's have a bite.
12:53I smell the garlic, I smell the ginger, the soy sauce.
12:59That's sweet. Good. As always.
13:02The noodle is so soft, so elastic.
13:05And it has all the flavors that come from the crabs and also other aromatics.
13:10Yeah. It's so beautiful. Mm-hmm.
13:12Eating seafood is an experience, right?
13:14You take your time.
13:16You enjoy the hand movement, the picking, the licking.
13:22How could you enjoy having seafood without using your hand?
13:28It's very important to come to these kinds of communal sharing places.
13:33And this is how we eat.
13:34We serve it in a family style.
13:36Everyone share and take part of this.
13:37In our family, we have a rule.
13:39If anyone want to take the last piece,
13:42they would have to go through everyone and say,
13:44Do you want this?
13:45Do you want this?
13:47If you want it, I still have it.
13:49One of the things that you might pick up
13:53when you spend a lot of time in Cambodia
13:55is that Cambodians love snacking.
13:58We snack all day.
14:00So even in a very busy restaurant like this,
14:03there are numbers of food vendors
14:05who would come offering different things
14:08from sour fruits to peanuts, which you love.
14:12And I always get peanuts.
14:14And sometimes the crickets and many other things.
14:17And you know, we have this.
14:19And then we still enjoy those that they are offering.
14:22Oh, and yes, now he is having his peanut.
14:25Enjoy!
14:26Bye!
