Angkor Wat inspired dinner - Cambodia

One of my favourite dish is Kuy teav - kuay teow in Chinese. According to wikipedia, Kuy teav is a noodle soup consisting of rice noodles with pork stock and toppings. I am going to make this dish for dinner tonight. I was inspired by Toy Story Toon Hawaii Vacation to have a holiday at home. Why do we have to go away to enjoy a vacation? We can totally kick back and relax at home any time! Barbie and Ken were unable to go to Hawaii, so the toys helped them to go to the zoo, go undersea diving, and put on a delicious romantic meal for two. I think this is a great idea for us since we can't afford to go overseas on a trip, but we are very capable of having a holiday at home. I looked up Angkor Wat on wikipedia, and also tried to find a book about the temple. Hamilton libraries have books about travelling to Cambodia, but I can't find a book that contain big photos of Angkor Wat. This is a bit disappointing since I hope to find a book with a big photo of Angkor Wat so I can show it to my better half. He is facinated with Angkor Wat, hopefully saving up to travel to see the real thing one day. Before we see the real thing, I can certainly bring him some Cambodian cuisine! Below is the description of Kuy teav that I've found on Wikipedia: Kuy teav is prepared with partially dry thin squarish rice noodles cooked by quickly immersing the noodles in boiling water. The noodles are then strained, placed into a bowl, and moistened with nutty, caramelised garlic oil. After dressing with a sticky brown liquid made of oyster sauce, soy sauce and a pinch of sugar, the bowl is then filled with a clear broth made from pork bones, dried squid, and sugar, and seasoned with a bit of fish sauce. Then the meat toppings are added, which may include an assembly of different types of meat, such as pork loaf, minced pork, pork belly, duck, seafood or offal. Availability is the main factor in what toppings are used in kuy teav; some versions can be quite humble and basic, using only some ground pork and perhaps some dried shrimp for protein, while others can be more time consuming and extravagant. Lastly, when the dish is presented at the table, the diner will then add a number of garnishes and aromatics to customise the dish in accordance with his or her preferences. n Cambodia, kuy teav is still primarily a breakfast dish, and will typically be sold out by vendors before midday. As the pork broth is intended to be subtle rather than spicy, a plethora of optional herbs and other aromatics is always presented, allowing the diner to adjust the textures and flavours of the dish to his or her liking. In fact, in Cambodia it is precisely the use of garnishes and condiments that defines the main flavour profile of the dish (garlic, limes and pepper are a common flavour trio in Cambodian cuisine), rather than the broth. The dish is always served with the requisite garnishes of a few lettuce leaves, bean sprouts, fresh herbs (such as spring onions (scallions), sawtooth coriander and holy basil), crushed black Kampot pepper, lime juice, and caramelised garlic oil. Many types of chilli (fresh, dried, pickled) and chilli sauce are also normally present at the table, to either add into the broth or to be used as a dipping sauce for the meat toppings, as well as soy sauce, fish sauce and sugar. Kuy teav is also sometimes eaten with deep fried bread sticks, similar to how the Cambodians would eat congee (rice porridge). There are other Cambodian dishes that require more skills and ingredients than I can cope with. I will leave those dishes out today. Maybe I will practice in the future and post here again. Ok. The only problem I have today is that we had pork yesterday so it's difficult for me to get pork bones to make the stock. I should be able to use other meats to make the stock, or I can get some pork bones from the supermarket. I happen to have fish sauce, chilli sauce (from Nandos, not so authentic, but should be fine since it is not so spicy), lettuce, and spring onions. I should be able to get some bean sprouts from the Asian shop across the road. I can get fresh coriander, lime, oyster sauce and garlic oil from the supermarket. I also have some rice noodle in my pantry. I also looked up Cambodian clothes. Very interesting. Seems doable to me. I don't think I have such colourful harem pants available, but hopefully I can rustle something up tonight. It's still very cold today. I am a bit over this winter. Looks like spring is just around the corner. One of my daffodil is threatening to bloom. I will try to make international cuisine more often. It is fun and makes me feel that I am on holiday there. Enjoy your day.