Thursday 24 November 2011

CAWesome Cambodian dish

This week in journalism class, we are learning how to write reviews. I have decided to write a restaurant review for my assignment, because I love food! I know, I know, how does this relate to my blog in any way?

I've been watching The Food Network a lot lately. Annie Sibonnay of From Spain With Love states that you can really learn a lot about a culture through its food. I definitely agree with her there.

I know this post (and some of my recent posts) have not been following the original protocol I had intended for this blog.  I figured a little variety would be refreshing and interesting once in a while.  Plus I have to let my family members recharge once in a while.  Asking for stories about a traumatic experience can be quite draining, despite what I had initially thought.  Oh well, live and learn, I say.

Anyway, a recipe is a type of story, and this Cambodian dish is one heck of a tale! My mother makes this dish at home a lot, and it is a hit with my family.

File:Caw.jpgThis dish is called Caw.  It is a type of Cambodian stew typically made with pork, eggs, and tofu.  It is savoury yet sweet all at once!  It's delicious with rice.

Here's a recipe I got from Khmer Krom Recipes.

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups water
  • 6 eggs
  • 1 tbsp water
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 2 cups water
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 green onion, chopped finely
  • 1/4 cup fish sauce
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cups fresh coconut juice
  • 1 1/2 lb pork meat
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
Put eggs and 4 cups water in a pot and cook for 15 minutes.  Remove boiled eggs from hot water and soak it in cold water.  Peel egg shells and set it aside.
Make caramelized sauce by putting 1 tablespoon of water and 1 tablespoon of sugar in a pot or skillet that is big enough to hold all of the ingredients.  Stir frequently until sugar turns into a dark brown colour.  Immediately pour 2-cups water over caramelized sauce and stir well.
Add garlic, onion, fish sauce, sugar, salt, and coconut juice.  Stir well.
Add pork meat.  Stir and cook on low heat for 40 minutes.  Occasionally stir and remove any bubbles that form on top.
Add boiled eggs and simmer until the pork meat is tender.
Sprinkle with black pepper.
Serve hot with rice.

3 comments:

  1. shit is so not kmher food, total BS

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  2. I was looking up the recipe for CAW and stumbled upon your blog. Thank you so much for sharing! I've been craving this, but didn't really know how to make it. I just noticed the title of your blog too and will have to check out your posts. I think that's great that you're chronicling your family's stories. My family is from Cambodia as well and my mom has told me stories about what they went through. I've wanted to document them, but am not very well versed. It would be really nice to be able to put together a family biography (and cookbook) one day!

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  3. Glad I stumbled upon this recipe. I'm Laotian and I love our version, but I've been scouring the Internet for the Cambodian version to help out my boyfriend. When he makes it, he feels like he's missing something. Can't wait to show him this. Now I have to search for the Vietnamese version, lol.

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