When I first walked into the Old Market in Siem Reap, I was overwhelmed. Between the tuk-tuk drivers asking if I needed a ride every five steps on the walk over, and then entering the massive covered market with its fluorescent lights and vendors calling out as I passed their stalls, my anxiety was through the roof. There’s something about being asked if I want something (a ride, some fruit, eggs, clothing) that makes me want to immediately walk away, even when I actually do need fruit.
But now, months into living here, the market has become one of my favorite parts of my routine in Cambodia. I don’t know if people genuinely ask me less now, or if it just doesn’t get to me the way it used to, but I barely notice it anymore. I know where I get my vegetables. I know where I get my fruit. I’m a regular.
Other than immersion therapy, I think part of the lessening of my anxiety has to do with the time of day that I choose to visit. By the heat of the mid afternoon the market is half asleep. The girl I buy my vegetables from usually is asleep actually. Point is, it has a much calmer energy than visiting earlier in the day does, and by that time they’ll usually throw something in for free that is about to go bad. The one downside of this time of day is that there isn’t much fresh meat being sold then since it’s so hot. I assume they sell most of it in the early morning. I haven’t been brave enough to buy chicken from the market (luckily there’s never been any there to tempt me when I go), so I buy my chicken at the grocery store instead.
The old market is massive, it’s a whole block of a covered market, and the inside is like a maze if you don’t know where you’re going. There’s stalls with clothing, beauty supplies, kitchen utensils, house tools, hair cutting salons. In the middle of all of that, there is a big food section, which is where I stick to. The food area is less organized stalls and more just tables pushed next to each other, piled high with whatever they’re selling that day.
On the edges of the food section, there are people selling sauces and dried goods. In the middle, it’s all fresh produce—fruit, vegetables, eggs, seasonings, glass-jarred goods, fresh noodles, fish. There are even little restaurant-type places where you can sit down and eat, plus vendors with premade curry mixes.
I almost always go to the market with a long list for all the different meals I’ll be making during the week. I really like going for the fruits and vegetables because they’re so affordable. I can get three kilos of vegetables for around $4, and two kilos of fruit for $5. Along with fruit and veg, I usually top up on my eggs and rice while I’m here, and there’s a section where people sell fresh noodles and tofu that I’ll probably try next time I go.
If I had to pick a favorite stall, it would be close, but it would have to be a woman who sells different seasonings and spice pastes. She has this amazing green curry paste that’s very similar to Thai green curry paste, except there’s no heat in it. I probably wouldn’t have bought it the first time I walked by, but the smell of the freshly ground herbs hit me like a wall, and I knew I had to get some. I buy a lot of curry paste from her, and Jordan and I eat a LOT of green curries. I figure, while we’re here and have the best access to ready-made green curry paste, we might as well take advantage until we get tired of it. (Which hasn’t happened yet.)
There are definitely some ingredients I can get at the market here that simply don’t exist back home. For one, the fruits: I can get nice tropical fruits like mangos, papaya, and small bananas for super cheap at perfect ripeness. And then there are fruits we just don’t get in the States, like my new favorite fruit, custard apples. I love custard apples, since I discovered them, there’s always a pile of them sitting on my counter for whenever I need a sweet treat. I am going to be miserable and insufferable when I can’t have them all the time. Luckily, they’re native to the Carribbean and Central America, so I might be in luck to get my hands on them again.
Custard apples, also called sweet apples or sweetsop. If you peel off the green scales of this fruit, you reveal the white flesh which I can’t describe the taste of, but google would describe it as tasting like custard and tropical fruit. The only problem with the fruit is half the volume is seeds and scales, if I had to make an improvement it would be more fruit. But the seeds are relatively easy to spit out, and when the fruit is ripe, the scales peel off easily.
Then there are the vegetables we don’t see often. There’s a lot of vegetables that I didn’t recognize, and some I’m still working up the courage to try. But what surprised me was the mushrooms.
I have disliked mushrooms my entire life. No matter how much I tried to like them, I hated them. But there are so many different types of mushrooms you can get here that I actually like a few of them now. Enoki mushrooms have been great in my ramen, cosplaying as noodles, and beech mushrooms are perfect in curries. So I guess if you’re a mushroom hater like me, I recommend heading down to your local Asian market to try a few varieties there, because maybe you don’t dislike all mushrooms, maybe it’s just the gross ones.
I just love shopping at a market, shopping at a grocery store really isn’t the same. I had a taste of this when I was in Morocco, going to the markets and local family-owned bodega-like stores every day, but it’s still just so wild. Everything from rice to fresh fruits and vegetables to hair products and seasonings and sauces, all under one roof within 20 yards of each other. I mean, it’s essentially just an open-air grocery store, but with better variety and way better prices.
We need markets like this back home in the States. Where whether or not you go in with a plan, you end up buying something you didn’t need or something you didn’t know you needed. For the most part, the only similar thing in the States would be a farmers market, but farmers markets are just too put together (and too expensive). There’s something in the grit of a local market that just makes it so addictive.
Oyakodon
One of my go-to comfort meals using ingredients from the Old Market is my version of Oyakodon, which literally translates to “parent-and-child-bowl” (a nod to the chicken and egg combo). I’ve made this recipe before, and honestly, it’s just so easy and comforting. Even if you don’t have every single ingredient, it usually comes together tasting pretty good. I can get most of what I need at the market, onions, garlic, green onions, eggs, rice, lime, but not the chicken, which I grab from the grocery store.
The beauty of this recipe is that it doesn’t require hard-to-find ingredients. Traditionally, oyakodon is made with dashi broth and mirin, but in my experience, those can be tough to track down, especially when you’re shopping at local markets. So this is my simplified version using ingredients you can find easily at any market or grocery store. It may not be the most authentic, but for me it still checks all the boxes of a good comfort meal.
Ingredients (serves 2):
1 chicken breast (or 2 small thighs), thinly sliced
1 onion, sliced into half moons
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 eggs
2–3 green onions, chopped (for garnish)
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Cooked rice (about 2 cups)
For the sauce:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp water
1/2 tsp chicken bouillon
1/2 tsp fish sauce
1–2 tsp sugar (to taste)
Juice of ½ lime
Method:
In a small bowl, whisk together the sauce ingredients. Adjust balance of salty, sweet, and sour to your taste.
Heat a wok or skillet with a splash of oil. Add the chicken, onion, and garlic. Stir-fry until the chicken is almost cooked through and the onions are soft.
Pour in the sauce and let it simmer for a minute or two, letting the sauce coat the chicken and onions. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Crack the eggs over the chicken and onion mixture. Lower the heat and cover the pan. Let cook for 2-3 minutes until the eggs are just set but still soft.
Serve over bowls of rice, and top with plenty of toasted sesame seeds and green onions!
I hope you enjoyed reading,
xx abby
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Wow I can’t wait to try this, looks super easy and full of protein.
Love market pictures and recipe
Xx