happy birthday mum!

Despite my love for fine food and dining out, there is nothing like a home cooked meal.  When talking to some of my peers, colleagues and friends about food, a common theme arises and that is there is something special about the food your own mother makes.  A few people have mentioned how nothing beats the way their mum makes that certain dish and how no other similar dish can compare.  I asked a colleague once, is that because it is actually the best dish you have ever tasted or is it only because that is the way you are used to having that particular dish growing up?  We both agreed that perhaps it is the latter but regardless, mum’s cooking is more or less always the best and for a more apt word - comforting.  This post is dedicated to my mum on her birthday.

I have lived in a different city from my parents for eight years of my life and one of the things I miss most is mum’s cooking.  The weekly ritual of noodle soup or Cambodian style congee as we gather as a family for weekend lunches is priceless.  One thing about my mum is that her fridge and pantry is always overflowing with food.  I think about our family history and how we escaped war-torn Cambodia for a better life in New Zealand.  I think of the people that starved, adults, children, and babies. Then I realise these people are my family.  As someone lucky to be born after the horror that struck my birth nation, I have been told the stories so can only imagine what my family went through.  It is something I can barely fathom but it is a reality.  It is our history.

It is no wonder that the food in our family home is always plentiful and my mum has always fed us well and continues to do so.  She always cooks ample food, more than enough to feed an army and is always very meticulous in the way she cooks.  There is always a “proper” way of making something.  Here are my top two favourite dishes that I crave for and no matter where I go, I cannot find it anywhere where it tastes the same as they way my mum makes it.

Cambodian Noodle Soup - Kuy Teav

The broth that my mum makes for her noodle soup is complex in its making and therefore well-developed in flavour.  She makes it a few days in advance as she tells me that stock gets better over a few days.  I know she uses a lot of bones hence the flavour, the true recipe however is not written down and I have tried to mimic it but have fallen short.  The amount of effort alone does not always fit into my schedule which is why I always appreciated having it almost every week when I lived in the same city.  The one pictured here is her “combination” served with beansprouts, chicken, beef, squid, prawns, pork and some innards.  Topped with coriander, spring onion, chilli sauce, fried garlic and lemon, it is in my opinion the best noodle soup.

Nom Puchok

Nom Puchok is my all-time favourite dish.  It is traditionally Cambodian, the one pictured here is served with literally translated “Khmer Soup”.  Once again, the process for making this dish is time consuming.  Oftentimes mum and a good friend will get together to make this.  It is great to see that not only the eating of food brings people together but the making of it also.  This dish comprises of a lot of fresh vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, cucumber, beansprouts placed into the bottom of your bowl, followed by rice noodles that have been hand twisted into separate mounds, and then the “Khmer Soup”.  To top it off are the optional choices of lemon juice and chilli.  There are other variations of soup that can go with this dish but this one is my favourite.  The main ingredients of the soup are lemon grass, ground chicken, fish and stock.  The flavour of which is very intricate and some would say an “acquired” taste.  However I grew up with this dish and associate it with special occasions – I think due to the difficulty in its making.  That is why it counts as my most favourite dish ever.   While merely writing this description, I can almost taste it in my mouth.  I have not yet attempted to make this dish but for now I will always look forward to when mum makes it.

It is the familiarity of the food that I grew up with that I find comforting as it brings back fond childhood memories.  As far back as I can remember, I always watched my mum cook and helped wherever needed - or ordered - with those tedious tasks of preparation through to cleaning.  But through these experiences is where my cooking skills and my passion for food originated and I will always be grateful for learning these skills as a child to enable me to develop them further as an adult.  Thank you mum for being my food mentor, always feeding us well and of course, happy birthday!