One of the few street food regrets that I have acquired is eating the above barbecued cake. I don’t know what it is named in Khmer and despite exuding the lush aroma of roasted banana and sesame seeds, it appears to be made of either papier-mâché or its even less edible substitute, taro. Taro is proof of God’s disdain for humanity. Cooked on a stand out the front of the French Cultural Centre, its sole purpose seems to be to remind the French not to eat Cambodian food. 200 riel (US$0.05) apiece.
If you could fry a ring of lard in pure hogfat and then somehow bind it all together with toffee, you’d end up with one of the above cakes. These candied miniature donuts test my faith in the rule that deep-frying improves everything (except for taro). Possibly it is designed to mimic the edible equivalent of a looped, hardened artery. 100 riel (US$0.02) each from a guy wandering around the Russian market. He was a bit shirty that I paid the Khmer price and not the tourist price.
I’ve never tried the barbecued cake, so don’t know what it’s called in Khmer either. But the donut is my favorite. Very yummy. It’s called ” Nom Kang ” in Khmer.
Taro is great, it’s the same texture of potatoes. 😛
I generally do like num kang – especially the ones with the chocolate top. This one was just particularly awful. As for taro, it’s ok in small doses. Just like nuclear radiation.
Hehe.. I miss Num Kang so much. Num Kang means Round Cake. I ate it much when I was a kid :o)