Passport & Plate - Chicken Lok Lak
Cambodia | Friday, March 14, 2014 | 2 photos
Ingredients
150 g of chicken breast, sliced into strips
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp oyster sauce
4 tbsp any kind of oil
1 tbsp Thai chili sauce
1 tsp crushed black pepper
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp tomato sauce
1 tsp Soya sauce
100 mls of water added at intervals to prevent the food from burning
How to prepare this recipeMix the chicken with the oyster sauce, Soya sauce, tomato sauce, black pepper, and sugar. Put the oil into a wok or pan over high heat. Add the garlic to fry it until it becomes a bit brown. Then add the chicken and water and fry for two minutes. Add the chili sauce and fry for a few seconds.
The story behind this recipeI learned how to make Chicken Lok Lak in Battambang, Cambodia, last year during a round-the-world trip. My cooking class at Smokin' Pot Restaurant and Cooking School involved my cooking this dish and two others with the help of the head chef. We went to the market to buy the ingredients and prepared the dish from start to finish. Cooking this meal, and tasting how delicious it was, empowered me to believe that I was capable of cooking--something my sandwich-making on a daily basis student self previously hadn't realized I was capable of.
Prior to my travels, the kitchen had always made me nervous because I was a perfectionist who didn't know what I was doing. Taking this cooking class, and tasting the really incredible yet simple dish I made, gave me the encouragement to continue cooking. That experience, as well as tasting delicious food from around the globe that I couldn't get at home, encouraged me to begin experimenting in the kitchen. Now I cook regularly and have a list of recipes from around the globe that I want to try.
Learning to cook has not only empowered me and allowed me to eat food from all over the world in the small middle-of-nowhere Oregon town I call home. It has also allowed me to expose my travels and the world to my friends and family, most of whom haven't left the United States and some of whom are afraid of the outside world. By learning how to cook global foods, I can share my travels with them by using more than just sight and sound.
I have been pleasantly surprised at how many different dishes I have been able to successfully make from around the globe. Yet, I have also learned that part of cooking (and of life) is failing and continuing on nonetheless. Thus, although my attempt to make pasta noodles and sushi didn't turn out, I continue on my quest to better understand myself and the world through all things epicurean because I have learned through my travels that life without good food is not a life worth living.
