Breakfast in Phnom Penh

Three common breakfast foods in Cambodia are goi tieu, baw baw and rice and pork. Goi tieu, pictured below, is a rice noodle soup, with your choice of pork or beef, cooked radish, fresh lettuce leaves, and a garnish of fresh bean sprouts and lime. Hoisin sauce and chili paste are added to the soup as desired. Homes in the neighborhood open their front gates to sell and serve breakfast in front of their home/along the road. We ate goi tieu in one such breakfast spot.

Baw baw is a savory rice porrige, made or served in a variety of forms. While it may be made with chicken or fish stock, it is often served with bean sprouts, green onion and a squeeze of lime, plus chili to taste.

Rice and pork, of which we regretfully do not have a picture, is grilled pork over steamed rice, garnished with pickled vegetables and fish sauce. Served fresh in the morning, nothing can beat it.

Post breakfast snacks include delicious homemade waffles--Cambodian style--cooked fresh over hot coals. They are made with rice flour instead of wheat flour and freshly grated coconut in the batter, no syrup necessary. Delish!