Wait... don't you guys eat doritos or somethin?

Yep, you guessed it. This post is about everyone's favorite topic... food!

Fresh spring rolls! These, I recognized.

I don't know about you, but I like food. No, really... I like food! Ahh, you say, you like food also! That's awesome. What it really comes down to, though, is what kind of food?

Me? Junk food. Lots of it.

You all remember the song, but... cola flavored?

Aidan holding a taro root snack in front of a cute baby. Everyone likes cute babies, right?

Yup. I survived most of my life on nice, healthy cardboard-like food-esque products such as the place with the arches, the king of round beef patties, and the taco place with the bell on it. Don't get me wrong, I ate my wife's cooking (after some growing on my part, bless her patient heart), which was awesome, and I did have the occasional vegetable. However, none of this prepared me for...

THIS! Muhahaha

Now, before you get all grossed out (and go eat tacos without me... meany!), this dish looks terrible... something Captain Ahab would have put together after that nasty bit of business with the whale, provided he'd actually won that battle. In reality, this is a dish made from coconut, rice, milk, and 'palm fruit'. When asked which fruit, all I got was "It's good! Try it!".

For those of you who don't know, "It's good!" seems to be the most commonly known English phrase here. At least, it is when I am around. The Cambodians (and my family) take a great deal of pleasure in feeding me new things. They laugh a lot too (yup, family too) when I do. No idea why...

Anyway, moving on:

A fruit whose name I still can't pronounce.

Fruit is a staple here. You can find all sorts of what we might consider 'normal' fruit - apples, oranges, etc. - but these are all imported, and very expensive (we'll go over economy soon. No, it won't be a snorefest!). Instead, edible delectibles come in the form of the (pictured) meean (pronounced me-inn, I think? Tastes like a pinappleorangelemon with some extra citrus added for flavor.) fruit, bananas (chicken egg bananas in particular are out of this world. They are the size of chicken eggs, and incredibly sweet. They're also yellow on the inside), coconuts (lots of those), and rice. What? Rice is a fruit! It is! Well, they eat it like it is, anyway. :)

They stick the whole thing in the fridge Chilled and tasty... sorta.

Drinks include water (do. not. drink. this! Bottled only people.), coconut juice (not as good as I thought it would be - kinda nutty), sugar cane juice, and a host of other odds and ends like coconut shakes and imported soda. Not too shabby, yeah?

Sugar cane juice. It's like Gatorade, without the basketball sponsorship!

...and of course, there's dessert. What's my favorite? Rice with sweet chili sauce. Stop looking at me like that! Yes, they have donuts. Yes, they have ice cream...

Try the middle one! Biscuit flavor is all the rage. No, really... you go first! I insist.

...even so, I have become a fan of 1 rice dish. That's progress, right? Right?!?

Lucky burger. Lot's of stuff is 'lucky' here. Lucky mart; lucky bank; lucky karaoke bar... ok, not sure on the last one.

So you see, I will survive here, junk food junkie or no. I'm learning to try new things, and eating far more healthier than ever. Cambodians eat some weird stuff, but hey, it isn't made out of cardboard or 'pink slime' (google that one if you want an eye opener. or don't... red pill, blue pill thing).

What? No, they don't eat these! This is our houseguest!! You Americans are strange. ;)

See you next time. Feel free to ask questions or add comments. If you can't get the comments thing to work, shoot me an email - ryincambodia@gmail.com. Maybe I'll even use your questions for the entire post!