Cambodia is squeezed tightly by its neighbors, Thailand and Vietnam, two food giants, so people tend to ignore it.

In fact, once you try Khmer cuisine (the old name of Cambodia), you won't forget it.

Pork rice (Bai sach chrouk) Pork rice is one of the simplest and most delicious foods in Cambodia. It appears every morning on streets all over the country.

The thinly sliced ??pork is slowly roasted over charcoal fire, giving it a natural sweetness.

Pork is sometimes marinated in coconut or garlic juice.

Serve the roasted pork on a generous serving of rice, along with fresh pickled cucumbers and radishes and lots of ginger.

There's also usually a bowl of chicken soup topped with scallions and fried onions.

Fish amok Fish amok is one of Cambodia’s most famous foods, but you’ll find similar foods in neighboring countries.

The amok fish infused with the local spice slok ngor has a slightly bitter taste, making the Cambodian version easily distinguishable from the others.

Amok fish is a fresh fish mousse served with coconut milk and kroeung sauce.

Kroeung is a Khmer curry paste made from lemongrass, turmeric root, garlic, shallots, galangal and Chinese ginger.

High-end restaurants steam amok fish on banana leaves, while street food stalls cook it into a thick fish curry instead of a mousse.

Khmer red curry Khmer red curry is not as spicy as Thai curry. It also uses coconut milk as the base without adding too much chili pepper.

Dishes include beef, chicken or fish, eggplant, mung beans, fresh coconut milk, lemongrass and kroeung sauce.

Due to the influence of French culture, Khmer red curry is often eaten with bread.

This dish is usually served on special occasions in Cambodia, such as weddings, family gatherings, or religious festivals such as Day of the Dead and Tomb Sweeping Day.

Lap Khmer Beef Salad with Lime The beef in Lap Khmer Lap Khmer Salad is thinly sliced ??so it absorbs the lime juice easily.

It's more like a steak than a salad.

This dish is popular with Cambodian men who prefer their meats to be rare, but restaurants often serve roast beef.

The whole dish contains lemongrass, scallions, garlic, fish sauce, nine-layer pagoda, mint, mung beans and green peppers.

This sweet and salty dish is also spiced up with plenty of fresh red peppers.

Rice noodle soup (Nom banh chok) rice noodle soup is often served as breakfast food.

It consists of rice noodles and green curry made with lemongrass, turmeric root and Thai lime, and is topped with mint leaves, bean sprouts, mung beans, banana flowers, cucumbers and other vegetables.

There is also a red curry version served at celebrations and weddings.

Fried crab (Kdam chaa) Fried crab is a specialty of Kep, a coastal city in Cambodia.

This dish consists of fresh crabs stir-fried with local Kampot green peppers.

The fragrant Kampot green pepper is famous in the global gastronomy world.

Although dried Kampot green peppers are available all over the world, it’s best to come to Cambodia to try its unique green pepper seeds.

Red tree ants with beef and holy basil You'll see a variety of insects on Cambodian menus, including poisonous spiders.

But what appeals most to foreign palates is the holy basil and mangrove ant beef.

It is made of ants of various sizes stir-fried with ginger, lemongrass, shallots, garlic and thinly sliced ??beef. There is also a lot of red pepper in the dish, but it does not overpower the sourness that the ants give to the beef.

This dish is served with rice, and if you're lucky, you might find some ant larvae in the bowl.

Grilled Squid (Ang dtray-meuk) You will find seafood sellers selling their grilled squid along the shore in coastal cities in Cambodia such as Sihanoukville and Kep.

The squid is brushed with lime juice or fish sauce, then grilled on wooden skewers and served with a Cambodian sauce originating from Kampot.

The sauce is made with garlic, fresh chili peppers, fish sauce, lemon juice and sugar.

Cha houy teuk, a Khmer dessert, sells for about 1.5 yuan. Some desserts put glutinous rice or sago in coconut milk and cover it with taro, red beans, pumpkin and durian.

The most popular one is grass jelly, a jelly-like dessert made from gelatin obtained from seaweed.

Grass jelly comes in rich colors, such as pink and green, so it is very popular with children.

It's often sold in small bowls that contain sago, blanched mung beans and coconut milk in addition to shaved ice.

Fried fish on the fire lake Fried fish on the fire lake is a dish made of coconut milk.

The fish is fried for a whole day and then placed on a fish-shaped iron plate with coconut curry.

In addition to yellow kroeung sauce and chili peppers, the coconut curry also contains cauliflower and cabbage.