The first time I ever heard of Phnom Penh (besides of it being the capitol of Cambodia of course) was in the cherry blossomed Vancouver spring in 1994. I was visiting Josh for the first time and he was taking me on an international culinary tour of the city – knowingly that the way to my heart goes through the stomach! He took me to China Town where we had lunch at The Phnom Penh Restaurant. And that is where for the first time I tasted the divine soup. I can to this day still completely remember the interior of the restaurant, the round turning tables, the tablemats, the fish tank and of course the other dishes we tried. But one impression stood out – the Phnom Pen Soup and whenever in Vancouver, I would always go there for lunch – until it unfortunately one day closed. No more soup, what a tragedy!
So last week I was completely brought back in time. Now the location actually was Phnom Penh City, and I was at the Psar Toul Tom Poung – also called the Russian Market so named because all its goods came courtesy of Russia one of the countries to provide aid to Cambodia during the Vietnamese occupation. The market remains today the place to buy anything your heart desires for a cheap price.
Anyways, this is where I encountered the Soup Goddess right in the hustle and bustle cooking up Phnom Penh noodle soup for her following of daily lunch guests. And Josh and I + the kids became part of that following for 5 straight days and we were all spellbound by watching her prepare and cook up the soup and blissfully happy to savor it:
Fresh soupstock, slivers of fishcake, chicken, meatballs, carrot, springonion, chili and fried caramilized challots on top.
The first day I was channeled through a time machine and I was back in China Town, Vancouver and the following days I was just happy to be in the present feeling lucky to have found this woman working so swiftly and professionally in her little stall at the market with her older mother helping out. Needless to say, Josh of course was also entranced with her cooking-magic, why you can scroll through a small picture gallery of the Soup Goddess of Psar Toul Tom Poung!
If you find yourself hungry for a bite to eat in Phnom Penh - go look for her!
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