During the Vietnam war, America engaged on a secret bombing campaign on Cambodia which led to the destabilization of the government and the take over by the Khmer Rouge, a genocidal communist movement. A million Cambodians were able to flee, and about a hundred thousand found their way to the US - where they established themselves. Over 360,000 people consider themselves today to be Cambodian Americans.

Like many immigrants, many Cambodians found opportunities opening food businesses in America. About 80% of donut shops in California, for example, are owned by Cambodian-Americans. They also opened restaurants, though the simpler Cambodian cuisine never became as popular as that from neighboring Thailand. Still, there have been several Cambodian restaurants in the Bay Area since the late 80's and 90's, and my husband and I used to patronize them quite often when we lived closer to Berkeley.

For my quick sojourn into Cambodian-American cuisine, I made:

Cambodian Beef Steak on a Stick

Cambodians brought their food with them when they arrived to America, but the specialty ingredients they needed to reach their flavors came later. In the meantime, they had to adapt. This recipe is an adaptation of Cambodian sach ko jakak, which in its original form includes ingredients such as fresh turmeric, galangal and kaffir lime leaves. Nowadays, you can find these ingredients in markets in the West Coast, of course, but that wasn't the case when Cambodians first arrived.

I combined two separate recipes for my version of Cambodian Beef sticks. The results were OK, but the dish didn't taste particularly Cambodian and I don't think it improved the original flavor of the meat. I used sirloin cap, as that was what the supermarket had sent me. Texture wise, the beef was on point. The lemongrass was a little too stringy, make sure you only use the soft core in this recipe.

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Cambodian Beef Steak on a Stick Ingredients 1 lb eye of round or sirloin tip roast 1/2 tsp salt ground pepper to taste pinch of sugar 2 Tbsp fish sauce 6 garlic cloves, crushed 2 stalks lemongrass, white part only, sliced 3/4" ginger root, peeled and diced 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves (optional) 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 1/2 tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp lemon zest wooden or bamboo skewers Directions Slice beef into long, 1/8" thick strips and place them in a bowl. Add the salt, pepper and sugar and rub all over. Add the fish sauce and rub again. Using a mortal and pestle or an electric blender or mini-chopper, puree together the lemongrass, ginger, thyme, lemon juice, turmeric and lemon zest. Rub this paste on the beef and marinate for at least one hour in the refrigerator. Meanwhile, place the skewers in water and let soak. Oil the grates of a grill and preheat on high. Skewer the beef into the skewers. Grill over direct heat for 2-3 minutes per side, or until cooked to your liking.

Adapted from a recipe in Jeff Smith's The Frugal Gourmet on Our Immigrant Ancestors and Shao Z.'s recipe in Serious Eats

Related cuisines I've explored so far: Burmese | Cambodian | Dai | Filipino | Hmong | Indonesian | Lao,

Other Ethnic American cuisines: American, Acadians, African-American, Amish, Appalachian, Cal-Mex, Cajun, Creole, Cuban-American, Floribbean, German-American, Hungarian-American, Irish-American, Italian-American, Japanese-American, Jewish American, K-Mex, Korean-American, Mexican-American \

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