THE BEST WORLD PEPPER IS CAMBODIAN!
Even if Valentine's day this year will be a bit different than previous years, it is more than ever the time to share your love and care to someone special to you! It is said that the direct way to a person's heart is through his/her stomach... And it's true that one of the best expressions of love is to cook something special, just for your cherished one. Instead of sharing love over dining at a restaurant, why not treating your partner into a romantic dinner at home?
There are plenty of easy to make, but impressive dishes' recipes to help you craft the ideal Valentine’s Day dinner menu. Bodia had selected some original recipes that will make your night even more special. There’s something for everyone to enjoy here! This non exhaustive list includes pork, chicken, beef, fish, and even a vegetarian and a dessert!
Whether you’re looking for something extravagant, like the beef tenderloin with roasted cauliflower, or something more casual, like the creamy shrimp and grits, there is certainly THE dish which will suit your date night vibe. Of course, it is a well-known fact that seasoning is your best ally to make dishes even more delicious! And it's about one of the best seasoning from Cambodia that we are going to talk about today, you got it: the amazing Kampot Pepper!
AMAZE YOUR LOVER WITH ONE OF THE BEST SEASONING WORLDWIDE!
Kampot pepper is a very popular spice in Cambodia, and also in starred restaurant in France and in Europe. As celebrating the day of love outside is, for most of us, impossible this year, it is time to think about preparing a dazzling dinner at home on the occasion of Valentine’s day; and invite some exotics flavors on your dining table!
You should be asking yourself: Which kind of food can be cooked with Kampot pepper? Follow the guide and let us give you our favorite Cambodian recipes!
CAMBODIAN LOK LAK: A Cambodian’s favorite! The refreshing lime associated with Kampot pepper dressing lightens up caramelized pieces of beef into a mouth-watering main dish. Likely influenced by French cuisine during the colonial period, the Lok Lak is one of the favorite dish for Cambodian as it has fresh vegetables, beef, tomato, plus it is easy to cook. Kampot pepper will delicately perfume the sweet and sour taste of this unmissable dish.
RED KAMPOT PEPPER CHICKEN: Chicken lovers, this recipe is for you! How about you add one of the best seasoning on your favorite chicken food? Either crispy or juicy chicken? Just pan fried it with robust Red Kampot pepper and garlic to create an astonish dish! Simple and delicious, this dish will surprise your loved one.
BRAISED PORK BELLY: An authentic sweet and savory dish: Pork belly braised in a dark thin flavorful broth intensified with caramelized sugar, star anise, garlic and Kampot pepper alongside hard boiled eggs, roasted tofu. This is the delicious dish which Khmer moms cook to reward their children for a job well done!
FRIED VEGETABLES WITH KAMPOT PEPPER: Vegetarians and vegans, this recipy is for you! Kampot pepper is not only work with meat, but it is delicious with vegetable as well. Pretty easy to cook! All you need is only few vegetables you like, as broccoli, pineapple, onion, tomato or maybe tofu. The important role in this dish is Green kampot pepper. Let’s spice your favourite dinner!
Chocolate Kampot Pepper: The last thing we never forget after the delicious dinner is a dessert. And today, as we are talking about Kampot pepper, this dessert is also contain pepper. Spice dessert? Sound good but the taste is also amazing. Maybe you already bough some from Chocolate shop how about you try making your own Chocolate pepper? All you need to do is melt the chocolate chip, spread your melted chocolate out in a pan lined with wax paper. After that sprinkle the top with coarsely ground pepper and keep it cool completely. And after that you can break into chunks and enjoy your own dessert!
THE MAGIC HISTORY OF KAMPOT PEPPER
Kampot pepper has it is name from the southern province of Kampot in Cambodia. Grown in small mountain areas, straddling the provinces of Kampot and Kep. In this region, the “terroir”, the unique combination of climate, soil hydrology and know-how, is ideal for producing one of the finest peppers in the world, delivering distinct, lingering flavors and aromas unlike any other peppers.
Pepper growing in Kampot has a history pre-dating even the ancient civilizations of the Angkor Empire. Before the Khmer Rouge came local farmers could produce peppercorn up to 8,000 tons per year and exported to France. But sadly, during the Khmer Rouge period of control during the 1970s, the industry was all but terminated when farmers were forced to grow rice instead, and the pepper plantations were abandoned to the forest. In the early 1990s as peace returned to Cambodia, pepper farming families started trickling back to their ancestral lands to begin rebuilding their ancient craft, assisted by development organizations.
Nowadays, the quality of Kampot pepper is rising again and being rediscovered by the world of haute cuisine around the world. The top restaurants of Europe, Japan, and Korea are helping to lift Kampot’s traditional pepper farmers out of poverty. Meanwhile, Kampot pepper has now become the first pepper in the world to be awarded Protected Geographic Indication (PGI) by the European Union, a certification that recognizes products of exceptional quality that can only be produced in a designated region.
THE PRODUCTION OF A CULINARY DIAMOND
Kampot Pepper’s PGI Book of Specification requires that, for pepper to be called Kampot Pepper, it must be grown 100% organically, prohibiting the use of chemical fertilisers or pesticides. Today, we are inviting you to know how Kampot pepper is produced and why it is the world’s organic best pepper.
To reach this name, our Cambodia Kampot pepper strictly follows these 4 steps:
Fertilization: Is applied all year long in different ways specific to each farmers. They add new soil called ‘’ Virgin Soil ‘’ and apply cow dung and bat dung as fertilizer. But some farmers also produce fertilizer from rice field crabs, crown bone and skin of prawn.
Cutting: There are two varieties of plants used by the farmers in Kampot: Kamchay and Lampong, known locally as “big leaves” and “small leaves”. Farmers hand-pick peppercorns and dry some of them in the sun for a couple days.
Irrigation: Irrigation is paramount to pepper cultivation. If rainfall is plentiful during the rainy season, irrigation is necessary during the dry season when a vine needs 15 L of water every 3 days. Most of the plantations in Kampot are irrigated manually using water from ponds nearby.
Pest control: Many pepper farmers in Kampot produce today natural pesticides based on local plants, from the knowledge transmitted by their ancestors. And also the geographical indication’s book of specifications recommends using natural pesticides. Only pesticides of class 2 and 3 are allowed in the production of Kampot pepper, if natural treatments prove inefficient.
THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF KAMPOT PEPPER AND THEIR AMAZING BENEFITS
Harvested from February through May, Kampot peppers come in several types: black pepper, red pepper, green pepper and white pepper, and are used for different kinds of dishes to make sure their taste won’t be wiped out by the meat and sauces. As we are talking about food seasoning, have you known that seasoning is also a medical herbs for your health? Yes, you heard it correctly! Our Cambodian Kampot pepper is not only a seasoning but it acts as well as anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory; it also ease digestion. And there are the benefits hiding in different kinds of Kampot peppers. Let us introduce you to the magic of the star of Cambodian spice!
Green Kampot Pepper
Can be called ‘younger pepper’ because farmers harvest it when the pepper is still young on the vine, Kampot green pepper aromas literally explode on the palate with a very mild pepperiness. This fresh pepper is perfect for a grilled seafood dish such as calamari, or white meat as chicken.
Benefits of Green pepper: The youngest pepper in Cambodia is not only an appetizer but it is also used for boosting health such as calcium, Betacarerotin and Phosphorous are essential for reducing toxins in the body. It can help to relieve headache, arthritis ache, treat diarrhea and has the power to stimulate the nerves.
Black Pepper
Kampot black pepper delivers a strong and delicate aroma. Its taste from intentionally spicy to mildly sweet, reveals hints of flower, eucalyptus and mint. This black pepper will suits all kinds of dishes and distinguishes itself in particularly with grilled fish and red meat. Kampot pepper’s specificities come from the mildness of their spices, the freshness and complexity of their aroma and their exceptional lingering taste.
Benefits of Black pepper: Black pepper is the spice most commonly use. It is also good way to boost the capacity of gastric for dissolving food, increasing health’s stomach, supporting nerves, helping fight cholesterol levels, helping to fight diabetes, preventing liver disease and preventing gastric ulcers.
RED PEPPER
Harvested when the berry is fully matured on the vine, Kampot red pepper delivers a powerful and fruity aroma. Its taste combines the spicy flavor of black pepper with a sweetness scant. Perfect to add in a dessert such as Chocolate, and fruits’ salad.
Benefits of Red pepper: On the other hand Kampot Red Pepper is the perfect ally to boost capacity of gastric for dissolving food, increasing stomach’s health, supporting nerves, against breast cancer, reducing cholesterol levels, helping to fight diabetes or preventing liver disease and gastrics ulcers.
WHITE PEPPER
Red and white pepper are quite rare due to the difficulty of harvesting. For each year the farmer produces only a few hundred kilograms by soaking the red berries in water for a fews days. White pepper is coming from the red one, collected berry by berry. Skin is removed, so it is really the essence and the kernel of the pepper. White pepper has a strong spicy taste and carries notes of fresh grass and lime. Fish, salads and sauce are the perfect dishes to add this special pepper in.
Benefits of White pepper: not only used as the spices on favorite food, it also prevent cancer, help dissolving food, increasing teeth’s health, nourish skin, help losing weight and is very useful for bone health.
Did you know? There is 2 more kind of peppers,produced in different regions in Cambodia, and well-known by Khmer and french cuisine: Memot pepper and Srei Ambel pepper.
SREI AMBEL PEPPER: The best table pepper, in our opinion. This pepper has eucalyptus tones, and the flavor fits poultry and meat in all Asian and Worldwide cuisine. The berries are harvested and sun-dried on the plantation soil and then hand-sorted to achieve the exclusive uniform quality which offers to around 10% of this pepper the quality tab label.
MEMOT PEPPER: This is one of the strongest peppers in the world. Its taste, which can range from intensely spicy to slightly sweet, reveals notes of flowers. Its tangy taste has slight flavors of eucalyptus and mint. Pepper has an incredible depth of flavor. This memot pepper is suitable for all kinds of dishes and particularly stands out in grilled fish and meats.
