While in Cambodia, there was one street-side snack food that I became rather fond of. And no, it wasn't the giant black spiders fried in oil and chili, shown above.
My Khmer snack of choice was grolan, the sticky-rice equivalent of Gogurt. It's naturally pre-packaged, easy to transport, and fun to eat. I first encountered it along the riverside in Kratie. Bordeaux and I bought one for the bus ride, though we ended up forgetting about it until we got to Kampong Cham. Grolan is sticky-rice, mixed with coconut milk and blackbeans, and steamed in a bamboo tube. The bamboo is broken away, and it is served in just a thin bamboo sheath. To eat it, you peel that away, revealing the thick tube of sticky rice. The texture is a little like a hardened porridge, with occasional black beans adding a little sweetness. As one might expect of a steamed rice and coconut milk treat, grolan is extremely filling. On our last night in Angkor, Bordeaux and I bought one to take with us as we watched the sunset. It was the perfect treat for the trip- easy to take up the hilltop, and more than filling enough to tide us over until dinnertime.
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