May 23, 2007
By JULIA WATSON
UPI Food Writer
SIEM REAP, Cambodia, May 23 (UPI) -- Carved deep into the walls of the 1,000-year-old temples of Angkor Wat are detailed and delicate carvings of fish.
The inspiration for them probably comes from the Tonle Sap Lake nearby, the largest freshwater lake in southeast Asia and a remarkable natural phenomenon.
Roughly a mere 3 feet deep and covering the flood plain with 1,043 square miles of water, during the monsoon season an extraordinary thing happens.
Down river at Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers converge. Bulging with rain and run off, the sea can't take the river's surge. So the current is forced to reverse its flow, pushing so much water back up river that the Tonle Sap Lake expands to 9 feet deep and 6,178 square miles.
Year-round the lake is home to a floating population of hundreds of Cambodians and Vietnamese who make their living off the fish supply. This is the breeding ground for 75 percent of the nation's fish.
Cambodians depend upon fish for 60 percent of their protein. So when the inhabitants of the floating houses on the lake are not playing basketball on the floating basketball court, or having their hair chopped at the floating barber, attending services at the floating church or sending their children off -- if they can afford to pay the teachers -- to the floating school, they are out with their nets. The fish they catch are stored in fenced-off cages under their floating homes.
It's a setting that provides an absorbing distraction for tourists seeking a brief respite from visits to some of the hundreds of temples of Angkor that have stood for centuries under the scorching sun in the surrounding jungle.
They take boat rides over the caramel-colored waters and circle the floating houses with cameras. The boatmen pause for half an hour at one of the two restaurant-and-souvenir boats that, with Cambodian initiative, have set themselves up to take their own profit from the tourist experience.
The first thing facing the visitor setting foot on the damp decking is rows and rows of cardboard tubes of Pringle chips. They're everywhere the Western tourist travels in southeast Asia, and are becoming a snack status symbol for the locals.
This Asian interest in our idea of a good in-between-meals munch has inspired Pepsi-Co's Frito-Lay in Asia to come up with a fantastical range of flavors in their chips line to appeal to local tastes.
Nori seaweed is a green-flecked chip, curiously sweet. Spicy Lobster tastes like crab seasoning, Barbecue Sparerib like jerky, and Spicy Seafood like the smell that comes from a backpack that hasn't been aired for a while.
Food-label-conscious American tourists turn the bags over for more information. While each sack gives a long list of its odd flavor's ingredients, there is no indication of the calories it contains.
Health-aware travelers throughout southeast Asia are equally surprised by the massive hoardings with ads for American cigarettes promoted by smiling Reese Witherspoon look-alikes targeting the young.
Nutrition and health concerns are fit, it seems, only for the West.
Tonle Sap Lake doesn't make the temptation to ape Western habits any more resistible. Dependent upon it for food, fishermen are alarmed that their nets are no longer as full as they used to be. They mutter about the Chinese damming the Mekong upstream. But deforestation along the river may also contribute to the problem.
Instead of throwing back the smaller catfish that they used to release to grow to over 200 pounds and spawning more fish as they developed, they're keeping them for sale and consumption long before they are full-sized.
This recipe is Spicy Tamarind Fish, one cooking method for catfish or any other firm white fish.
--Serves 4
--1 pound catfish fillet, cut into 2-inch square chunks
--1 tablespoon water
--1 tablespoon sugar
--2 cups water
--2 cloves garlic, minced
--1 yellow onion, sliced
--3 tablespoons Nam Pla fish sauce
--2 tablespoons seedless tamarind pulp (from Asian markets)
--1 tablespoon sugar
--3 red chili peppers, thinly sliced (or to taste)
--2 green onions, sliced diagonally
--1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
--Add the water and sugar to a large heavy casserole and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, till the sugar browns darkly, then carefully pour in 2 cups of water while stirring.
--Add the next 5 ingredients, stirring.
--Add the fish and simmer till opaque and the sauce has thickened, turning the fish carefully mid-cook to coat. --Add the final 3 ingredients and serve with boiled or steamed rice.
By JULIA WATSON
UPI Food Writer
SIEM REAP, Cambodia, May 23 (UPI) -- Carved deep into the walls of the 1,000-year-old temples of Angkor Wat are detailed and delicate carvings of fish.
The inspiration for them probably comes from the Tonle Sap Lake nearby, the largest freshwater lake in southeast Asia and a remarkable natural phenomenon.
Roughly a mere 3 feet deep and covering the flood plain with 1,043 square miles of water, during the monsoon season an extraordinary thing happens.
Down river at Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers converge. Bulging with rain and run off, the sea can't take the river's surge. So the current is forced to reverse its flow, pushing so much water back up river that the Tonle Sap Lake expands to 9 feet deep and 6,178 square miles.
Year-round the lake is home to a floating population of hundreds of Cambodians and Vietnamese who make their living off the fish supply. This is the breeding ground for 75 percent of the nation's fish.
Cambodians depend upon fish for 60 percent of their protein. So when the inhabitants of the floating houses on the lake are not playing basketball on the floating basketball court, or having their hair chopped at the floating barber, attending services at the floating church or sending their children off -- if they can afford to pay the teachers -- to the floating school, they are out with their nets. The fish they catch are stored in fenced-off cages under their floating homes.
It's a setting that provides an absorbing distraction for tourists seeking a brief respite from visits to some of the hundreds of temples of Angkor that have stood for centuries under the scorching sun in the surrounding jungle.
They take boat rides over the caramel-colored waters and circle the floating houses with cameras. The boatmen pause for half an hour at one of the two restaurant-and-souvenir boats that, with Cambodian initiative, have set themselves up to take their own profit from the tourist experience.
The first thing facing the visitor setting foot on the damp decking is rows and rows of cardboard tubes of Pringle chips. They're everywhere the Western tourist travels in southeast Asia, and are becoming a snack status symbol for the locals.
This Asian interest in our idea of a good in-between-meals munch has inspired Pepsi-Co's Frito-Lay in Asia to come up with a fantastical range of flavors in their chips line to appeal to local tastes.
Nori seaweed is a green-flecked chip, curiously sweet. Spicy Lobster tastes like crab seasoning, Barbecue Sparerib like jerky, and Spicy Seafood like the smell that comes from a backpack that hasn't been aired for a while.
Food-label-conscious American tourists turn the bags over for more information. While each sack gives a long list of its odd flavor's ingredients, there is no indication of the calories it contains.
Health-aware travelers throughout southeast Asia are equally surprised by the massive hoardings with ads for American cigarettes promoted by smiling Reese Witherspoon look-alikes targeting the young.
Nutrition and health concerns are fit, it seems, only for the West.
Tonle Sap Lake doesn't make the temptation to ape Western habits any more resistible. Dependent upon it for food, fishermen are alarmed that their nets are no longer as full as they used to be. They mutter about the Chinese damming the Mekong upstream. But deforestation along the river may also contribute to the problem.
Instead of throwing back the smaller catfish that they used to release to grow to over 200 pounds and spawning more fish as they developed, they're keeping them for sale and consumption long before they are full-sized.
This recipe is Spicy Tamarind Fish, one cooking method for catfish or any other firm white fish.
--Serves 4
--1 pound catfish fillet, cut into 2-inch square chunks
--1 tablespoon water
--1 tablespoon sugar
--2 cups water
--2 cloves garlic, minced
--1 yellow onion, sliced
--3 tablespoons Nam Pla fish sauce
--2 tablespoons seedless tamarind pulp (from Asian markets)
--1 tablespoon sugar
--3 red chili peppers, thinly sliced (or to taste)
--2 green onions, sliced diagonally
--1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
--Add the water and sugar to a large heavy casserole and cook over medium-high heat, stirring, till the sugar browns darkly, then carefully pour in 2 cups of water while stirring.
--Add the next 5 ingredients, stirring.
--Add the fish and simmer till opaque and the sauce has thickened, turning the fish carefully mid-cook to coat. --Add the final 3 ingredients and serve with boiled or steamed rice.
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