The 5 best museums in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Phnom Penh’s range of museums offers a fascinating insight into Cambodian culture and heritage and its turbulent past. Here are five museums to add to your itinerary of activities in the Cambodian capital.

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF CAMBODIA

Located next to the Royal Palace, the National Museum of Cambodia is home to more than 5,000 artifacts dating back to the ancient Angkorian period. Various rooms display a range of rare statues, lingas and other items, including the Leper King from Siem Reap and a giant 11th-century bronze Vishnu. It equips visitors with some great knowledge ahead of a trip to Angkor Wat Archaeological Park.

THE ROYAL PALACE AND SILVER PAGODA

The Royal Palace serves as the King’s residence, a venue for court ceremony and a symbol of the Kingdom. Selected areas are open to the public. The palace compound is also home to the Silver Pagoda, a renowned temple that takes a prominent place on the riverside and is named for its gleaming silver floor. Guests can stroll through the manicured gardens and discover the ornate temples, libraries and galleries inside the palace grounds.

CHOEUNG EK GENOCIDAL CENTER

Between 1975 and 1979, the Pol Pot-led Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia, with an estimated two million people killed or dying from starvation and exhaustion. Almost 9,000 bodies were discovered at the mass graves of Choeung Ek, more commonly known as the Killing Fields. Now serving as a memorial, the site features a Buddhist stupa filled with human skulls retrieved from the fields. Visitors can walk around the exhumed graves and learn more through a headset-guided walking tour.

TUOL SLENG GENOCIDE MUSEUM

This former high school in central Phnom Penh makes for a sobering visit for the horrific role it played during the Khmer Rouge regime. During that time, the former school was transformed into a political prisoners’ camp known as Security Prison 21 (S-21). Only seven prisoners survived, while many others were tortured and killed, or sent to their deaths at Choeung Ek. Much of the site has been left as it was discovered in 1979 when the Vietnamese army liberated Phnom Penh. The blood-splattered walls, tiny brick cells and abandoned torture tools offer a chilling insight into the brutal regime.

BOPHANA AUDIOVISUAL RESOURCE CENTER

Bophana Audiovisual Resource Center is a cinema and hub for photography, television, film, and sound. As many image and sound archives were destroyed during decades of conflict, Bophana collates and archives surviving material and puts it on display to the public. The center also serves as an educational site where young Cambodians can learn audiovisual techniques, multimedia practices, broadcasting and film production. Visitors can peruse photographs that date back to 1866 and view treasured film footage. Space also regularly hosts exhibitions, workshops and film screenings.

See more: 10 best signature dishes in Cambodia

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A guide to cuisine in Xinjiang, China

Located in northwestern China, Xinjiang is famous for its extraordinary natural landscapes and various ethnic customs. But, Xinjiang cuisine is also a must-try during your trip. Food here is heavily influenced by Muslim cuisine and has a much more Central Asian flavor than anywhere else in China.

Uyghur Lamb Pie

Uyghur lamb pie is another amazing lamb-centred dish. It consists of a thin dough crust filled with minced lamb meat, onions, and other spices which is then shallow-fried to a golden-brown crisp. When you bite into a Uyghur lamb pie, its crispy, chewy exterior gives way to a savoury, meaty centre.

DaPanJi – Big Plate Chicken

Big Plate Chicken is one of the top dishes among travelers wishing to experience great Xinjiang cuisine. You can order it at the Muslim Quarter in Xi’an or at a Xinjiang restaurant in Beijing, but trust me when I say that nothing compares to what is cooked up here in the province.

Xinjiang DaPanJi is often confused as a Uyghur dish, but it is in fact part of the Hui cuisine. It consists of a huge plate of potatoes, peppers, a whole chicken and various spices. This is a best dish served with a group, so find 4-5 local friends or fellow travelers, not only because it is a lot of food but also because it can be quite expensive.

Pilaf

Found again throughout Xinjiang in various forms, this fried rice dish comes with melt-in-your-mouth pieces of mutton, raisins, and spices. It is an amazing combination of sweet and peppery goodness that once again comes with an extremely cheap price tag. Small servings for one person are usually about 10-15 RMB with options for mega large servings for 80 RMB which can feed 10 people or more.

Hami Melon

Many people in China say that the Xinjiang region has some of the most delicious fruits in the entire country, and if they ever make a trip there you can bet they are bringing back some fruit.
One of the most popular and famous fruits is the Hami melon, a Xinjiang speciality. A hard yellow exterior gives way to a sweet orange flesh that has the taste and texture of a cantaloupe. Some Xinjiang restaurants are known to serve this as an appetizer for free. Each slice is incredibly tasty and juicy; a good palette cleanser after all that savoury lamb meat.

Lagman – BanMian

The term “BanMian” is actually quite a quite confusing Xinjiang cuisine name, as it seems to be used for any type of noodle dish out here. The good news is that no matter which type of BanMian you find yourself eating, you will probably love it. The locals call the Uyghur version of BanMian “Laghman“, or “La mian”.

See more: A quick guide on travelling to China in May

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Take a tour to enjoy the unique dishes in Japan

Japan is considered one of the world’s capitals of dining. Japanese foods are unique and various, from the one of a kind - sushi to ramen. So if you are a food lover, or just simply you want to try Japanese cuisine, let’s find out these dishes.

Tempura

Tempura is a Japanese cooking method that involves battering and deep frying seafood or vegetables in oil. It’s similar to karaage except it uses a light batter made of cold water and soft cake flour. The batter is lightly mixed and kept cold with lumps to create a crisp and fluffy texture when fried.

Hiroshimayaki (Okonomiyaki of Hiroshima)

As the most famous food in the prefecture, the Hiroshimayaki, or Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki, is unique from those found in other parts of Japan. Instead of mixing all the ingredients together, they are layered. In addition, the amount of cabbage used in the Hiroshima version is usually three to four times the amount used in the Kansai-Osaka style.

Udon

Udon refers to a type of thick noodle made with wheat flour. It’s typically served hot in winter or chilled in summer and is often topped with thinly chopped scallions, tempura, aburaage (deep-fried tofu), and kamaboko (fish cake). Like ramen, the type of udon broth and toppings used vary from region to region. Eastern udon tends to be darker brown in color while western udon is lighter. This comes from the type of soy sauce used.

Yokosuka Kaigun Kare

Yokosuka kaigun kare is a curry dish from Kanagawa named for the Japanese Imperial Navy, or kaigun, which was once stationed in Yokosuka City. The Japanese navy served a spiced beef curry thickened with flour that was modeled after British beef stew but eaten with rice rather than bread. The meal became popular throughout the local area and is still said to be eaten today by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force as part of their weekly meal rotation.

Ke No Jiru

Ke no jiru is a nourishing winter dish featuring a hodgepodge of diced vegetables, tofu, and aburaage fried bean curd in miso soup. It contains root vegetables like daikon radish, burdock root, and carrot as well as wild edible plants such as warabi (bracken fern). Ke no jiru gets its name from “kayu no jiru”, with the word “kayu” (rice porridge) gradually transforming into the word “ke” over time. The dish is eaten for good luck at the start of the new year.

Bara-yaki

Bara-yaki is a dish of grilled beef rib meat cooked on a hot plate or teppan surface over a massive bed of sliced onions. The dish was created in Aomori’s Towada City by local Korean immigrants and is flavored with a sweet and slightly spicy soy sauce, reminiscent of Korean-style barbecue. With its rich, yet down-to-earth taste, it’s no wonder that many people consider bara-yaki to be the “soul food” of Aomori.

Satsumaage

Popular across the country, Satsumaage is one of the most famous dishes of Kagoshima. It mostly consists of a paste of minced fish that is then deep fried. The type of fish used in the paste can vary but is often bonito, mackerel or sardines. Some other ingredients are also included in small quantities to add a bit of flavor, such as pickled ginger and vegetables.

Nabe

Nabe is a traditional hot pot dish containing broth, vegetables, meat or seafood. It is cooked together in an earthenware vessel. The dish is a classic Japanese comfort food and has been eaten in Japan for as long as earthenware cookware has existed. There are a number of different types of nabe made with local ingredients that vary by region. Some famous varieties include kani nabe (crab hot pot), which is often eaten in the winter, and the protein-filled chanko nabe eaten by sumo wrestlers.

See more: Get to know about Wagashi, the Japanese traditional sweets

Nikujaga

Nikujaga is a type of Japanese comfort food made with potatoes and meat braised in liquid, typically beef in the Kansai region of western Japan and pork in the Kanto area to the east. The dish is widely associated with home cooking, especially “ofukuro no aji” or “Mom’s home cooking”. It was created in the 1800s as a dish that emulated western-style stews and is often served as part of a larger meal of rice, soup, and side dishes or packed into a bento box for lunch.

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