Crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, these delicious Noum Kong Cambodian Doughnuts are unlike any you’ve ever tasted before.
Cambodia has long been the object of our travel obsessions. On my first visit more than 15 years ago, Cambodia stole my heart and has remained one of my favourite places on earth. It is a passion I’m happy to say my children share, as they too have fallen in love with Cambodia on our visits. Of course, like most visitors we are fascinated by the country’s history and Siem Reap’s iconic temples. And the people are simply some of the nicest on earth. But I’m not entirely sure why Cambodia cuisine doesn’t inspire the same passionate foodie devotion as some of its close neighbours, because once you know what to look for, it is every bit as delicious.
Along with fragrant soups, tangy protein-packed salads, smoky barbecue meats (frog is a fave), deep-fried bugs, noodles, stir fries and Indian-inspired curries, you’ll find good coffee and the crispiest baguettes, thanks to Cambodia’s days as a French Indochina colony. You’ll also find doughnuts.
Yep, doughnuts. So enamoured are Cambodians with the sugary rings of deliciousness, there’s even a Krispy Kreme store in Phnom Penn. And don’t even get me started on the extraordinary doughnut delights of Bang Bang Bakery-Café in Siem Reap.
But with due deference to both, we can’t resist the uniquely Cambodian doughnuts sold at street stalls. Known as Noum Kong, they are crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, with an almost mochi-like texture thanks to the sticky rice flour that is their main ingredient.
Deep fried and dipped into a glaze of molten palm sugar and sesame seeds, the surprising texture and unique flavour of these delicious doughnuts makes them unlike any you’ve ever tasted before.
Unsurprisingly, they’re an absolute favourite of my sweet-toothed Sugarpuff and have been a frequent addition to the kids’ lockdown lunch boxes. After playing around with ingredients, this recipe is the one that takes our tastes buds soaring back to Siem Reap. Enjoy.
Noum Kong Cambodian Doughnuts
Notes
If you can resist gobbling these all down at once, they taste even better the next day once the dough has settled and done its glutenous thing.
Ingredients
- Dough
- 2 ¼cups of glutinous rice flour
- ¼ cup rice flour
- 1 ⅓ cups coconut milk
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 ½ tbsp of palm sugar melted
- Glaze
- 1 ½ cups palm sugar
- ½ cup water
- 3 tbsp of sesame seeds
Instructions
- Incorporate flour, salt and coconut milk together into a silky stretchy dough.
- Cover and set aside for 60 minutes to rest.
- Take palm size portions of dough and roll into a sausage shape about 1½ cm thick. Join the two ends together to make a doughnut shape.
- In a wok or deep fryer, heat the oil on medium heat.
- Gently place the doughnuts into the hot oil, flipping occasionally until golden.
- Place on a rack to drain oil.
- In a separate pan combine palm sugar and water over low heat until completely dissolved, then add sesame seeds
- Using tongs dip one side of each doughnut into the sugar glaze.
- Place each on rack, glaze side up to cool.
An award-winning travel writer and photographer, Aleney de Winter was fresh from school when she first set off to explore the far reaches of Australia with a two-man tent and a beaten-up Kingswood for company. Three decades, and two kids later, and she's still on the go, with her itchy-footed offspring in tow. 