Are you a food truck? A restaurant?

Neither. We were looking for a permanent space pre-pandemic, and consider ourselves fortunate that we hadn’t yet put our savings into a brick-and-mortar. We’re a ragtag team that was able to pivot and deliver on our mission of sharing the wonders of Cambodian food in several new ways. Through our SpeakEATsy, Supper Clubs, pop-up events and catering, we’re still Mama Kong through and through and are sharing our love for Cambodian food through unique cultural and culinary (culinaritural?) experiences.

What is Cambodian food?

Cambodian food shares many ingredients with its Southeast Asian neighbors. But it’s the way these ingredients are used, and why, that make the cuisine special. 

Cambodian cuisine is a food born of necessity. A country decimated in the 1970s by communist rule and genocide, its cuisine reflects the country’s struggles. Ingredients needed to be naturally available and preservable when nothing else was. Dried and fermented meats were gold. Pickled vegetables were imperative. Herbs played a huge part in the food because they could be secretly foraged in the jungles and used to season a simple meal of rice or stolen corn for the family.

Because families were deprived of everything, they needed to create something from nothing. Salty, sweet, sour... these flavors were luxuries, and were celebrated when they could be acquired. 

All these aspects shaped current Cambodian cuisine. It's a food reflecting the struggles of survivors. A simple yet deeply nuanced cuisine. And Cambodian mamas new to their adoptive countries raised their families and expressed their love through these culinary traditions.

Are you vegetarian/vegan friendly?

The short answer: No.

The long answer: No, but it’s not because we’re anti vegetarian or vegan or don’t respect your dietary choices. It’s because vegans don’t really exist in Cambodia, and we aim to stick to our guns and bring you our most authentic recipes. We are stubbornly non-fusion.

A customer (non Cambodian) once tried to school us on our cuisine & our non-vegetarian approach to our dishes, saying “actually… Cambodia is a very impoverished nation, and therefore relies heavily on herbs & vegetables…” And she wasn’t wrong. BUT… the reliance on herbs and veggies is out of necessity. You better believe an impoverished family in Cambodia will eat the hell outta some animal protein when it’s available, even if just on special occasions. And when Mama Kong survived genocide and immigrated to Texas after surviving in the jungles on foraged herbs & a meager bowl of rice water a day, you bet your ass she was spinning circles through the aisles of HEB, feeding her family every kind of meat she had been forced to go without. That’s the food we make.

Is it still veggie heavy? Yes indeed. But we devour flesh too.

What about other food allergies?

Food allergies are much scarcer in Cambodia than in the West, & because we stick to our authenticity guns we cannot always accommodate allergies. Every dish uses fish sauce (contains gluten & trace amounts of shellfish). We can usually omit peanuts from dishes.

Cambodian food is generally for an “all in” eater. The flavors will reward your openness & curiosity.

Do you cater?

Heck yeah! Shoot us an email & let’s hear the details of your event!