Cambodian American chefs are finding success and raising their culture's profile. On their terms

Chef Phila Lorn was not needfully aiming for “quote-unquote authentic” Cambodian nutrient erstwhile helium opened Mawn successful his autochthonal Philadelphia 2 years ago. So erstwhile helium approached immoderate Cambodian teen patrons, helium braced himself for questioning.

“Someone’s going to accidental thing like, ‘That’s not however my ma makes her oxtail soup,'” Lorn said. "So I locomotion up to the table. I’m like, ‘How is everything?’ And the kid looks up to maine and helium goes, ‘It doesn’t adjacent matter, dude. So gladsome you’re here.’”

It was astatine that infinitesimal that Lorn realized Mawn — the phonetic spelling of the Khmer connection for “chicken” — was much than a noodle shop. It meant representation.

In June, helium volition beryllium representing his dual cultures — Cambodian and Philly — astatine his archetypal James Beard Awards, arsenic a nominee for Best Emerging Chef. In the nutrient world, it's akin to getting nominated for the Academy Awards.

Cambodian restaurants whitethorn not beryllium arsenic commonplace successful the U.S. arsenic Chinese takeout oregon sushi spots. And Cambodian nutrient is often lazily lumped successful with the nutrient of its Southeast Asian neighbors, contempt its ain distinctness. But successful caller years, enterprising Cambodian American chefs person travel into their own, introducing accepted dishes oregon putting their ain twist connected them.

Many of them were raised successful families who fled the Khmer Rouge's reign of terror, which began 50 years agone and killed astir 1.7 cardinal people. Since then, the Cambodian assemblage successful the U.S. has grown and acceptable down roots.

Through food, these chefs are putting the attraction backmost connected Cambodian practice and culture, alternatively than that traumatic history.

Dr. Leakhena Nou, a sociology prof astatine California State University, Long Beach who has studied societal anxiousness among post-Khmer Rouge generations, says the Cambodian diaspora is often seen by others excessively narrowly done the lens of victimhood. In 2022, she publically opposed California authorities that focused lone connected genocide for a K-12 program connected Cambodian culture.

“It’s a portion of their past truthful they shouldn’t tally distant from it but astatine the aforesaid clip they should unit others to recognize that that’s not the lone portion of their heritage, their humanities identity,” she said.

Cambodian nutrient has sometimes been hastily labeled arsenic a mild premix of Thai and Vietnamese with immoderate Chinese and Indian influence. But, it has its ain autochthonal spices and flavors that person been utilized passim Southeast Asia. Khmer nutrient emphasizes seafood and meats, vegetables, noodles, atom and fermentation. Salty and sour are prevalent tastes, Nou says.

“It’s really a precise steadfast fare for the astir portion successful presumption of caller vegetables. Cambodians emotion to devour caller vegetables dipped with immoderate sauce," Nou said.

Signature dishes see amok, a food curry; lok lak, stir-fried marinated beef; and samlar koko, a crockery made utilizing seasonal produce. Nou recalls her begetter making it with pork bony broth, fish, caller coconut milk, lemongrass, vegetables and adjacent wildflowers.

It was a half-century ago, connected April 15, 1975, that the communist Khmer Rouge took implicit Cambodia. For the adjacent 4 years, an estimated one-quarter of the colonisation was wiped retired owed to starvation, execution and illness.

Refugees came successful waves to the U.S. successful the 1970s and 1980s. Most took connected low-level introduction jobs with fewer connection barriers, Nou said. These included manufacturing, meatpacking and cultivation labor. Many worked successful Chinese restaurants and doughnut shops.

The U.S. Cambodian colonisation has jumped 50% successful the past 20 years to an estimated 360,000 people, according to the Census 2023 American Community Survey.

Lorn’s household settled successful Philadelphia successful 1985. The lone kid calved successful the U.S., helium was named aft the metropolis (but pronounced pee-LAH’). Like a batch of Asian American kids, Lorn was “the smelly kid” teased for not-American nutrient successful his lunch. But, helium said, defending his lunchbox made him stronger. And helium got the past laugh.

“It’s chill present to beryllium 38 and person that aforesaid lunchbox (food) but connected plates and we’re selling it for $50 a plate,” said Lorn, who opened Mawn with woman Rachel aft they some had worked astatine different restaurants.

Indeed, too fashionable noodle soups, Mawn has plates similar the $60 steak and prohok, a 20-ounce ribeye with Cambodian chimichurri. Prohok is Cambodian fermented food paste. Lorn’s mentation has lime juice, kulantro, Thai eggplants and roasted mudfish.

It sounds unappetizing, Lorn admits, “but everyone who takes a portion of uncommon steak, dips and eats it is conscionable like, ‘OK, truthful fto maine cognize much astir this food.'”

May, which is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and erstwhile Cambodia conducts a Day of Remembrance, is besides erstwhile Long Beach has Cambodian Restaurant Week. The metropolis is location to the largest attraction of Cambodians extracurricular of Cambodia.

Chad Phuong, relation of Battambong BBQ pop-up, was a participant.

Phuong came to Long Beach arsenic a kid aft fleeing the Khmer Rouge, which murdered his father. After precocious school, helium worked astatine a Texas slaughterhouse and learned astir cutting meats and barbecue. In 2020, helium pivoted from moving successful the aesculapian tract to grilling.

Known arsenic “Cambodian Cowboy," helium has been profiled locally and nationally for brisket, ribs and different meats utilizing a adust hitch with Cambodian Kampot pepper, “one of the astir costly achromatic peppers successful the world." There's besides sausage with fermented atom and sides similar coconut corn.

The pitmaster precocious started mentoring younger vendors. Contributing to the assemblage feels similar gathering a legacy.

“It conscionable gives maine a batch of courageousness to contiguous my food,” Phuong said. “We don’t request to speech astir the past oregon the trauma. Yes, it happened, but we’re moving on. We privation thing better.”

More Cambodian-run establishments person flourished. In 2023, Lowell, Massachusetts, politician Sokhary Chau, the country’s archetypal Cambodian American mayor, awarded a citation to Red Rose edifice for being a Beard semifinalist. This year, Koffeteria bakery successful Houston, Sophon edifice successful Seattle and cook Nite Yun of San Francisco’s Lunette Cambodia earned semifinalist nods.

Lorn, an admirer of San Francisco's Yun, says helium inactive feels imposter syndrome.

“I consciousness similar I’m much Ray Liotta than Nite Yun,” said Lorn. “Whether we triumph oregon not, to me, honestly, I won already."

Meanwhile, helium is preparing to unfastened a Southeast Asian oyster barroom called Sao. It's not intended to beryllium Cambodian, conscionable a reflection of him.

“I don't privation to beryllium pigeonholed," Lorn said. “And it’s not maine turning from my people. It's conscionable maine keeping it existent for my people.”