It can be hard to tell whether a dish is Cambodian food or Thai food because side dishes of these two country aren’t quite different from each other. You might think Khmer foods and Thai foods are exactly the same because these two countries are neighbors and the menu of the foods are also the same. But if you explore these two countries deeper, you might see a little difference between Cambodian foods and Thai foods. Quickly read these article below and get to know more about the similarity and differences of foods between Cambodia and Thailand.

There are only a few side dishes that make Thai foods and Khmer foods similar to each other:

1. Tum Yum Kung

Tom Yum Kung is a type of hot and sour spicy soup. Both Cambodian and Thai people eat this type of soup, and the process of making this soup is also the same, but the only differences of this soup is the taste. We, Cambodian, prefer less spicy soup with thick taste and well-balanced which means Tom Yum soup should contain of 4 tastes such as salty, sweet, sour taste from the tamarind or lemons, less spicy, While Thai people prefer to add more chilies or pepper in the soup to make it spicier.

Related: What do they eat in Cambodia?

2. Papaya salad

This type of salad is the most favorite food for both countries, and in Khmer we call this type of dishes as Bok Lhong. Thai people prefer food spicier than Cambodian people. The amount of chilies that people add in the foods is one of the differences between these two countries as you already know, yet one more difference is that people in Cambodia use shrimp paste with salty crab in making papaya salad while people in Thailand prefer to add fish sauce or prohok sauce in papaya salad, and other ingredients such as vegetable, sugar, chilies, and many more are included in same as Thai papaya salad recipe as well. Even they both have one thing difference, but papaya salad remains the most delicious food.

3. Raw shrimp and spicy marinate crabs

Both country enjoy to eat raw seafood such as shrimps and spicy marinate crabs. It’s one of the most popular food in Cambodia as well as in Thailand. People usually enjoy this with a bowl of rice or just only eat with a glass of beer. The spicy level of this dishes are the same for both Cambodia and Thailand.

Related: Are things cheap in Cambodia?

Besides these foods, Cambodian cuisines are very unique from Thai foods because in Cambodia people tend to use prohok and lemongrass paste as the main ingredients in making traditional foods while in Thailand they tend to use chilies as the main ingredients.