Street Food Tour by Tuk-Tuk with 10 Tastings Siem Reap

A family kitchen for lort cha

The tour starts where many Siem Reap evenings start: at a family kitchen that specialises in lort cha, the short, fat rice pin noodles stir-fried over a very hot flame with egg, chives, bean sprouts and a dark sweet-salty sauce. You watch the cook toss the noodles in a blackened wok and learn the few simple steps that give the dish its smoky flavour, then eat a plate while it is still sizzling.

Lort cha is one of the dishes people search for after a Cambodia food tour, and this is the version to measure the others by. Your guide explains the difference between Khmer, Thai and Vietnamese noodle dishes, and how street cooks in Siem Reap work from tiny carts and open kitchens. This first stop sets the tone of the evening: honest food, cooked in front of you, eaten the way residents eat it.

Made in Cambodia Market

Between the first two tastings the tuk-tuk brings you to the Made in Cambodia Market, an open-air craft market in central Siem Reap where everything on the tables is produced in the country: hand-beaten silver jewellery, silk scarves woven in the provinces, carved wooden bowls, natural soaps and recycled-material bags. The stalls glow under lanterns in the early evening and the atmosphere is calm compared with the night market later on.

You have about 30 minutes to browse with your guide, who can explain which crafts come from which province and help with a little friendly bargaining. It is a good place to pick up a gift that is genuinely Cambodian rather than imported, and the short walk helps make room for the next course. Entry to the market is free and included in the evening.

Num banh chok, the Khmer noodle breakfast at dinner

Num banh chok is often called the national dish of Cambodia: fresh jasmine-rice noodles, fermented slightly for a soft tang, served under a green fish curry made with lemongrass, turmeric, galangal and kaffir lime, and finished with a pile of raw vegetables and herbs, from banana blossom to cucumber and water mint. The tuk-tuk takes you to a village noodle house known for it, where the noodles are still pressed by hand.

This 45-minute stop is the heart of the tour for anyone interested in Khmer cooking. Your guide explains how the noodle dough is made from rice soaked and pounded for days, why the curry is green rather than red, and how families eat it for breakfast from roadside stalls. The bowl is light and herbal, a contrast with the grilled food still to come.

Street 60 night market

Street 60 is where Siem Reap residents go in the evening: a long road of stalls, picnic mats and charcoal grills on the edge of the town, near the road to the Angkor park, that comes alive after dark with families, students and food vendors. It is the biggest local night market in Siem Reap and almost entirely free of tourists, which is why it is the main stop of this Siem Reap night market food tour.

Here you taste skewers of grilled meat with sweet chilli dip, Khmer desserts such as pumpkin custard and sticky rice with coconut, grilled bananas, and, if you wish, the famous fried insects: crickets, grasshoppers, red ants, water beetles and even tarantula, seasoned with garlic and salt. Nobody is obliged to try them, but most guests do. About 30 minutes is spent walking the stalls with your guide choosing the best vendors.

A traditional Khmer wooden house

The evening ends in a traditional Khmer wooden house in Siem Reap, a stilted timber building of the kind that once lined every village lane, with polished dark floors, carved shutters and a breezy upper room. It is a peaceful place to sit after the noise of the market, and your guide uses the last 30 minutes to answer questions about Cambodian food culture and to suggest dishes to look for during the rest of your stay.

A final small tasting is served here with cold water, and then the tuk-tuk takes you back to your accommodation. By this point you will have tasted around ten dishes across five stops, and most guests say they need no dinner afterwards. The whole evening runs about 4 hours on the join-in tour and about 3 hours on the private version.