All You Need to Know About Khmer Rice

For 3 consecutive years, Cambodia's first-class rice has been voted the best rice in the world at the World Rice Conference. The rice cultivation area in Cambodia is up to 3.6 million hectares, with a rice output of 9.9 million tons.

Fragrant rice is grown in the dry season and mainly includes Sen Kra Ob, Sen Pidor, and Phka Chansensor. These dry-season varieties have long, soft, fragrant seeds and light scents. Besides, premium white rice is usually grown in the rainy season, and among the most popular are Ginger rice, Phka Knhey, and Phka Cha-Sen Sar.

Once cooked, these varieties often have a soft consistency. White rice grown in both the wet and dry seasons when cooked is firmer, including Pearl Rice, Neang Khon, Reang Chey, Ponla Pdao, and Neang Minh.

Let's find out more about the popular rice varieties in Cambodia with BestPrice Travel in the article below!

1. Fragrant Rice

Fragrant rice is a prevalent rice in Cambodia and is recognized for its outstanding features: appearance, aroma, and taste. This is a super-fine rice variety with a pleasant and delicate aroma. The grain of rice has a soft, long texture; when cooked, it swells in width. Its high value comes from the characteristic aroma in both raw and cooked states and the distinctive shape of the seeds.

Fragrant Rice

• Phka Malis - Cambodia Premium Jasmine Rice (wet season)

Phka Malis rice is a naturally fragrant type of rice. This rice variety is usually grown during the rainy season and harvested mainly from October to December.

Phka Malis is suitable for growing on fertile soil, and the most suitable environment for developing this rice variety is in Battambang province or neighboring provinces such as Banteay Meanchey, Cambodia.

Phka Malis

The aroma of this rice is reminiscent of pandan leaves and popcorn, which is the result of the rice plant's natural production of aromatic compounds.

The rice grain has a slightly moist texture, is very soft when cooked, and has a slightly sweet taste. Phka Malis is a bit sticky when cooked, although less sticky than glutinous rice, as it has less amylopectin. This is also one of the most popular rice varieties in Cambodia.

• Sen Kra Ob (dry season)

Sen Kro Ob Rice is a fragrant rice with a long grain length. It is commonly grown in the dry season in Cambodia.

This fragrant rice has superior quality compared to other fragrant rice. Their flavor exudes a premium and mild taste closely resembling Cambodia Jasmine Rice.

Sen Kra Ob

This is also the perfect grain for those who like to eat soft and chewy; primarily, indigenous people often use this rice to make Cambodian fried rice dishes.

2. White Rice

Cambodian White Rice is a non-fragrant type of rice, and it is also known as 5451. This rice variety is usually grown for 2-3 crops per year in both wet and dry seasons.

White Rice

White Rice is grown throughout the provinces of Cambodia but is most often grown in areas with convenient irrigation systems. This type of rice has a firm structure and gives a higher volume of rice than other types of rice. It is common in most of the world's population.

• Phka Chansensar Rice

Phka Chansensar is a premium white rice, medium grain, non-fragrant superior rice with a characteristic aroma. When cooked, the rice grain has a soft and pleasant texture similar to fragrant rice, rice kernel with a translucent endosperm.

Phka Chansensar

This rice variety is often grown in an environment with a lot of water and is very popular in many provinces and cities in Cambodia. Restaurants often use this type of rice to serve customers.

• Neang Minh Rice

Neang Minh Rice is also one of the favorite rice of Cambodians. Although this rice variety is usually grown in the rainy season (from April to November) in many provinces of Cambodia, they are medium-grain rice with the most superior quality compared to Cambodian white rice.

Neang Minh Rice

Neang Minh Rice has soft grains when cooked like Cambodian fragrant rice like Cambodia Jasmine Rice or Cambodia Somali Rice. It also stands out for its savory taste, so it's popular in restaurants and simple dishes.

After cooking, it absorbs more water, so it is most suitable for restaurants, hotels, medium-sized hospitals, and daily meals.

Most of the rice varieties in Cambodia are excellent and safe for health. In particular, rice in this country almost does not use pesticides and chemical fertilizers, so it is very safe. We hope you find helpful information in our article. Please don't forget to revisit us for more useful topics or find your best Indochina tour on BestPrice Travel's website. 

Thanh Dat

(Image Source: Internet)