Bay Pa-Ems's Roast Chicken

Nusara Thaitawat put together a brilliant book on The Cuisine of Cambodia; the recipes brought to life with stunning photography by Somkid Chaijitvanit and Yingyong Un-anongrak.

It's unfortunately out of print but I managed to pick up a copy when I was last visiting Cambodia.

Cambodian cuisine is notoriously complex and if not complex then often more than a little adventurous: a Platter of Deep and Stir-Fried Insects for example - a mixture of water bugs, tarantulas, crickets and silkworm pupae. Or how about Porng Ang-Krang - sauteed Red Ants'Eggs). Not for the faint-hearted.

But here's a very simple recipe for an absolutely wonderful Cambodian roast chicken originating in the kitchen of the Bay Pa-Em restaurant just outside Kampong Speu. Mrs Sun Lorn's roast chicken is apparently one of the most famous chicken dishes in the country.

Take one whole chicken (without giblets), clean inside and out. Rub all over with a seasoning made up of 2tbs black pepper and 1tbsp salt and 6 cloves of garlic. I crush everything together in a mortar and spread it over the chicken as evenly as possible.

The traditional way of roasting chicken is in a pot over a charcoal fire with a couple of lumps placed on the pot lid to ensure even heating. But the dish works very well in an ordinary oven at around 180 degrees farenheit (170 if using a fan oven). 45 minutes per kilo plus 20mins. Then rest covered for 15 minutes before tucking in.

How simple is that? If you try it, let me know what you think.