Breakfast
Kuy teav
Kuyteav is a Cambodian noodle soup consisting of rice noodles with pork stock and toppings. Originating from Chinese Cambodian cuisine, it is now a popular breakfast dish across all of Cambodia. The kuyteav can be found at marketplace stalls, roadside vendors, restaurants and in shophouses across the country, and is distinguished by its clear broth and array of herbs, aromatics and other garnishes and condiments. A related dish is the Vietnamese hủ tiếu, which was introduced to Vietnam by Chinese Cambodian immigrants in the 1970s.
The word kuyteav derives from the Teochew Chinese word 粿條 (peng'im: guê2diao5) and refers to cut noodles made from long-grain rice flour (as opposed to glutinous rice flour). This term also refers to the dish: a rice noodle soup with minced meat and various other toppings and seasonings. In Khmer, kuyteav is properly pronounced as [kuj.tiəw] but is often elided to [kəˈtiəw] (romanized as k'téav, kătéav, katiĕv, etc.) due to the sesquisyllabic nature of the Khmer language. The term has cognates in other countries in Southeast Asia where Chinese immigrants settled; with hủ tiếu in Vietnamese, kway teow in Malaysia and Singapore, and kuai tiao (ก๋วยเตี๋ยว) in Thai being analogues.
Kuyteav is prepared with partially dry thin squarish rice noodles cooked by quickly immersing the noodles in boiling water. The noodles are then strained, placed into a bowl, and moistened with nutty, caramelised garlic oil. After dressing with a sticky brown liquid made of oyster sauce[citation needed], soy sauce and a pinch of sugar, the bowl is then filled with a clear broth made from pork bones, dried squid[citation needed], and sugar, and seasoned with a bit of fish sauce. Then the meat toppings are added, which may include an assembly of different types of meat, such as pork loaf, minced pork, pork belly, duck, seafood or offal. Availability is the main factor in what toppings are used in kuyteav; some versions can be quite humble and basic, using only some ground pork and perhaps some dried shrimp for protein, while others can be more time-consuming and extravagant. Finally, when the dish is presented at the table, the diner may add several garnishes and aromatics to customise the dish by their preferences.