Cultivating Cambodia’s renewal with Kampot peppers

Cambodia is emerging from the darkness of the Killing Fields when the Marxist regime of Pol Pot committed genocide on the Khmer people with estimates of up to two out of nine million people killed in the late 1970s.

If you’ve been to Cambodia as I have, you can’t help but want to assist its gentle people with long-suffering spirits.

Several Orange County residents are extending their helping hands to the 118 farmers in the Kampot province located on the Gulf of Siam just miles north of the Vietnam border.

Executive Chef Haley Nguyen, also owner of the Vietnamese fusion restaurant Xanh Bistro, hosted a special event — part fundraiser and part food demonstration highlighting the unique qualities of the Kampot pepper.

I was familiar with the pepper’s distinctive aroma, depth of flavor and fiery finish from my Mom’s Cambodian friends who shared their delicate fish curries and lime-infused steaks with us.

Chef Haley shared with the standing-room group at her restaurant chao tom, Vietnamese grilled shrimp on sugarcane with Kampot pepper. From my iPhone, I live streamed the chef’s informative demonstration:

Watch live video from TedNguyenUSA on Justin.tv

The dish is then served with Asian mint leaves and other herbs along with vermicelle noodle wrapped in a bundle of lettuce leaves and dipped in the ubiquitous Vietnamese nuoc cham, a sauce made differently by each family but is essentially composed of fish sauce, garlic, chili peppers, limes and sugar.

Tom Gordon, an editor at the Orange County Register, started the Pepper Project with his wife, Cris Peterson, after several visits to Cambodia where they fell in love with the people, culture and food.

Gordon said the Pepper Project’s goal is help introduce Cambodian products such as the Kampot pepper — once only available to the finest restaurants in Europe — to the market in the U.S. at reasonable prices.

The  other primary purpose of the not-for-profit enterprise is to help the region’s 118 farmers and to benefit the Daughters of Cambodia, an organization that helps victims of sex trafficking.

Hear this audio interview with Gordon and some of the participants of this afternoon’s event.

The event drew numerous reporters and editors from the Orange County Register and Nguoi Viet Daily News, including food columnist Cathy Thomas, reporter Eugene Fields and editor Anh Do.

And numerous food bloggers and Twitterers from our #OCtwEATup, including Anita Lau (@MadHungryWoman), Holly Sarah Wong (@Hall_e), Priscilla Willis (@ShesCookin) and others, participated in sharing posts, photos and videos to let the world know about the unique food traditions and about the tremendous need to help the people of Cambodia.

I want to thank Chef Haley along with Gordon and Petersen for their work to bring awareness of the plight of the farmers of the Kampot region and how we my support their efforts to improve the Southeast Asian country through sustainable economic activities such as farming.

I purchased Kampot white peppers that I’m going to make white pepper steak au poivre with. I also purchased lemongrass soap and oil along with what I thought were kitchen towels.

To my delight, it was a beautiful Cambodian scarf that I’ll use as a table runner to remind me of the beautiful Cambodian spirit of survival, renewal and transformation and more importantly — the need to help my brothers and sisters across the ocean.

If you attended the event, I would love to know what you’ll be cooking with your Kampot peppers. What did you think about event?

If you’ve been to Cambodia, I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences with the amazing culture.

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