An educational trip around Battambang’s Central Market

Battambang Central Market Cambodia

Before we started our cookery class at Nary’s Kitchen, we were given an educational tour of Battambang’s Central Market. I had sworn off markets for a while, but I was eager to discover more about the flavor profiles. I read on more than one occasion how travelers find Cambodian cuisines boring after they’re palettes have gotten used to the spicer Thai and Vietnam dishes. But although Cambodian dishes are served milder on the heat scale than it’s neighbors, there’s always some hot sauce within easy reach.

Battambang Central Market Spices and Kroeung
Many of the ingredients needed to make Kroeung

And just because dishes are served without that spicy kick, it doesn’t mean they’re tasteless. They have a depth of flavor that comes from their fermented sauces and ground pastes made from spices, herbs, and root vegetables.

Cambodians adapted the art of blending spices into a paste using many ingredients like cardamom, star anise, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and turmeric. Other native ingredients like lemongrass, galangal, garlic, shallots, cilantro, and kaffir lime leaves are added to this mix to make a distinctive and complex spice blend called “kroeung.” This is an important aromatic paste commonly used in Cambodian cooking. Wikipedia

Battambang Central Market Spices and Kroeung
Some stalls make Kroeung for you

Battambang Central Market

We started off our market tour in the safety-zone of the spices and vegetable section, where traders were selling the individual ingredients or bags of pre-mixed kroeung paste.

Battambang Central Market traders selling vegetables and spices
The close quarters of Battambang market make it an easy place to chat

Most of the traders didn’t bat an eye as we walked by. They’ve become accustomed to the daily stream of westerners smelling, and tasting food samples, and snappy photos with wild abandon.

Battambang Central Market Frogs Legs, bugs and snakes
Frogs legs, peeled and ready to cook

We’d already seen examples of French culinary influences with the bakeries and baguettes in Siem Reap, and the frogs legs prepped and ready, seemed to be just another example.

fish being descaled at Battambang Central Market Cambodia
The fish stall. Whole fish available, or buy one gutted and descaled.

The nearby river we’d traveled along by boat just two day before, provided an endless supply of fish that was being descaled a gutted for eager customers.

fish being descaled at Battambang Central Market Cambodia
Prepping fish

I just love this photo of the organized chaos of Battambang Central Market, and how this little boy just took the surrounding activities in his stride with bored nonchalance.

Little Boy at Battambang Central Market Cambodia
Love this little boy lost amid the chaos of Battambang market

As we ventured inside the market we navigated through the the area shelling coconuts and extracting the coconut milk, a staple ingredient in the coconut curries. A laborious task that could probably have benefited from a few health and safety rules.

Battambang Market coconut milk and meat market
Machine extracting the coconut milk into buckets
Battambang Market coconut milk and meat market
The coconut milk guy at Battambang market

Then finally we headed to the dreaded fresh meat hall, where the familiar smell of rotting flesh teased our nostrils into submission.

Meat Section of Battambang Central Market
Preserving meat by making it into a sausage

There’s very little refrigeration available in these parts of Cambodia, so meat will only last a short while in it’s fresh, raw stage, and then it has to be turned into preserved sausages, that are a nuclear shade of red.

Meat Section of Battambang Central Market
Meat Section of Battambang Central Market
Meat Section of Battambang Central Market
Meat Section of Battambang Central Market

I can only imagine that the sense of smell of the ladies and gents manning the meat stalls must be deadened to the eye-watering aroma this meat hall emanates. It coats your nostrils and forces you to breath through your mouth, but even that technique can’t dispel the lingering stench of death.As each day passes, we thankfully sink deeper and deeper into the comfort of our vegetarian haze. It’s interesting to see these markets, but how the nation hasn’t been wiped out by food poisoning is beyond belief.

Getting to the Central Market (Phase Naht)

Battambang location of the central market CambodiaYou can’t miss Central market, it’s housed in an Art Deco Building, which was planned by the same French engineers who built the Central Markets in Phnom Penh and Saigon.

It’s located between Road #1 and Road #3, in the heart of the city center.

Even if you don’t venture inside the market, you’ll end up walking past it multiple times during your stay in Battambang, because like Rome, all roads lead to it.

Now that we have this market under our belt, I think I’m swearing off market visits again. Well, until we get to Phnom Penh at least.

Despite the aromas and sights of these local markets, they provide a glimpse into daily life, that was lost for years to progress, in the western towns and cities I’ve been living in. But the resurgence of farmer’s markets in the UK and the US, just goes to show that these central markets where the community gets together to buy food, chat with neighbors, and catch up on local news is the cornerstone of a vibrant society.


Want to know what they sell at #Battambang Central Market? We had a tour before our cookery class, and it was interesting to learn about #Cambodian Culinary influences. #TravelBlogger Share on X

Flashpacking through Cambodia ebook cover for Baby Boomers on a Budget
Flashpacking through Cambodia

Flashpacking through Cambodia: For Baby Boomers on a Budget is my latest Roving Jay travel guide full of travel tips, advice, and sample itineraries for flash packers who want the back packing experience without foregoing some of life’s creature comforts – like a comfortable bed, a hot shower, free wi-fi, and somewhere to plug your electric toothbrush in.

I spent almost three months backpacking around Cambodia in 2017/2018 to research this travel guide, and I share insights and first hand knowledge of tourist traps and off-the-beaten-path discoveries. We ate street food, drank 50c beers, and travelled by train, bus, minivan and tuktuk to identify the best ways to get from A to B.

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Author: Roving Jay

Jay is a project manager who swapped corporate life for a nomadic existence as a travel writer. She works with authors and entrepreneurs to help them achieve their self-publishing goals and reach their target audience through content marketing. Jay has published a series of travel guides, a travel memoir, and nonfiction books about travel writing. She housesits and volunteers around the globe with her husband, a Hollywood set painter, and she’s never more that 10 paces away from a wi-fi connection.

21 thoughts on “An educational trip around Battambang’s Central Market

  1. The market where you have the vegetables look so nice and is so colorful. But I do not love the sight of the non vegetables section. Except of course fish markets. It was nice learning about how they make kroeung in Cambodia used for their cooking.

    1. Learning about kroeung was a highlight of this day at the market, and then we got to practice it in our cooking class. If we’d visited the market on our own, we wouldn’t have learned so much.

  2. I love when a cooking class starts with a market visit. A great way to learn about the local seasonal foods. The colour and smells always draw me into the markets like the Battambang’s Central Market. And we often find new foods to try.

    1. It’s a great opportunity to get your questions answered. So many of the locals don’t speak English, so it’s good to have a guide who can explain things, so that when you visit the next market on your own, you know what you’re looking at.

  3. Battambang Central Market looks like a very happening spot. I was hoping to visit Cambodia later this year, but it’s hard to say now. At least I can get a taste from your post and photos. I love the one of the little boy in the middle of all the hustle and bustle!

  4. I’ve always been fascinated by local markets, I just came back from Vietnam and liked checking out each stall and chatting with the vendors. Such cool places to get to mingle with locals and get to now authentic ingredients!

    1. We bought a good selection of herbs from Cambodia to take back with us to Turkey, but I must admit we’ve only used a few of them so far. But I do open the jars every now and then to get transported back to our travels.

  5. This was quite a cultural experience that you don’t often hear about. I’m very passionate about cooking and I’d like to learn the art of blending spices. I visited many local markets, but the one in Battambang seems kind of messy: too much blood and intestines around, lol!

    1. The stall holders have good butchering skills, but the big pools of blood and the smell make the meat section just too overwhelming to be enjoyable.

  6. Ah! I love seeing markets with spices and produce, but I can’t even imagine your description of the meat area. I would totally have to avoid that section – it would really nauseate me. They certainly do have some strange meats, but the market is a colorful place to be!

  7. Battambang Central Market looks like an interesting spot where you can really get insight into the local life. I hope to visit Cambodia at some point next year. I would love to see this market, though I would pass on the meat / fish section as unfortunately I cannot stand the sight of animal blood.

  8. Markets give a close view of the local lifestyle. It is chaotic, disorganised and smelly, yet so much to see and explore around. I love visiting local markets in any destination. And, if you are a food enthusiast, markets need to be explored to understand the culineray scene of the people. Loved a few photos of Battambang’s Central Market.

    1. I completely agree … you can’t visit a new destination without seeking out a market or two. I love wandering around them, and discovering their culinary delights.

  9. I think the best part about these local cuisine classes is the visit to the market. The sights and sounds tell you so much about the culture of that place. Interesting to learn about the local pastes like kroeung. Loved all your captures.

    1. We always visit markets, but it was so good having a guide as part of our cooking class so that we could ask questions and get to know the history and uses of the different herbs and spices used in Cambodia cooking.

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