'My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook' is Nite Yun’s love letter to food and family

Summary

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NPR's Book of the Day Summary

Episode: 'My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook' is Nite Yun’s love letter to food and family

Date: November 27, 2025
Host: Leila Fadel (with intro/outro by Andrew Limbong)
Guest: Nite Yun, chef and author of My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook

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Episode Overview

This episode of NPR's Book of the Day spotlights Cambodian-American chef Nite Yun and her debut cookbook, My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook. The conversation explores the power of food as a medium for storytelling, connection, and cultural preservation, drawing on Yun’s personal journey as the American-born daughter of genocide survivors and her efforts to keep Cambodian culinary traditions alive. The discussion mixes recipe walkthroughs with deep and joyful reminiscences, making it a rich tapestry of food, family, resilience, and heritage.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Origins: Food as Family History

• Leila Fadel introduces Nite Yun, setting the stage by noting how Yun’s parents survived Cambodia’s genocide and how food became a bridge to their otherwise unspoken histories.

• Nite Yun recounts (02:03) how she only learned about her parents’ past through visits to Cambodia, where sharing meals with relatives unlocked long-suppressed family stories:

  “I learned that my mom was a beauty queen in her village and my dad fixed motorcycles for the Japanese.” (Nite Yun, 02:10)

• Yun’s mother’s willingness to open up through cooking becomes a theme:

  “Cooking Cambodian food has been a way of storytelling.” (Nite Yun, 02:29)

2. The Cookbook as Celebration and Time Capsule

• Yun’s goal is for the cookbook to encapsulate and celebrate all of Cambodian culture, not just the trauma:

  “I also wanted people to not forget the good times in Cambodia ... when art was thriving. And I want to just put that in a time capsule and celebrate it.” (Nite Yun, 02:50)

• The cookbook includes more than just recipes, such as recommended rock and roll playlists to evoke joyful memories (03:09).

3. Cooking Demonstration: Cha Krung Step-by-Step

• The episode features a remote kitchen walkthrough as Yun guides Leila in making a classic chicken stir fry, Cha Krung.

  • Kerong (krung): Described as foundational to Khmer cuisine; a pounded paste of lemongrass, turmeric, lime leaves, shallots, and galangal (03:54).

    “Kerong is one of the foundations in Khmer cuisine ... ingredients you pound ... then you turn that into this beautiful paste.” (Nite Yun, 03:54)

  • Leila marvels at how making the paste is “an arm workout” (04:10); Yun suggests hosting kerong-making parties for fun and efficiency.

    “Invite all your friends ... And then the goryeong is also very versatile.” (Nite Yun, 04:19)

  • Rohak: (fermented fish paste) is highlighted as the signature flavor:

    “Store, rahok, which is the star in Cambodian cooking. It's like our fermented fish paste.” (Nite Yun, 04:44)

  • Special distinction is made between ginger and galangal (04:55), with Yun explaining the unique contribution of galangal to the dish.

  • The cooking process is described as aromatic, lively, and confidence-building for Leila (05:23):

    “Everything feels more accessible now, like, oh, I can do this.” (Leila Fadel, 05:23)

  • The simple comfort of rice is discussed as a source of nostalgia and home (05:50):

    “Sometimes when I would miss home, I would just cook a pot of rice ... just to fill my room with like, the aroma of like steamed rice. It was just very comforting to me.” (Nite Yun, 05:50)

  • They savor the final product:

    “That depth of flavor you're talking about is basically from the krung and the prahok together, which makes Khmer food so good.” (Nite Yun, 06:11)

4. Food as Cultural Memory and Reclamation

• Yun didn’t grow up cooking Cambodian dishes, but sought the flavors of her childhood as an adult. She references favorites like bright cabbage salad and kuy teav Phnom Penh (pork noodle soup).

  “When my mom would make a big pot of soup ... it was like a very joyful time.” (Nite Yun, 06:32)

• The cookbook doesn’t shy away from her parents’ trauma, contextualizing the resilience of Cambodian culture through survival:

  “My parents ... dodged landmines, survived starvation ... walked under the hot, hot sun to safety so my brother and I could have a better life in America. I didn't learn this as a child at all, but ... I just knew her strength and her determination came from somewhere.” (Nite Yun, 06:56)

5. Why Share Khmer Food Now?

• The erasure of Khmer cuisine due to war and genocide is directly addressed (07:37):

  “Cambodian cuisine is so in the shadow of like Thai and Vietnamese food because we were in the civil war and everything was lost during that time ... people who do know Cambodian food now hold it in their memories.” (Nite Yun, 07:37)

• The cookbook is Yun’s way to honor her family and share those memories with the world.

6. The Power of Food to Invoke Conversation

• Yun’s closing hope for the cookbook:

  “If you want to connect with your parents, grandparents, friends, anyone, really, I hope this book will help you create the space for conversations both loving and ... difficult.” (Nite Yun, as read by Leila Fadel, 08:18)

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Timed Notable Quotes

• “Cooking Cambodian food has been a way of storytelling.”
  — Nite Yun, 02:29

• “I also wanted people to not forget the good times in Cambodia ... I want to just put that in a time capsule and celebrate it.”
  — Nite Yun, 02:50

• “Kerong is one of the foundations in Khmer cuisine ... you turn that into this beautiful paste.”
  — Nite Yun, 03:54

• “Store, rahok, which is the star in Cambodian cooking. It's like our fermented fish paste.”
  — Nite Yun, 04:44

• “I just knew her strength and her determination came from somewhere.”
  — Nite Yun, 06:56

• “Cambodian cuisine is so in the shadow of ... Thai and Vietnamese food because ... everything was lost during that time.”
  — Nite Yun, 07:37

• “If you want to connect with your parents, grandparents, friends, anyone, really, I hope this book will help you create the space for conversations both loving and ... difficult.”
  — Nite Yun, as read by Leila Fadel, 08:18

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Additional Memorable Moments

• Leila’s kitchen vulnerability:

  • “I get nervous when, like, a real chef watches me cook.” (Leila Fadel, 05:14)

• Celebration of the senses:

  • “Sometimes I wouldn't even eat it, but just to fill my room with ... the aroma of ... steamed rice. It was just very comforting to me.” (Nite Yun, 05:50)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:41 – Leila Fadel introduces Nite Yun and her family background
• 02:03 – Nite Yun describes learning about her parents' stories in Cambodia
• 03:30 – Virtual cooking lesson begins: Cooking Cha Krung
• 04:44 – Discussion of rahok (fermented fish paste)
• 05:50 – Nite Yun speaks about rice as nostalgia
• 06:32 – Memories around pork noodle soup
• 06:56 – Nite Yun recounts her parents’ traumatic escape
• 07:37 – Discussing cultural loss and reclaiming Khmer food
• 08:18 – Yun’s wish for connection through her cookbook

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Final Thoughts

This episode is a heartfelt meditation on how cooks, especially in diaspora, use food to access and transmit memory, family history, and resilience. Through vibrant anecdotes, kitchen tips, and reflective wisdom, Nite Yun’s story underscores the deep significance of sharing a meal—and a recipe—across generations. Listeners are left inspired to cook, remember, and ask questions at the table, no matter where they call home.

Transcript

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. And happy Thanksgiving for everyone in the kitchen today. Good luck in there. I hope your oven real estate is plentiful and remember to clean as you go. Really, it makes a world of difference. Anyway, while you're doing any last minute prep work, here's a fun one to listen to today to get you in the cooking mood. It's a conversation between NPR's Leila Fadel and Nait Yoon, a Cambodian American chef who is out with her debut cookbook, My A Khmer Cookbook. There's cooking talk in this conversation, some discussion about fish paste and galangal, but what this book really is after is connection. See, Yun was born in a refugee camp. Her parents fled some brutal conditions to get to America. But these weren't stories she was told growing up. Instead, cooking Khmer food was the best way Yun found to reach her folks. That's after the break.

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[Leila Fadel]

Nite Yoon is a celebrated American chef known for bringing the flavors of her parents ancestral home, Cambodia to the United States through her restaurants. The one she has now is Lunette in San Francisco. She grew up in Stockton, California and her parents never talked about their life in Cambodia and and what they escaped a genocide.

[Nait Yoon]

I learned about my parents past by traveling. When I went to Cambodia, my goal was to meet my relatives and I learned that over food they would open up about my parents past. I learned that my mom was a beauty queen in her village and my dad fixed motorcycles for the Japanese.

[Leila Fadel]

Her late father never found a way to truly open up to her, but her mother did.

[Nait Yoon]

Traveling to Cambodia and learning how to cook food was how my mom opened up about herself. Cooking Cambodian food has been a way of storytelling.

[Leila Fadel]

Now Yoon is sharing those stories and her recipes with the world in her debut cookbook called My Cambodia A Khmer cookbook. And I know we typically say Khmer, but Yoon says it's actually pronounced Khmer.

[Nait Yoon]

My Cambodia is my story, my parents story of resilience and strength. And I also wanted people to not forget the good times in Cambodia when my parents were growing up, when there was Cambodian rock and roll music playing, when art was thriving. And I want to just put that in a time capsule and celebrate it.

[Leila Fadel]

And that's what she does. In her cookbook, she recommends rock and roll playlists to dance to as you cook. And before we get to the stories she shares in the book, we've got to start with the food. On the day we chat, Yoon walks me through one of her favorite weeknight recipes, a chicken stir fry.

[Nait Yoon]

This is so exciting for me. You don't even know.

[Leila Fadel]

Yun is in San Francisco. I'm in D.C. so we connect by zoom. And I perch my laptop on the kitchen counter so she can walk me through the dish.

[Nait Yoon]

So, Cha krung. I get very excited about this dish. It's just very I. Because I grew up eating it. It's something that I still crave.

[Leila Fadel]

We start with the most important part of this cooking process, making something called kerong.

[Nait Yoon]

Kerong is one of the foundation in Khmer cuisine. Gong translates to ingredients you pound, like thinly sliced lemongrass. There's turmeric, lime leaves, shallots, and galanga. And you turn that into this beautiful paste.

[Leila Fadel]

I mash everything with a mortar and pestle, which is an arm workout. Cause there's so much smashing. I feel like I have a new right bicep, basically. Yes.

[Nait Yoon]

What I recommended in the book too, was to have a goryeong making party. Like, invite all your friends, help make a big batch. And then the goryeong is also very versatile. You can use goryeong to marinate to make soups and stews and curry. It's the base for a lot of our traditional Cambodian dishes.

[Leila Fadel]

At Yun's instruction, I begin to saute my krong in a pan, along with sugar and an ingredient you may need to find in a specialty Asian grocery.

[Nait Yoon]

Store, rahok, which is the star in Cambodian cooking. It's like our fermented fish paste.

[Leila Fadel]

It's smelling so good. Yeah, it's not ginger that we used. It's galangal.

[Nait Yoon]

Yes, it's galanga. Galanga is not as spicy as ginger. It has a much more, like, nutty, earthy taste.

[Leila Fadel]

I can smell that. I can smell the lemongrass.

[Nait Yoon]

Lemongrass, the garlic.

[Leila Fadel]

All kinds, nice mingling together. Next, I add sliced chicken Thighs and a mixture of fish sauce. Before turning down the heat, I chop up some red onions and chilies. I get nervous when, like, a real chef watches me cook.

[Nait Yoon]

This is fun. Seeing you go around the kitchen grabbing, like, the onions.

[Leila Fadel]

It's amazing. And I'm excited because it's so delicious. But it's also something that can feel intimidating and then like looking through your cookbook and going and shopping for the ingredients, everything feels more accessible now, like, oh, I can do this.

[Nait Yoon]

I cannot wait for you to try it.

[Leila Fadel]

I stir in my onions and just a pinch of the chilies because I'm a heat wimp. Then I top it with basil and get ready to serve by scooping the jasmine rice I prepared earlier into a bowl.

[Nait Yoon]

Sometimes when I would miss home, I would just cook a pot of rice and have that. Sometimes I wouldn't even eat it, but just to fill my room with like, the aroma of like steamed rice. It was just very comforting to me.

[Leila Fadel]

And my kitchen has that aroma along with the garlic and lemongrass in the stir fry, which is done.

[Nait Yoon]

Yay, did it.

[Leila Fadel]

And it has such a depth of flavor that is so different.

[Nait Yoon]

Uh huh. That depth of flavor you're talking about is basically from the krung and the prahok together, which makes Khmer food so good.

[Leila Fadel]

Now, Yoon didn't grow up cooking Cambodian food as she mentioned, but the recipes in this cookbook include the flavors of her childhood, from the recipe for a bright cabbage salad to keto phnom pan.

[Nait Yoon]

Which is the pork noodle soup. When my mom would make a big pot of soup, we knew she was going to make it ahead of time because she would start prepping, like the fried garlic and she pulled out the biggest pot. So it was like a very joyful time.

[Leila Fadel]

And her book is full of both the joy and the trauma of her parents history. Your parents are genocide survivors. You were born in a refugee camp. You came here when you were two.

[Andrew Limbong]

Yeah.

[Nait Yoon]

So my parents fought for their lives when they fled Cambodia around 1978, my parents, like, dodged landmines, survived starvation to, like, forced labor camps, walked under the hot, hot sun to safety so my brother and I could have a better life in America. I didn't learn this as a child at all, but I knew something. Like there was this mystery that, you know, they hid from my brothers and I. But I've always, like, looked up to my mom. Like, I just knew her strength and her determination came from somewhere.

[Leila Fadel]

Khmer cooking, Cambodian cooking, sharing it with the world. In this cookbook in your restaurants, why was it so important?

[Nait Yoon]

I wanted to share my story. It's something that not a lot of people talk about or know about. And I think that's why Cambodian cuisine is so in the shadow of like Thai and Vietnamese food because we were in the civil war and everything was lost during that time. So people who held on or had like, you know, who knew how to cook Cambodian food, they just kind of perish. And people who do know Cambodian food now hold it in their memories. And I just wanted to share the beautiful side of Cambodia. So this book is a way for me to kind of compile all the recipes that I learned from my travel and from my mom to honor their stories and to make the food accessible.

[Leila Fadel]

And as Night Yoon writes, if you want to connect with your parents, grandparents, friends, anyone, really, I hope this book will help you create the space for conversations both loving and and difficult. Her debut cookbook is called My Cambodia.

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey Andrew here, The host of NPR's Book of the Day podcast. And yeah, I love new books, but there's just something about rereading an old favorite. On our new limited series, Books We've Loved. We're revisiting some classics from Pride and Prejudice to Dune to Everything in between and talking about why they're worth reading. Today we're listen to NPR's books we've loved right on this podcast feed every Saturday on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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