Dick Soup

I was looking for a place to have lunch in Phnom Penh and I wanted a restaurant that wasn't touristy. I stopped into a place that looked promising. It turned out to be a Chinese restaurant, though much more humble than the Cantonese seafood places one sees around Phnom Penh. One look at the menu and I was sold. I was seduced by the promise of Chinese herbal simmer cow penis broth.

The soup had ginseng and other herbs as well as what seemed to be other cuts of beef in addition to the penis. The penis pieces themselves had little flavor, but a rubbery, spongy texture. If you're looking for entrecote you don't go for prick.

The penis pieces looked like little Vienna sausages and their diminutive size had me wondering whether they were slices from a long, thin member, or if they were butchered in some way that did not take in the full girth: I was trying to get my head around it, so to speak.

To prove I wasn't just a one-dick pony, I also ordered another, more pedestrian dish. It was listed on the menu as chicken with spicy leaves. When I tasted it the first thing I got was the flavor of ginger, but as I tasted further I realized it reminded me of another dish, the Vietnamese preparation known as ga xao xa ot, or chicken with lemongrass and chilies. Indeed, it was better than any Vietnamese version I'd ever had.



Cafe de Coral, #99 Road 136, corner Road 13, Phnom Penh

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