Creating Rice Paper for Spring Rolls, by Hand, in Cambodia

As you drive along the road through the village of Pheam Ek near Battambang in Cambodia, you can literally see hundreds of round circles placed on grid-like trays, leaning against the edge of the greenery of plants and trees, out in the sun. They are the specialty of this village, made in family workshops. They are rice paper for spring rolls.

As I stopped in this village, I was able to watch two women hard at work making these rice paper circles by hand. One by one by one, into the shape of perfect circles. It was hot out, and I’m sure that the heat from the cooking process made their work even hotter. Yet they were intently working away, as I watched in amazement, and took photos. And tried to figure out their process…

In front of one woman who was sitting, there were two cooking trays. In a seamless motion, back and forth, she would create each rice paper circle. As you can see in this photo above, in the tray closest to the front of the picture, the woman had just dipped that silver bowl into a batter that is made out of rice flour, salt, sugar, and water. After she poured the batter onto the tray, she used the back of the bowl to spread it into its perfect circle. Meanwhile, in the tray in the back of the picture, covered with a wok-type lid, an already-shaped rice paper is being cooked by steaming.

Then the lid is transferred to the rice paper that was just formed so that it can steam for a few moments, as in the photo below. The rice paper that has just finished cooking is carefully removed from the tray using something that looks like a wooden spatula.

While the front tray is still covered and cooking, a bowl of batter is spread around the back tray, into its perfect circle.

Finally the lid is removed from the front tray, transferred to the back tray, and the cooked rice paper circle is once again removed with the wooden spatula.

This process repeats over and over and over again, creating perfectly formed rice paper circles.

If you look closely in the background of the above four pictures, there is a contraption that has four wooden cylinders shaped like a plus sign. When the rice papers are removed from the cooking process, the woman places the rice papers on these wooden cylinders.

Another woman then takes each of these cooked rice papers and carefully transfers them from the wooden cylinder to a bamboo rack. She seems to know exactly where to place each rice paper on these racks, as I counted that each rack can fit 70 rice papers!

Finally, once a bamboo rack is filled with rice papers, the woman carries the entire rack out to the road so that the rice papers can dry in the sun. And so that as you drive along the road through the village of Pheam Ek in Cambodia, you can literally see hundreds of round circles of rice paper on their bamboo racks, placed against the edge of the greenery of plants and trees.

Perfect circles of rice paper created by hand. Just like the perfect circles of a woman creating pottery by hand.

Sweet Travels!

Visiting monasteries, and temples, in Cambodia is a beautiful thing. Not only because of learning about the religions, but also because of the beauty of the buildings themselves.

First there are the halls, the areas around the outside of the monasteries, complete with ornate windows, tiled floors, decorated pillars, and the greenery beyond. The first two pictures are from the beautiful Wat Bo, one of Siem Reap’s oldest temples.

I participated in a talk on Buddhism with a monk, and received a blessing, filled with chanting, water splashing, and good wishes, at the monastery above near the Rolous Temple Group.

The story of Buddha, as well as other historical and religious scenes, adorns long walls, including the older painted wall from the grounds of the Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda in Phnom Penh. And the newer painted wall at the Preah Prohm Rath Monastery, a place that propagates the Dharma (Buddha’s teachings) and provides lodging for monks, located near the Psar Chaa area of Siem Reap.

Floors represent a rainbow of colorful tiles. Most of these photos were taken at the Preah Prohm Rath Monastery, and one is from Wat Bo.

Not only are walls painted with story of Buddha, but so to are the ceilings from Wat Ek Phnom near Battambang, a popular location for picnics and pilgrimages.

And some ceilings are decorated with various shapes and colors of hanging ornaments and flags, which I believe are used as offerings, such as at this temple in the floating fishing village of Kompong Phluk.

In Cambodia, in addition to balconies, windows, and doors, there are beautiful halls, walls, ceilings, and floors.

Sweet Travels!

The best part about visiting the only winery in Cambodia is this woman. In a small room filled with baskets of bottles, she works. With no large modern machinery, no fancy equipment, no big factories or assembly lines. This woman sits on the floor, and one by one, she seals and labels each bottle of wine, brandy, and other drinks produced at the winery, using her own hands.

To seal the bottles, this woman literally puts a piece of plastic wrap on each bottle, and holds each bottle up to a small steamer which shrinks the plastic to fit the bottle.

To label the bottles, this woman literally peels each label from its backing and sticks them onto the bottles. All of this done by her own hands. I was intrigued by her. Just as I was intrigued by the woman who walked in perfect circles to create beautiful pieces of pottery by her own hands.

The second best part about visiting the only winery in Cambodia is tasting some of the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages that the winery produces. For $2.00 I sampled some wine (they have reds, whites, and rosés), brandy, grape juice, and honey ginger juice.

The third best part about visiting the only winery in Cambodia is strolling through the vineyards, where they grow Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes to make their red wines, as well as Black Queen and Black Opal grapes to make their rosés.

The Prasat Phnom Banan Winery is conveniently located about 6 miles south of the town of Battambang. The winery is also located about 5 miles north of Wat Phnom Banan, an 11th century temple reached by climbing 358 stone steps. Also nearby is the must-visit gold-gilded temple complex of Phnom Sampeau.

And, the winery is also located near the Bamboo Train! One could visit both the winery and the bamboo train on the same day. But I am not sure if one would one want to drink before, or after, the train ride.

Sweet Travels!

Some information in this blog obtained from the Lonely Planet Cambodia guidebook.