Num pa-chok [Noum Banhchok] soup at Angkor Restaurant. (RON TARVER / Staff Photographer)
Craig LaBan, Inquirer Restaurant Critic
Posted:
Wednesday, January 16, 2013, The Philadelphia Enquirer
Angkor is so
hidden, tucked inside the arcade of an obscure strip mall on a
hard-to-find stretch of Whitaker Avenue in the Lawncrest section of the
Northeast, that it risks being unnoticed by the wider world.
But fans of Cambodian fare will find it worth the journey for the
labor-intensive home-style specialties offered by Lee Choing and his
co-owner chef, Kimhuor Tieng, from classic sour soups to fish
paste-scented ground pork with crudité.
My favorite was the unusually delicate num pa-chok, an intriguing
bowl of vermicelli noodles in coconut broth turned vivid turmeric yellow
with Tieng's fresh curry, infused with lemongrass, kaffir lime, and
aromatic rhizome root, then scattered with crumbles of poached whole
tilapia, picked and mashed in a mortar and pestle. The effect is at once
elegant and full-flavored exotic.
Stir in the tiny yet potent orange pepper perched on top, and the
bowl lights up - like a homing beacon of fragrant Cambodian heat.
Num pa-chok, $7.95, Angkor Restaurant, 5520 Whitaker Ave., 215-831-1016.
- Craig LaBan
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