Cambodians Celebrating Virtual New Year Spray Fish Sauce Into the Air to Feel Like Home

Cambodian food is the inverse of pancakes, which smell way better than they taste.

April 13, 2021

April 13-15 is Cambodian New Year: a time of celebration and that good stank. Festivities usually include traditional performances, games, and food that smells bad but tastes good (by the way, this was written by a Cambodian so it’s totally not racist). Cambodian food is the inverse of pancakes, which smell way better than they taste.

This year, like last year, Cambodian New Year falls in the middle of the pandemic. While COVID cases are declining, it is still unsafe to gather (although let’s be real, everyone’s doing it anyways). Some of us that can’t gather will just have to begrudgingly set up a Zoom link for the whole family and spray some fish sauce into the air to make it feel like home.

Cambodian grandmother Bopha Ly commented “Usually during the celebration, I get to cook plenty of food for the community, gather with friends I haven’t seen in a long time, and cuss out my grandkids while threatening them with a flyswatter. This year, I’ll only be able to yell at the grandkids.”

At least we can mute Grandma Ly if she gets out of hand.

Ly’s granddaughter Emma added “Everyone takes their shoes off before entering the temple, and sometimes I can only find one shoe. So this year to make it feel more like New Year’s, I took all the shoes from everyone’s closets and put them at the front door. I also put random grains of rice around the house for everyone to accidentally step on.”

This year, the Cambodian Association of Cambodian Associations will put on a virtual celebration hosted by the world’s most famous Cambodian, Angelina Jolie. Jolie, an honorary Cambodian, is beloved by the community for adopting a Cambodian son, her philanthropic work in the country, and being able to correctly pronounce “Khmer.” Jolie said in a statement “I am proud to represent my – sort of – home country of Cambodia. While we cannot bring the community together physically, our virtual celebration is sure to be just as fun. And you can just mute your loud uncle. It will feature performances from the same traditional Cambodian ballet dancers that keep our heritage and culture alive…also don’t forget to watch The Eternals premiering in theaters and HBO Max later this fall.”

So fire up the rice cookers and close the donut shops – happy Cambodian New Year (the other CNY)!

Photo courtesy of Andrea Nguyen from tastecooking.com.