Cham Muslim Cambodian
Mi Cham: halal coconut noodles.
Cari Saiko Mum
Cham Muslim beef curry
View page →Cham Muslim Cambodian cuisine is the food of Cambodia's Cham (also called Khmer Islam) community — descendants of the medieval Champa kingdom in central Vietnam who fled to Cambodia in the 15th century after their kingdom fell to the Vietnamese. The Cham community converted to Islam over the centuries (via Malay-Indonesian Muslim traders) and developed a Halal-distinct culinary tradition that bridges Khmer ingredients with Islamic dietary law: no pork, no fish-paste (prahok contains uncooked fermented fish that's considered non-Halal in some interpretations), and Indian-Malay spice influences from Muslim trade networks.
Signature Cham preparations include cari saiko mum (beef curry with kreoung paste and Indian curry spices), trey chramh (cold-smoked freshwater fish), and various beef-and-chicken preparations that use kreoung but skip prahok. The community lives mainly in Cambodia's Kampong Cham and Kampong Chhnang provinces (and along the Mekong) — about 250,000 people today. The cuisine is rarely featured at mainstream Khmer restaurants but available at specialty Halal Cambodian-Muslim eateries in Phnom Penh, plus Cham-Cambodian-American restaurants in Long Beach, California.
The Palate
Start Here
Pound the kreoung by hand — food processor produces a smoother paste that lacks the dish's rustic texture.
Why start here · Cari Saiko Mum is the Cham Muslim signature — Cambodian Halal curry that's neither Khmer-mainstream nor Indian.
Cold-smoke at 65°C — hot-smoking or grilling gives a fundamentally different texture and flavor.
Why start here · Trey Chramh is the Cham river-village fish craft — 12+ hour preservation tradition that's distinctly Cham, not Khmer.
The Pantry
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Proteins
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Dairy & Fats
Sauces & Condiments
How They Cook
Techniques that define this cuisine
Signature Dishes (3)
Other regions
Siblings within Cambodian — each its own tradition.