Cambodian food is fish sauce, lemongrass, and palm sugar cooking built on a rice foundation and shaped by a cuisine that was once the most sophisticated in Southeast Asia at the height of the Angkor empire. Fish amok — a spiced coconut milk and fish mousse steamed in banana leaf, the national dish, fragrant with kaffir lime leaf and turmeric — is the Cambodian cooking technique that is most immediately distinguished from Thai or Vietnamese food. Lok lak (stir-fried beef with lime-pepper dipping sauce, served with rice and a fried egg) is the everyday Phnom Penh restaurant dish. The Phsar Thmei (Central Market) food stalls in Phnom Penh carry bai sach chrouk (grilled pork over broken rice, the early morning dish), num banh chok (rice noodles with green fish sauce curry and fresh vegetables), and the various Cambodian sweet preparations using palm sugar. Cambodian iced coffee (strong dark-roasted coffee poured over ice with condensed milk) and Angkor beer (the national lager, brewed since 1993) are the beverages that complete the street eating experience. That's where it gets good.