Battambang village industries

Making the paper for spring rolls using rice batter. A typical house in one of the villages around Battambang. Note the stilts to keep the house out of the annual floods. Many small scale manufacturing like silk weaving and food production is done under the houses.

Grinding rice in a wet grinder to make rice flour paste. The upper grinding wheel is fixed whilst the lower grinding wheel is driven by a small petrol engine. Laying out circles of rice paper to dry in the sun.  The hot Cambodian sun is widely used for preserving food by rapid drying. Fish, meat, fruit and vegetables are often laid out in the sun. 

Rice paste is extruded into boiling water to cook rice noodles. Rice wine is fermented and then distilled to make a strong rice liquor. In both cases the rice husks are bought from a rice cleaning mill to use as the fuel.

Sticky rice is produced by mixing coconut milk, sugar and rice into a paste and then cooking it in a hollow bamboo tube. Margaret enjoys sticky rice.

Rice cleaning and grading mill. Note the open belt drives and the dusty atmosphere.