Phnom Penh: Khmer Cooking Class & Market Tour Half Day

Learn to Cook Cambodian Food in a Phnom Penh Kitchen, Starting at the Market

You visit a working Cambodian market with a chef to select ingredients, return to a kitchen where you cook three traditional dishes under instruction at your own station, then eat what you've made. Tuk-tuk transport, recipes, and a certificate are included. Choose morning or afternoon to fit your schedule.

Step-by-step itinerary

Khmer cooking class and market visit

• Meet at Banana Cooking Class
• Take tuk-tuk to local market
• Explore market and learn about ingredients
• Return by tuk-tuk to cooking class
• Receive refreshing drink and cold towel
• Attend cookery demonstration by chef
• Practice cooking with chef's assistance
• Enjoy lunch of your own cooking
• Receive certificate and take photos

The experience

The market vendors are already calling out prices when you arrive at 9am or 3pm, depending on which slot you choose. Your guide meets you at Banana Cooking Class and you climb into a tuk-tuk headed straight into the thick of it: the local market where Cambodians actually shop. You're not walking through a tourist version of anything. You're in the real place, watching people select herbs and vegetables for their own dinner. The chef points out what matters: which lemongrass is fresh, how to tell a good palm fruit, what the vendors are selling that you'll need in an hour. You take pictures if you want. You ask questions. It takes about an hour, and by the time you head back to the cooking class kitchen, you've got a sense of what Khmer cooking actually starts with.

Back at the kitchen, there's a cold towel waiting and a recipe sheet in your hands. The chef walks through a demonstration first. You watch the techniques, the order things go into the wok, how the flavors build. Then you move to your own cooking station. Everyone gets their own wok and utensils. The chef is there to guide you through it, but you're the one doing the work: rolling spring rolls, preparing fish amok, getting the banana palm right. It's not a performance. It's instruction. You learn by doing, which is the only way cooking actually sticks.

Lunch or dinner happens at noon or 6pm, depending on your class time. You eat what you made. There's a certificate, a photo, and then you leave with the recipes: the actual written versions so you can recreate this at home. The whole thing is about three hours from start to finish, and you've got the skills and the proof of what you learned.

What’s included

Your half-day includes tuk-tuk transport to and from the local market, a guided market walk with the chef, a theory demonstration of all three dishes, your own cooking station and wok, hands-on instruction from the chef, lunch or dinner made from what you've cooked, printed recipes to take home, and a certificate of completion.

Information

Lasts 4h, runs every day at 09:00 and 15:00, from US$ 35.90 per person, as a private tour and with free cancellation up to 24 h before.

Days and timesEvery dayDepartures at 09:00 and 15:00

GroupPrivate

Meeting point and pickupNo hotel pickup: you go to the meeting point. Ends back at the starting point.

Book up toStart time

AgesAdult (13 and older) · Youth (6 to 12 years) · Under 6: can't be booked

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.

Prices and times updated 8 days ago

Good to know

Infant seats availablePublic transport nearby

Operated by Banana Cooking Class

Is this one for you?Right for anyone who wants to learn Khmer cooking without arranging their own market visit or figuring out which ingredients matter. The market stop is what makes the techniques make sense, and the fixed schedule means you're done and fed in three hours.

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Top questions

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Youth (6 to 12 years). Children under 6 can't be included in the booking.

What time does the cooking class start?

9am for the morning session or 3pm for the afternoon session. You meet at Banana Cooking Class.

How long is the half-day class?

About three hours total, including the market visit, demonstration, hands-on cooking, and lunch or dinner.

Is transport to the market included?

Yes, tuk-tuk transport from the cooking class to the local market and back is included.

What dishes do you learn to cook?

Fresh vegetarian spring rolls, fish amok, and banana palm. The recipes are yours to keep.

Do you need cooking experience?

No. The chef demonstrates each dish and guides you through the techniques at your own station.

Is lunch included?

Yes. You eat the dishes you've prepared at the end of the class (lunch for morning sessions, dinner for afternoon).

Can you choose morning or afternoon?

Yes. The class runs at 9am or 3pm, so you can pick whichever fits your schedule.

Are there vegetarian options?

One of the three dishes, the fresh vegetarian spring roll, is vegetarian. Check with the class about adapting the others.