Og Ambok is a traditional flattened rice dish that forms part of the Bon Om Tuk ceremony. During the festival, it is traditional to eat Ambok with coconut juice and banana 🇰🇭
Og Ambok is made by frying rice in its natural husks, then beating it in a pestle until soft before the husks are removed and mixed in with banana and coconut juice for flavor. This mixture is eaten when the clock strikes midnight, or when the incense offered at the beginning of the gathering, is consumed. Og Ambok remains a popular traditional dish and it is sold widely during the Bon Om Touk festival.
The Og Ambok ceremony's history dates back a long time. It is believed that in the reign of King Barom Reachea III, he dreamed of Indra. Fighting with a demon in the Longvek fortress, he saw Indra throwing a ray of lightning to kill the beast. Suddenly the sound of thunder from the lightning strike awakened him. In the morning, he sent his officers to inspect the surrounding land in Banteay Longvek and found the site of a real lightning strike. The King started "Krong Peali", offering a ceremony to pray to the deities of the eight gods directions for three days. He ordered the army to build a pagoda to worship Indra, called "Indra Pagoda", in Kampong Chhnang Province and later changed its name to Wat Preah Indra Tep by building a statue of the Buddha in Kampong Chhnang. When the pagoda's construction was completed, he organized this ceremony to spread the ambok.
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