Cambodia: Sreypov, a freshwater clam seller in Toul Tom Poung

Every day, Sreypov spends long hours walking in the heatwave and fighting traffic as she tries to sell his sun-baked freshwater or liah clams to the residents and schoolchildren of Toul Tom Poung in Phnom Penh.

Sreypov, 25 ans, vendeuses de palourdes d’eau douce

In village number 4 of Boueng Trabek, a shanty town with a persistent smell of shellfish and close to the black water canal, nicknamed ‘the stinking water’ by the locals, the dirt streets are lined with trolleys containing small molluscs, mainly clams. In Cambodia, the clams sold on these trolleys are called លៀសហាល, literally ‘sun-dried bivalves’.

The Liah Chha-anh

For years, the slum has remained the centre of Phnom Penh's shellfish trade, home to the Cambodian men and women who push these crude carts across town with trays of salted clams. Small megaphones frequently announce their approach:

“The Liah Chha-anh! Tasty clams!”

 In the early hours of the morning, in the small village of Boueng Trabek, you can see dozens of these two-wheeled wooden carts rented for $1 a day and the rusty pots in which the freshwater clams are boiled in salt water before being dried and spiced with red chilli, sugar, salt and garlic. Then, across the city, street vendors push their freshly-filled carts through the streets to start their day's work.

Through the back streets of Phnom Penh

In the early hours of the morning, in the small village of Boueng Trabek, you can see dozens of these two-wheeled wooden carts rented for $1 a day and the rusty pots in which the freshwater clams are boiled in salt water before being dried and spiced with red chilli, sugar, salt and garlic. Then, across the city, street vendors push their freshly-filled carts through the streets to start their day's work.

On a very hot day, 25-year-old Sreypov, wearing an orange tracksuit, wanders through the perpendicular streets of 430, a few hundred metres from the Russian market. As the vendors quickly boil the shellfish to precook them, they then rely on the sun's rays to finIsh the job, she explains.

“By doing it this way, the taste is much better”, explains Sreypov, originally from Svay Rieng, who has been living in village number 4 for around ten years now with her family.

For the young provincial, business is relatively good thanks to the presence of several schools in the area, which means that the children are quite fond of these snacks, as well as the workers on the many construction sites who like to spice up their breaks with a few spicy shellfish.

A difficult business

But his business remains largely dependent on the weather. When the weather is gloomy or it rains, almost nobody buys their clams for fear of eating half-cooked shellfish. It's also a physically demanding activity, because while a few are motorised, most of these street vendors push their trolleys by hand, often wearing light sandals or flip-flops.

Traffic is also a growing problem, as there are few clear avenues in Phnom Penh and because the vendors try to avoid the shade, they are generally obliged to walk on the pavement, with all the risks that this entails:

“When there's too much traffic, I prefer to stop and wait for it to calm down. Otherwise it's too dangerous’”, she says.

This activity also means that he has to get up very early. Every night, at around 3am, Sreypov and her fellow workers gather around the wholesalers who come to the village by lorry from Kampong Cham and other provinces, where the clams are harvested from ponds and rivers. Sreypov explains that each bucket to fill her trolley costs 30,000 riels and that she sells each portion for 2,000 riels.

However, it is rare that she can sell the whole bucket, although she will sell enough cans to cover the cost of hiring the equipment and stocking up on shellfish. She is also aware that this is not the job she dreamed of when she left her province for Phnom Penh.

“I'm also worried about the future of this little business, who knows how long these products will be sold on the streets and whether people will continue to enjoy them,” says Sreypov, adding:

“If I have to stop this work, I don't know what I'll do, because at the moment it's the only thing I know how to do”.

Risks

The question on the minds of many clam lovers is whether there are any risks involved in eating these shellfish cooked and sold in this way. This species, like all shellfish, can accumulate bacterial toxins under certain conditions and cause food poisoning.

According to Pascal Medeville, a specialist in local gastronomy: ‘The problem with these clams is twofold: firstly, when they grow in contaminated or very dirty water, their shells tend to accumulate pollutants (lead, cadmium, copper, iron, etc.); secondly, they can be contaminated by parasites (Echinostoma revolutum) that make them unfit for consumption. They should not be eaten in areas where lakes and rivers are heavily polluted.