Thnot d’or 2023 : the 10 finalists selected

Five teams of students from the Institute of Technology of Cambodia, two from the University of Battambang, one from the Royal University of Agronomy, one from the Saint-Paul Institute and one from the National Institute of Technology of Kampong Speu will participates at the final round of the Thnot d’Or 2023 which will be held on June 17th.

In consultation with the Minister of Agriculture, the teams of students from these higher education establishments in agronomy and food processing had to work on prahok. How to make this typical product of Cambodia based on fermented fish know a success in export and become a gastronomic emblem of Cambodia? That is the challenge posed to these young people.

Selected from the 39 teams entered, the ten selected by the jury on the basis of a concept note will have to demonstrate during the final the relevance and feasibility of their idea through an oral presentation and a question and answer.

Here are the 10 ideas that caught the jury’s attention, knowing that even if some are close, the proposed production process is not the same.

1- Make prahok a ready-to-eat product by pairing it with ripe tamarind or lemongrass and packaging it in recyclable glass or flexible packaging.

2- Dehydration of prahok with addition of vegetable extracts during drying, then grinding to obtain a powder.

3- Make prahok cubes – Maggi type – with feroniella lucia and with ripe tamarind

4- Creation of curry prakok cube with prahok trey riel from Kampong Cham and various other ingredients.

5- Produce “original flavor”, “red chilli”, “tamarind” prahok powder

6- Production of prahok powder

7- Production of a prahok sauce adapted to the international taste, in particular by using garlic and pineapple

8- Production of canned ready-made prahok, canned raw prahok and prahok flour

9- Production of prahok flour

10- Production of prahok powder and cream

What will be the most relevant and successful projects? Answer on June 17.

Launched in 2017 by the Kinal Foundation, vector of the PPM-Confirel Group’s CSR policy, the Thnot d’Or challlenge aims to encourage Cambodian students in agri-food and agricultural production to engage in research and innovation to become fully-fledged players in rural development.