From Cambodia.
Pin · Cambodia (Phnom Penh) · historical or cultural region, not a town
Num ansom
នំអន្សម
SAArchaeological or primary sourceFamily H · Leaf-wrapped grain parcels (separate inventions)
- Region
- Southeast Asia deep cuts
- First record
- 1902 · Modern & global
- Fold
- Leaf parcel or pillow
- Cooked
- Steamed, also grilled or fried. New Year and Pchum Ben
Anatomy
Inside
- Dough
- Rice doughLeaf-wrapped cylinder
- Made with
- Glutinous rice; banana, jackfruit, or pork and mung bean
- Cooked
- Steamed, also grilled or fried. New Year and Pchum Ben
- Served
- Linga symbol. Guinness World Records lists a 4,040 kg num ansorm (5.2 m long, 1.13 m across) made by Salakhet Siem Reap in Siem Reap on 13 April 2015
- Size
- About 9 cm across
- Note
- A borderline case: it stretches the definition of a dumpling.
Not known yet We don’t yet have a written story, a recipe or a precise place of origin for Num ansom. What we do have is below, with its sources.
Range
Where
Open the map →
How sure we are
Evidence
Well established. An archaeological find or a primary source backs it.
We list 3 sources: 1 primary or archaeological, 1 dated text, 1 secondary. How grading works.
First record Bernard, Dictionnaire cambodgien-français, 1902: rice roll wrapped in banana leaves and boiled (A); first found
Sources
- A
Dictionnaire cambodgien-français (entries ÂNSÂM and NOM)
Entry: 'ÂNSÂM. Nôm —, pâté de riz qu'on roule dans des feuilles de bananier et qu'on fait cuire à l'eau.' Also listed as '— ânsâm' among the cakes under NOM.
- D
Notes sur les particularités du culte chez les Cambodgiens, BEFEO 44(2): 619-641
Wikipedia cites Porée-Maspero 1951, p. 633, for the linga/yoni symbolism of sticky rice cakes (num ansom and num kom). The Persée landing page was opened but shows only the article's opening pages; the passage itself was not read.
- S
Offered to ancestors at Pchum Ben and made for Khmer New Year; Guinness record for the largest num ansom, 13 April 2015.
Found by research in October 2026; awaiting editorial review.
History sources are from the atlas and not yet independently checked.
Family H
Kin
More leaf-wrapped grain parcels (separate inventions)