MRS. NAKAHARA MADOKA (MRS. SOK KHEOUN)
BORN IN 1971 IN BATTAMBANG, LIVES IN KANAGAWA

At Khao-I-Dang camp, the family were given a piece of tarpaulin to build shelter and food. However, her father wanted to earn extra income. So, Sok Keoun’s father mined some mountain rocks in Khao-I-Dang camp to make mortar to be sold to other refugees. He gave some to his relatives and he kept some for personal use. He did not make many because the mortars were handmade. They brought the mortar to Japan with them. They lost the pestle when they moved from Yokohama to Kawasaki. One day, her sister in-law hosted a barbecue along Aikawa River. She used a rock found at the river to replace the lost pestle.

Sok Kheoun’s mother used the mortar when she cooked Khmer food because she thought that using the mortar shows the sign of warmth and love from the heart because it had to be pounded by hand whenever she cooked for her father. Also, using mortar influences the taste of the food compared to using a blending machine. She gave the mortar to Sok Kheoun in 1996, before she moved back to Cambodia.