Lao food

One of the joys of traveling is trying all the local cuisine. Wen and I took a cooking class in Luang Prabang Laos to get a sense of what food the local’s eat. (The class was at Tamnak Lao; very easy to find)

The class started with a visit to local Phoisy market to see what the local ingredients look like in bulk:

One of the local cooking sauces is Padak; it’s made from rotting fish so you can imagine what it smells like. It’s being gradually replaced with shrimp paste.

People buy this minced pork wrapped in banana leaves; it’s a poor man’s refrigerator.

Banana leaves:

Here’s a quick rundown on what we cooked:

Luang Prabang Salad – that’s minced chicken drizzled in mayo; beneath the veggies are salad leaves and watercress

Feu Khua – fried sticky rice noodles with chicken and vegetables. You fry the vermicelli and toss an egg in to create a pancake. You then chop it up, remove it from the heat and add it back to the rest of the ingredients after you’ve cooked them:

Chicken Larp:

Khua Maak Kheua gap Moo – fried eggplant with pork. Delicious and easy to make; recipe follows below:

Luang Prabang Jeowbong – a sweet and spicy but not hot chili paste:

It was a great day. Here’s chef Wendy with some of her creations:

And here’s the recipe for that fried eggplant; serves one person:

Ingredients:

• 60 grams pork
• 3 large spring onions (if small, use 3 extra)
• 1 Asian eggplant (long, not round)
• 2-3 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 2 1/2 tablespoons oil

Directions:

1. Cut the spring onion into 2 cm lengths. If the white part is large, also cut in half lengthwise
2. Cut the eggplant into 3 cm lengths, then cut each piece into sixths
3. Crush the garlic in a mortar
4. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in the work, add the eggplant and stir fry until it begins to soften and turn golden colour. Do not overcook and make eggplant too soft
5. Place the cooked eggplant in a bowl and set aside
6. Place the remaining oil in the wok, add the crushed garlic and stir until the garlic begins to change colour
7. Add the pork and stir fry until cook
8. Add the salt and sugar
9. Keep stir frying and add the oyster sauce, onion and cooked eggplant. Keep stir frying until the onions begin to soften
10. Taste and add more salt if required