Laos Foods Recipes

Here is my personal recipe for the curry peanut dipping sauce. I made it up using common Thai and Lao ingredients. Please note that the paprika is a common ingredient in the Khao Bune fish curry broth to give the broth a radiant red colour. Vegetarian Recipe: Curry Peanut Dipping Sauce 1 tablespoon oil ½ tablespoon chopped garlic 1 tablespoon chopped shallots or onions 1 cup fresh coconut milk 1 kaffir lime leaf 2 sprigs lemongrass 1 tablespoon Thai Lao Curry Paste ¼ cup chopped tomatoes ½ cup ground peanuts 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar 1 teaspoon chopped chilies (optional) 1 teaspoon paprika 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons squeezed lime juice In a wok over medium heat, add oil, chopped garlic and shallots. Stir until shallots are soft. Add remaining ingredients and stir fry for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is thick. Remove from heat. Discard the lemongrass and lime leaf. Serve sauce with fresh spring rolls or shrimp chips.

When I was younger, I would lay the shrimp chips on my tongue and feel the chips melt. I like the shrimp chips plain but most Thai restaurants serve these chips with a peanut dipping sauce. Purchase these chips at Asian supermarkets. Appetizer Recipe: Shrimp Chips or Prawn Crackers oil prawn crackers or shrimp flavoured chips Over medium heat add about 1 inch of oil. Test with one cracker and if the cracker floats within 5 seconds then the oil is at the right temperature. Pick the cracker out of the oil before it burns. If the outside edges of the cracker turn brown, it is over cooked. Add 5 crackers at a time into the oil. Pick crackers immediately as it rises and drain excess oil. Serve crackers with the curry peanut dipping sauce.

This corn wrap dessert is also known as "khao dome sa-lee". I've mentioned banana leaves and how you can make khao dome (coconut sticky rice in banana leaves). This dessert is very similar but wrapped in corn leaves. You can use banana leaves if you run out of corn leaves. Dessert Recipe : Thai Lao Sweet Corn Wrap Dessert 3 cups corn kernels 1 cup sticky rice that has been soaked in water for minimum 4 hours and water drained 1 cup sugar 1 cup fresh coconut milk 1 cup tapioca pearls corn leaves Discard about 3 layers of the outer corn leaves but save the tender corn leaves. Wash the tender leaves, pat dry, and cut the rough core. Remove corn husk and discard. Wash corn, cut kernels, and place into a large bowl. Add sticky rice, sugar, and fresh coconut milk. Puree until smooth. Add tapioca pearls and mix with spoon. Heat mixture over medium heat to thicken or wait about 2 hours until tapioca pearls thicken mixture. Place 2 tablespoons of mixture in corn leaf. F...

Some call it “water lily” or “on choy” but in Thailand and Laos, this green vegetable is called “puk bonge”. Purchase the water lily vegetable at most Asian supermarkets. Most Thai and Lao people will eat water lilies raw with spicy dishes like the green green papaya salad, lap Lao beef and lap chicken because it cools the tongue. I prefer it raw myself but here is a stir fry recipe given to me from my aunt “Ba Von”. Stir Fry Recipe : Water Lily 1 tablespoon oil ¼ cup chopped onions 1 tablespoon chopped garlic 1 inch of ginger and sliced thinly 1 teaspoon shrimp paste 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce or hoisin sauce Cut 2 inches off the bottom stem and discard. Wash water lily in cold water thoroughly and remove any damaged leaves. Drain excess water. In a small bowl, mix shrimp paste, fish sauce, and oyster/hoisin sauce. Cut the washed water lily 4 inches in length and separate the large stems from the smaller stems. In a wok over high heat, add oil,...

The roasted eggplant chili sauce is my favourite sticky rice dipping sauce over the roasted tomato chili sauce and the classic Thai / Lao hot sauce. The eggplant chili sauce tastes best when the vegetables are roasted over an open fire. But since I don’t have a barbeque, my video shows the roasted method by using an oven. You can substitute purple eggplants for the Asain green round eggplants. Just chop the purple eggplants into quarters before roasting and chop again into bite size pieces before adding into the mortar and pestle. I like to stir fry purple eggplants. Vegetarian Recipe: Eggplant Chili Dipping Sauce 5 to 6 Asian green round eggplants 2 cloves garlic with skin ¼ of whole onion or 2 shallots 2 fresh chilies 2 tablespoons fish sauce or 1 tablespoon ba dek Chopped green onions and cilantro sprigs If the chilies are small do not roast them in the oven because they’ll burn. Place eggplants, onions and garlic in a roasting pan and broil under high heat for 10 minut...

Appetizer Recipe: Fried Shrimp Rolls Egg roll wraps Shrimp that are devein and shell removed except for tail Salt Vegetable oil 1 egg Purchase large egg roll wraps and cut squares from one corner the other create triangle sheets. Season shrimp with salt and optional pepper. Separate egg white from egg yolk. Stir the egg yolk. Take one triangle sheet and place one shrimp so that the tail hangs over sheet. Roll the wrap and tuck in sides. Seal wrap with egg yolk. Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Submerge shrimp wraps into oil. Stir occasionally. Shrimp will take less than 2 minutes to cook. Remove shrimp from heat and strain excess oil. Serve fried shrimp rolls with the Spring Roll Dipping Sauce or the curry peanut dipping sauce.

Thai pho is called 'Guoi Tiao' so when in Laos, ask for 'Pho' and when in Thailand, ask for 'Guoi Tiao'. This beef noodle soup is the most popular soup in Laos and Thailand. I like to make this soup on new years and weekends because it requires low preparation time, the broth simmers all day, and guests help themselves. People from the northern region of Laos prefer khao soy which is with minced pork and salted soy beans noodle soup. Khao soy uses wide pho noodles. For 12 years, everytime I craved pho, would order it at restaurants and was never quite satisfied of the taste. I find the pho soups at restaurants have too much fat and not enough meat, vegetables, herbs and sauce options. Since my parents taught me, I make my own at home and for the price of one pho soup bowl, I could feed a family of 6. You can stir fry pho noodles to make Pad Thai Pho Noodles. Do not substitute vermicelli noodles for pho noodles. The star anis can also be added to dome kim w...