Lap Shrimp with Escargot

The video shows the raw /fresh lap shrimp and the cooked lap shrimp. Not all lap recipes must have mint so in one recipe, I use cilantro. Lap is the national dish of Laos so please refer to my previous posts lap chicken and lap Lao beef.

Thai Lao Cucumber Salad

The cucumber salad video introduces the Crab Extract. You can use this crab extract to make jeow ga boo which is a traditional sticky rice dipping sauce.

Also the crab extract is a popular ingredient in the long bean noodle salad and the green papaya salad to give the sauce a dark colour. You can mix the cucumber salad with vermicelli noodles but in my video, I mix it with ground toasted sticky rice.

Jeow Ba Dek - Lao National Dipping Sauce

For every Lao and Thai traditional meal, there must be a dipping sauce, also known as 'jeow'. This jeow ba dek is the most traditional and that is why I call it the Lao National Dipping Sauce.

Other versions of this traditional Thai and Lao dipping sauce:
For 'jeow ga be' use shrimp paste instead of salted gourami fish
For 'jeow ga boo' use crab paste instead of salted gourami fish
For 'jeow bee' add 1 tablespoon of gall bladder and mix with any dipping sauces to give the sauce a bitter flavour

Jeow Ba Dek
½ teaspoon chopped lemongrass
½ teaspoon chopped galangal
½ teaspoon chopped garlic
1 chopped kaffer lime leaf
2 tablespoons chopped or minced salted gourami fish (ba dek)
1 teaspoon fish sauce (optional)
3 tablespoons lime juice

In a Thai / Lao Mortar & Pestle Set pound lemongrass, galangal, garlic, and lime leaf until smooth. Add minced salted gourami fish and squeezed lime. Mix and serve with sticky rice and jasmine rice

Thai Lao Bamboo Soup

Happy Thai and Lao New Year 2550! For this occasion, I like to meet up with my family at Wat Lao Veluwanaram, a Buddhist temple that is an hour north of Toronto. We choose to "takbat" at this location because my cousin, Vilaysith Sanoubane, is the Chairman and CEO and my brother-in-law drew the architectural design that captures the spirit of Wat Lao. If you go there in the summer, it feels like you are in Laos.

I encourage everyone to visit the web site to read up on Buddhism and browse through the pictures. Better yet, go visit and meditate with the monks! Don't forget to make this traditional bamboo soup and offer it to them.

Soup Recipe: Bamboo Soup
2 cups yanang extract
2 cups bamboo
1 cup chopped mushrooms
15 to 20 quail eggs hard boiled
2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 tablespoons sticky rice
4 chilies
2 tablespoons salted gourami fish or 3 tablespoons fish sauce

Boil bamboo for 30 minutes. Drain water and chop bamboo. Soak sticky rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain water and add sticky rice in mortar with chilies. Pound with pestle until rice is a thick paste. Remove the sticky rice thickening paste and reserve. Add lemongrass and shallots in the mortar and pound with pestle until they are crushed into small pieces. In a pot over high heat, add chopped bamboo, yanang extract, mushrooms, and crushed lemongrass and shallots. Bring to boil. Add salted gourami fish, sticky rice thickening paste, and quail eggs. Cook for 15 minutes or until rice cooks. Stir pot often to prevent rice from burning at bottom of pot.

As an option, add 1/2 of chopped squash, as seen in the squash and custard video.

Quail Stir Fry in Thick Fish Sauce

I am coming up to my one year anniversary of posting Thai and Lao food recipes. After March 9, 2007 I am going to take a break from my hard work.

This stir fry is called "aw". The sauce is thicken with soaked sticky rice and then grounded. Dill is the preferred herb but you can use cilantro. You must have either Asian eggplants (as seen in Eggplant Chili Sauce) or long beans. You can use any chopped meat.

During my childhood tomboy stage, my brother and I would climb the cherry tree and shoot birds. My aim wasn't good but his was. Then he would cook this dish for me.

Stir Fry Recipe: Aw Quail
3 quails chopped to bite size pieces
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup chopped dill
½ cup chopped green onions
3 tablespoons sticky rice
2 cups chopped long beans or Asian eggplants (as seen in Eggplant Chili Sauce)
½ cup chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons fish sauce
½ teaspoon salt
3 kaffir lime leaves
3 pieces chopped ginger
2 pieces lemongrass
4 chilies

Soak sticky rice in cold water for 1 hour. Drain water from rice and add to mortar with chilies. Pound until smooth. In a wok over high heat crisp garlic with oil. Add quail until almost cooked. Add salt, green beans, tomatoes and stir fry for 5 minutes. Add water, lime leaf, ginger, lemongrass, and ground sticky rice. Cook 10 minutes and stir occassionally to prevent rice from sticking to the bottom. Add dill, green onions, and fish sauce. Stir fry 2 minutes. Remove lemongrass and lime leaves before serving.

Serve aw quail with sticky rice or jasmine rice and the eggplant chili dipping sauce

Curry Peanut Dipping Sauce

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.

Water Lily Stir Fry

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, garlic, onions and ginger. Stir fry until onions are tender. Add the thick stems and stir fry for about 2 minutes, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to medium. After 2 minutes, remove lid and add the tender stems and stir fry for another 2 minutes. Turn heat off and add sauce. Mix sauce with water lily stir fry and serve immediately.

Serve water lily stir fry with sticky rice or jasmine rice.

Eggplant Chili Dipping Sauce

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 minutes. Flip and broil for another 10 minutes making sure they do not burn. Remove skin of garlic and any burnt areas of the eggplant. Pound garlic, onions, chilies, and eggplant using a Thai / Lao Mortar & Pestle Set until smooth. Add fish sauce or ba dek and mix. Add chopped green onions and cilantro and mix with spoon.

These green Asian eggplants are traditionally in the aw quail stir fry. Serve the eggplant chili dipping sauce with sticky rice or jasmine rice, and lap Lao beef or lap chicken.

Lao Pho - Beef Noodle Soup

Happy New Year!

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 which is pork and egg in soy sauce.

Pho Soup Broth:
1 pound beef bones
1 tablespoon salt
3 liters water
4 star anis
1/2 of whole onion
24 beef balls

In a large pot, over high heat, add all ingredients except beef balls. Boil 30 minutes. Scoop out dark foam that floats in broth. Cool to room temperature. Refrigerate overnight or until fat hardens. Remove fat and place broth over high heat. Add beef balls and boil.

Side Options of Meat, Vegetables, Herbs, and Sauces:thinly slice raw beef
Thai basil
fish sauce
chopped cooked tripe
chopped cilantro
shrimp paste
tomato slices
chopped green onions
chili tomato sauce
bean sprouts
lime slices
oyster sauce

Soak pho noodles 30 minutes in cold water and drain. In a large soup bowl, add a handful of noodles. Pour hot water into bowl to cover noodles. After 3 seconds, drain water out. Add desired amounts of meat, vegetables, herbs, and squeezed lime into bowl. Add pho broth and beef balls. Add 1 tablespoon each fish sauce, oyster sauce, chili tomato sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste. Mix soup and enjoy!

Mak Bea - Banana Blossom Salad

I have described how banana leaves are used to make khao dome. Well, banana blossoms or 'mak bea' are used to make unto a salad, added as a filling for rice paper spring rolls, and used to as a garnish for khao bune ba - fish curry noodle soup.

Salad Recipe: Mak Bea – Banana Blossom
1 cup shredded banana blossom
½ teaspoon chopped garlic
½ teaspoon chopped chilies
1 tablespoon squeezed lime
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ cup chopped green onions and cilantro

In a bowl, add 3 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of squeezed lime. Shred finely, in an angle, of only the purple layers of the banana blossom. Place the shredded banana blossoms into lime water and soak for 15 minutes. Drain water out. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and toss to make the Mak Bea Salad.

Sour Fruit Dipping Sauce

This is my favourite dipping sauce for sour fruits like mangos and apples. When I was in my childhood tomboy phase, I would climb the apple tree in our yard and pick apples before they ripened. Everytime I make this appetizer, it brings back joyful memories. This recipe is a little different from the Green Mango Salad.

Vegetarian Recipe: Sour Fruit Dipping Sauce
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon dried chili flakes
2 tablespoons ground toasted sticky rice
1 green mango or green sour apple

Remove mango peel but not apple peel. Slice fruit thinly so that surface is size of a teaspoon. In a small bowl dissolve sugar into fish sauce. Add chili flakes and mix. Add ground toasted sticky rice and mix. Serve sliced sour fruit and Dipping Sauce separately so that individuals can take a slice to dip into sauce.

Eggplant in Fish Sauce Stirfry

My aunt came to visit from Australia and she shared with me her eggplant recipe. Thank you "Ba Von" for this simple and delicious recipe.

Stirfry Recipe: Eggplant in Fish Sauce
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups water
1 long purple eggplant
1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 chopped chili
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 egg
chopped cilantro for garnish

In a bowl, dissolve salt into water. Chop eggplant into bite size pieces and add into salt water for 5 minutes. In a small bowl, add sugar and fish sauce and chili. Mix to dissolve sugar. In a wok over high heat, add oil and garlic. Stir until garlic is crisp. Drain water from chopped eggplant and add to wok. Stirfry for 1 minute. Add the sugar, fish sauce and chili mixture. Stirfry for 1 minute. Crack the egg into wok and stirfry for 1 minute. Serve immediately and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Serve with sticky rice or khao chow and the Classic Thai / Lao Hot Sauce.

Fish stuffed with Thai & Lao herbs

The recipe describes how fish stuffed in Thai and Lao herbs can be baked, steamed in banana leaves or grilled over a barbecue. Although Thai and Lao people would steam or grill the fish, in my video, I baked a red snapper fish.

Barbecue Recipe: Fish stuffed with Thai & Lao herbs1 tablespoon chopped lime kaffir leaf
1 tablespoon chopped lemongrass
1 tablespoon chopped galanga
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
3 tablespoons chopped green onions
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons squeezed lime
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 red snapper or any white flesh fish
Sprinkle of salt

In a small bowl mix, Thai and Lao herbs with squeezed lime and fish sauce. Rinse fish under cold water to remove any debris. Cut the sides of fish. Sprinkle salt and rub into fish. Stuff fish with Thai Lao herbs.

To bake, place in the oven in 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, flip and bake for another twenty minutes. To steam, wrap in banana leaves and steam for 40 minutes. To barbeque, place over grill for 40 minutes and flipping fish over a couple of times.

Serve with sticky rice or Thai jasmine rice and the Classic Thai / Lao Hot Sauce .

Lap Chicken

The basic ingredients of the Lap Chicken is the same as Lap Lao Beef. However the method of preparing and cooking chicken is different from beef. You can mince chicken by using a food processor or you can view the video and learn how to mince meat by using a knife.

Salad Recipe: Lap Chicken
2 cups minced chicken meat
1 inch piece of galanga
1 inch piece of lemongrass
1 kaffir lime leaf
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups water
1 chili chopped
1 kaffir lime leaf chopped
1 teaspoon chopped galanga
1 teaspoon chopped lemongrass
3 tablespoons chopped mint
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
2-3 tablespoons squeezed lime
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon ground toasted sticky rice
½ cup bean sprouts

In a medium pot add water, salt, galanga, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaf and bring to boil. Place minced chicken into a bowl and add hot water. Leave hot water in bowl for 1 minute and stir to separate chicken chunks, then drain water from the chicken. Repeat process of adding hot water into bowl and draining water out at least 3 times or until chicken is cooked. Lastly drain water using a colander. Let meat cool to room temperature then place into a large bowl. Use a fork to separate any large chunks. Add chopped chilies, kaffir lime leaf, galanga, lemongrass, mint, and green onions. Add squeezed lime and fish sauce. Toss all ingredients together. Add ground toasted sticky rice. Toss all ingredients again. Add bean sprouts and toss lightly so that bean sprouts do not break.

All lap dishes are served traditionally with sticky rice but Thai jasmine rice is also good.

Dome Kim - Pork & Egg in Soy Sauce

I've seen people evolve this dish by adding potatoes in with the egg. This is one example of generations evolving quickly in North America and the reason why my blog is about authentic Thai and Lao food. If you are serving Dome Kim to Thai and Lao people, do not add potatoes into the pot.

Stir Fry Recipe: Dome Kim1 inch ginger
2 pounds pork that has fat, meat, and skin sections
5 eggs
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
½ tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 star anis (optional - also used in Lao Pho)

Thinly slice ginger. Chop pork to bite size pieces so that each piece has the fat, meat, and skin. Boil eggs for 20 minutes. Allow to cool and remove shell from egg. In a large pot of high heat add oil and garlic. Stir until garlic is brown. Add pork pieces and stir until brown which is about 10 minutes. Pour water into pot so that it just covers the pork. Add ginger, sugar, soy sauce, salt, and the hard boiled egg. Cook for 40 minutes while stirring occasionally. Turn heat off. Add fish sauce and stir again. Serve immediately with Lao sticky rice or khao chow.

Dome Kim is one of the rare Thai and Lao dishes that does not call for any chilies. So serve with Dome Kim with the Classic Hot Sauce and Roasted Tomato Chili Sauce. The best Dome Kim dish has pork pieces that contain the fat, meat and skin sections.

Thai Chicken Curry with Long Beans and Bamboo

Curry dishes are best serve with Khao Chow (jasmine rice) rather than sticky rice.

I like this dish served with sin khao bune (rice noodle) to make a hot noodle salad: into a bowl, add sin khao bune and spoon the chicken curry over top; add extra chopped Thai basil, cilantro, green onions, and bean sprouts.

Stir Fry Recipe: Thai Chicken Curry with Long Beans and Bamboo
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon oil
¼ cup chopped bamboo shoots
¼ cup chopped long beans
¼ cup chopped tomatoes
1 cup chopped chicken
½ cup fresh coconut milk
1 tablespoon red Thai Lao Curry Paste
1 to 2 sprigs of chopped Thai basil
2 tablespoons fish sauce

Boil chopped bamboo shoots for 30 minutes to remove yellow colouring. Drain water from bamboo and set bamboo aside. In a wok over high heat, add oil and garlic. Stir until garlic is crisp. Add chicken and stir until cooked. Add tomatoes and stir for one minute. Add fresh coconut milk, bamboo, long beans and curry paste. Stir for 2 minutes. Turn heat off. Add fish sauce and Thai sprigs. Stir again and serve immediately.

Green Mango Salad

I shred the green mango like the green papaya; I use only a sharp knife. I make the green papaya salad with the use of a Thai / Lao Mortar & Pestle Set but DO NOT use a mortar and pestle to make the green mango salad.

Salad Recipe: Green Mango Salad
1 cup shredded mango
2 tablespoons crushed toasted peanuts or ground toasted sticky rice
2 tablespoons chopped red onions
1 chopped chili (optional)
2-3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon shrimp paste

In a bowl, add sugar, fish sauce and shrimp paste. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add chilies and red onions and mix. Add mixture to a bowl of shredded mango and toss. Top with crushed toasted peanuts or ground toasted rice. Alternatively you can use the sour fruit dipping sauce. to make this green mango salad

Thai Lao Glass Noodle Shrimp Soup

In Lao, glass noodle is called "sin lon". When purchasing glass noodles make sure the ingredients listed on the package shows only mung bean and water. Glass noodles are often used in salads, soups, and fried spring rolls. Do not use pho noodles or sin khao bune - rice noodles with this recipe.

Soup Recipe: Glass noodles and shrimp
2 bundles glass noodles
4 cups water
½ teaspoon salt
1 piece lemongrass
1 lime kaffir leaf
1 chopped chilies (optional)
4 tomato pieces
8 mushroom pieces
8 shrimps
8 baby bok choy bunches
1 tablespoon oyster, mushroom or bean sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Place 2 bundles of glass noodles in a bowl. Pour warm water to cover the glass noodles. Wait for 15 minuets. Remove the string from the bundle and cut the noodles in half. Divide the glass noodles into 4 separate bowls.

In a pot over high heat, add 4 cups of water. Add salt, lemongrass, kaffir leaf and optional chilies. Once the water boils, add tomatoes, mushrooms, shrimps, baby bok choy, oyster sauce and fish sauce. Stir until the shrimp is cooked which is about 2 minutes. Remove and discard the lemongrass and kaffir leaf from the soup. Pour soup over 4 individual bowls. Make sure each bowl has equal portions of tomatoes, mushrooms, shrimps, and baby bok choy. Garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro.

Thai Lao Seafood Salad

The Thai Lao Seafood salad dish is commonly known as ‘Yum Talay’. When making this dish, do not overcook the seafood which will result to a chewy and rubbery texture…big mistake! Serve the seafood salad with Thai Lao Sticky Rice or Khao Chow which is jasmine rice.

Recipe for the Thai / Lao Seafood Salad:
1 cup fresh or frozen raw squid or cuttlefish
1 cup fresh or frozen raw shrimp
1 cup fresh or frozen raw mussels
¼ cup chopped sweet red peppers
¼ cup chopped green onions
¼ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup chopped mint
1 chopped chili
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime

If using frozen seafood, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then rinse in cold water and drain to remove any residue. If using fresh seafood, also rinse them in cold water and drain to remove any residue. Bring water to boil in a large pot. Submerge squid or cuttlefish into the boiling water for up to one minute. Submerge shrimp for up to two minutes and mussels for up to three minutes. Drain the seafood and combine them into a large mixing bowl. Cool seafood to room temperature or keep refrigerated until ready to mix. Add the remaining ingredients into the cooked seafood bowl and mix well. Garnish with extra mint.

Roasted Tomato Chili Sauce

The Roasted Tomato Chili Sauce is excellent for dipping barbecue meat and Lao sticky rice The Thai and Lao method would be to barbecue the vegetables over an open fire or coal. In my video, you'll see that I've broiled the vegetables in an oven. The roasted tomato chili sauce and the eggplant chili sauce are the gourmet version of the Classic Thai / Lao Hot Sauce.

Vegetarian and Dipping Sauce Recipe: Roasted Tomato Chili Sauce3 chilies
2 garlic cloves with skin
¼ of a whole onion
¼ of whole red pepper
1 tomato
2 sprigs of cilantro
2 sprigs of green onions
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce

Place chilies, garlic with skin, onion, red pepper and tomato in a roasting pan. Broil under high heat for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven. Remove chilies and garlic from the pan and flip over the other vegetables. Broil again for another 15 more minutes. Remove from the oven and allow vegetables to cool.

In a Thai / Lao Mortar & Pestle Set, add garlic without the skin, and add chilies. Pound with a pestle until chilies and garlic are smooth. Add onions and pound until smooth. Remove skin from red pepper, cut into pieces, and pound until smooth. Remove skin from tomato, cut into pieces, discard the core, and pound until smooth. Add chopped cilantro and green onions. Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of fish sauce. Mix the ingredients until all are incorporated.