Tag: Laotian
Lao Yum Salad
Lao Yum Salad
Lao yum salad has a wide variety of veggies, plus sautéed garlicky pork. But the real highlight of this salad is the egg yolk dressing. Being perfectly balanced between sweet, sour, salty, and savory, this salad is quite hearty and will make even the mightiest of meat eaters content.
Equipment
- food processor
Ingredients
- 1 bunch green leaf lettuce
- 1 bunch watercress
- 1/2 bunch cilantro chopped
- 4 green onions cut into 2” pieces
- 1 small cucumber thinly sliced
- 1 cup cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1/2 red bell pepper sliced
- 1 lb pork shoulder thinly sliced
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
Dressing
- 4 hard boiled eggs yolks and whites separated
- 4 tbsp sugar
- 4 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Place all of the dressing ingredients, minus the egg whites, in a food processor.
- Purée until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat up vegetable oil in a sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the pork shoulder and garlic for 5 minutes. Season with fish sauce. Set aside.
- Toss all of the vegetables together.
- Add in the pork, hard boiled egg whites, and dressing. Toss.
Kua Mee (Stir Fried Noodles)
Kua Mee (Stir Fried Noodles)
Kua Mee is simply Laotian-style stir fried noodles. The rice stick noodles are stir fried in a caramelized sugar sauce, tossed with stir fried pork, sliced omelette, bean sprouts, and green onion. Kua Mee is typically served at parties and large gatherings since it is very inexpensive to make while still getting your bang for your buck.
Ingredients
Omelette
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 large eggs beaten
- 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
Pork Stir Fry
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 shallot sliced
- 1 lb pork shoulder thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp fish sauce
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp salt
Noodles
- 16 oz rice stick noodles
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 shallots sliced
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 tsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 3 green onions chopped
Instructions
- Soak the rice noodles in water for 30 minutes. Set aside.
- Whisk the omelette ingredients together.
- Heat up vegetable oil in a small sauté pan over medium high heat. Pour in the eggs. Let firm up for 90 seconds.
- Flip and cook for another minute.
- Let the omelette cool. Roll up and thinly slice. Set aside.
- Heat up 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the garlic and shallots for 2 minutes.
- Add in the pork, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and salt.
- Sauté the pork for 5-6 minutes until cooked through. Remove from the pan.
- In the same pan over medium heat, combine the sugar and vegetable oil.
- Let the sugar brown and caramelize for 5 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and shallots. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the water, fish sauce, and salt. Simmer until the sugar dissolves.
- Add in the rice noodles. Cook for 5 minutes in the sauce.
- Mix back in the omelette, pork, bean sprouts, and green onions. Cook for 1 more minute.
Tom Khem
Tom Khem
Most countries throughout Eastern and Southeastern Asia have their version of pork simmered in a sugary soy based sauce with hard boiled eggs. China has dong po; Taiwan has lu rou fan; Thailand has stewed pork belly with eggs; and Vietnam with pork braised in coconut water with eggs. Tom khem is another version of this classic dish from Laos. What differentiates tom khem from others is the how sweet it is. Drastically more sweet. Like, you can’t eat this if you’re a diabetic. There is also slices of ginger and galangal in the braise, which none of the other versions have.
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pork shoulder or pork belly cubed
- 1 1/2” ginger thinly sliced
- 1 1/2” galangal thinly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 3 tsp dark soy sauce
- 4 cups water
- 4-6 hard boiled eggs
Garnish
- green onions chopped
Instructions
- Add the sugar to a cold Dutch oven.
- Turn the heat to medium low and slowly caramelize the sugar. This will take at least 5 minutes.
- Add in the ginger, galangal, and garlic. Cook until fragrant; about 2 minutes.
- Turn the heat to medium high. Stir in the pork, salt, pepper, fish sauce, and soy sauces. Brown the pork for 10 minutes.
- Pour in the water. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for an hour.
- Add in the hard boiled eggs. Continue simmering uncovered for 30 minutes.
