Luang Prabang: Tamarind Cooking School Part 2

After a interesting visit to Phousy Market, we arrived at a riverside home for our cooking class. The class would take place outdoors, and items were already in place for our class.

   

Looking over the ingredients got me excited. I realized that most of the folks taking the class were looking to kill some time, but I just wanted to get going.

 

 

What made this really fun was the total "hands-on" approach. We were give ingredients, and verbal instructions, and cooked by "feel", which was effective on many levels(we were given recipes after the class). You may not have a clue about the cuisine, but you instinctively build dishes to your taste, which is why the same dish differs so much from place to place.

Another big change for me was.....everything was cooked on charcoal braziers.

 

No thermometers, no dials, just use of your senses, something that Joy subtly emphasized. "It is ok, so long it tastes good to you...."

And since everything starts with sticky rice.....

 

Some of the key points, soak at least 3-4 hours, but overnight is the best. Lightly massage the rice before draining. After placing rice in the bamboo steamer, pour water over rice and the edges of the steamer. After 20-30 minutes, remove the steamer from the pot of boiling water, and "flip" over. The rice turned out perfect, but I'm still not comfortable with making it.

 

What I found interesting was that unlike most recipes I've read for making this, we never covered the rice!

The next item on the agenda was a Jeow, the wonderful Lao "dip". We had choices of Jeow Mak Keua (Eggplant Dip), or the Jeow Mak Len (Tomato Dip). This is where I learned the concept of a "Lao pinch", which is twice as much as what I think of as a "pinch". It is key to roast the peppers and the eggplant or tomato. And since returning I've made this several times. It is quite easy.

 

The concept of "Western spicy" (1-4 peppers) versus "Lao spicy" (10-12 chilies) was humorous.

If making the Jeow introduced me to the use of the mortar and pestle in Lao cooking, making the Mok Pa, drove it home.

 

The mortar funnels the scents of the items being bruised, mixed, and crushed right up to your nose. You really get in touch with what you're making.

I've already posted a modified recipe, which you can find here. Of course, being all thumbs, it was easy to iidentify my "packet".

  

Next up, Joy demonstrated how to trim Sa-Khan.

 

Yes indeed, we were going to make Or Lam (Lao stew). When I asked about substitutes for the bark of genus Piper Ribesioides, I was first told black peppercorns, then Joy, turned to me and said, "for you, I know you can get Sichuan Peppercorns, so use that, but do not toast." Ah yes, the Lao affinity for the numbing bitterness......

Everything was placed into a pot, along with lemongrass, pea eggplants, cloud ear fungus, etc. The thickening agent was a ball of day old sticky rice, roasted briefly over charcoal, than pounded with a pestle.

 

Water added, stew on the charcoal, Joy, being much the slave driver said, "it's time for a break." So while things were being set-up for the next portion of our class, we relaxed and partook in a Laolao tasting. Joy also brought out the small bamboo tube he had left Phousy Market with, and asked, "anyone want to try this?" Opening the tube, out poured a bunch of wiggly, squiggly, silk worms. Being with an adventurous bunch, there an immediate "yes" was the response. The silkworms were taken to the "real kitchen", and soon a small plate of fried silkworms dusted with salt arrived.

 

If you like fried, you'll like these. Crisp and light, it's sort of like shoestring potatoes... I don't know why restaurants here in the States don't serve this, they are very innocuous.

A few minutes later, revived by some good Laolao (Lao home-made whiskey) and fried silkworms, Joy grabbed a stalk of lemongrass, and started cutting slits into it.

 

Finely chopped chicken was distributed, and Joy instructed us as to the ingredients for Ua Si Khai, Stuffed Lemongrass. Meat, be it chicken, pork, or beef, is chopped and placed into a mortar along with coriander, scallions, garlic, kaffir lime leaf, and salt, and pounded into a thick and rough paste. It is subsequently stuffed into the lemongrass. We each made two stuffed lemongrass, the first was grilled over charcoal.

 

The second was put aside, and later coated with egg and deep-fried.

As the stuffed lemongrass was being grilled, our Or Lam was ready. The fragrance was a heady mix of anise-woodsy-earthy smells. The anise accents via the use of "Lao basil" (holy basil). We each had a small bowl of Or Lam, and had a shot at the Sa-Kahn.

 

I bit into the bark, and got an instant shot of the numbing-hot ("Ma"), bitter flavor of the Sa-Khan. Sort of like Sichuan Peppercorn without the floral touches, adding in a puckering bitterness.

The Or Lam itself, was the best I had tasted to date.

 

As we finished off the Or Lam, our grilled stuffed lemongrass was ready.

 

The unanimous response as we ate these were; "did we actually make this?" It was wonderful!

Soon enough it was time to get back cooking. It was time to make "Koy", a mixed salad of sorts. Joy mentioned the difference between Koy and Laap, but I must apologize, as I don't recall it. It just gives me reason to return no? Again, we split fish, or water buffalo....guess what I chose?

 

At this point, Joy told us, "I have something for you. This is an important ingredient in Water Buffalo Koy in Luang Prabang."

 

"It is optional, but we like Water Buffalo bile in our Koy." I've had Pinapaitan, a very popular Ilocano dish, where beef bile is front and center before, so it was no big deal for me, but there were no other takers. I thought that the tablespoon of bile I added to my Koy just added to the flavor. BTW, Sab E Lee will sometimes have beef bile available for their Koi Soi which adds a dimension to the dish.

   

 

At this point, we proceeded to deep fry our stuffed lemongrass dipped in egg wash. After the stuffed lemongrass was ready, we moved off to a table to eat (yet again!), the rest of our dishes.

 

I hope you excuse the pictures, the challenges of taking while in the midst of a cooking class is quite hard.

While consuming the fruits of our labor, again the initial response was, "I can't believe I made this...."

So let me ask you, would you like me to do a post on anything you've seen. I'm willing to, or have already made some of the dishes, and would gladly do a post on anything except sticky rice, which I feel needs a bunch of practice, and Or Lam (because I don't think I can find Sa-Kahn).

For those of us not born, married, or exposed to the cuisine,  Tamarind's Cooking Classes can make us believers..... 

Comments

[kat]

what a great experience! thank you for sharing this!

[Wandering Chopsticks]

Ooh, the meat-stuffed lemongrass looks wonderful. Do you have a more exact recipe or should I try making it with just the ingredients you listed?

[ed (from Yuma)]

Wow! Amazing. Thanks!

[janfrederick]

Yah yah...stuffed lemongrass...

"I can't believe I made this...."

Man, that happens all too seldom for me...but is well worth the wait when it does happen on occassion.

Man, drinking and cooking in paradise. Sigh.

[Kirk]

Hi Kat - I'm glad you enjoyed this. It was so much fun.

Hi WC - I've got the recipe, so how about this. I'll try to make it in the next few weeks. If not, I'll email you the recipe, and I'm sure you'll do a great version.

Hi Ed - I'm glad to enjoyed.

Hi Jan - The variety of flavors was amazing. And I still can't believe I made that.....

[Carol]

I would love to know more about the water buffalo dish but doubt I'd find that here. Bishers does sell buffalo, wonder if that's the same?

[Lynnea]

Thanks Kirk!

I love your cooking class posts. How fun. Joy sounds like he was the perfect cooking instructor =)

[Michelle]

Hi Kirk,

How come you were uncomfortable making the sticky rice? I had a similar steamer (from Thailand though) and it was really easy to steam sticky rice. You don't even need to soak it overnight.

[Thess]

I'm overwhelmed with this experience of your (translation: jealous!!) Stuffed lemongrass looks terrific!
Thanks for sharing, Kirk :)

[Arlene]

Hey Kirk, loved reading about your experience at the cooking class. I have a bunch of lemon grass growing and would love the recipe for the stuffed lemongrass, fried or grilled. Looks really good!

[Kirk]

Hi Carol - Different species I believe.... but the meat is very lean, much like buffalo.

Hi Lynnea - Joy had a great sense of humor, and kept things moving along.

Hi Michelle - Mainly because I like good sticky rice. In San Diego, there is only one place that makes consistently good sticky rice. There's lots of lousy sticky rice out there..... Even on this trip, there were only a handful of places that made good sticky rice....I was surprised that this class was on of them.

Hi Thess - It was fun cooking all that stuff.

Hi Arlene - OK, i'll make an effort to do a post....

[Darqrat]

Your posts are always so different :) Great to see all those different dishes!

Being a food wuss, I would of passed on the ox bile as well. Makes me laugh because taurine is in alot of the popular energy drinks. Psst it's a bile product! Heheh what the young kids don't know ^_^

I really like your food travel posts because you don't follow the usual tourist traps :) Thank you!

[Kirk]

Hi Darqrat - Thanks so much for the kind words. We do get caught in those tourist traps once in a while, but try not to. LOL on the taurine.....I think folks would be okay if it wasn't so bitter, and called bile! ;o) Thanks again for dropping by and taking the time to comment.

[foodhoe]

wow Kirk, that was quite an exciting lesson in cooking! I haven't done anything besides hamburgers and hotdogs on a charcoal grill, I'm terrible at the whole timing thing and keeping things going... anyways the food looks fantastic and I'd love to see the recipe for the stuffed lemongrass as well.

[Kirk]

Hi FH - It much more fun than I thought it'll be. I'll try to get the stuffed lemongrass done over the next couple of weeks.