laocook

An Amuse Bouche is the term we use for a small Appetizer, before the proper starter. Not only does it whet the appetite, it gives our guests time to mellow/chill over their first glass of Wine. Most restaurants offer a small appetizer nowadays, it also gives the kitchen time to get your starters (and main courses) going.

I like to change our Amuse Bouches depending on what you have ordered, that way, not everyone gets the same thing. Sometimes I like to offer two or even more small nibbles per person. I can do this because of our special All Inclusive System allows our guests to freely choose from the menu and sample Asiatic cuisine as good as we can prepare it. That means that the effort put in to our “Simple” dishes is lovingly the same as the effort put in to our “Signature” dishes. Because I do not need to make a margin profit on the food, I am free to prepare the dishes using the best available ingredients, which means a higher quality dish, whether it is Foie Gras or a simple Laotian Beef Salad.

Above (from left to right) a very cold Tum Mak Deng “Soup” Shot, King Prawns and Sesame on Toasts and New Style Goong Che Nam Pla. The Tum Mak Deng Soup Shot is a pulverised version of the classic Laotian Tum, with Anchovies blended in to replace the Padek (which we keep for other dishes). It is refreshingly Garlicy and lightly Spicy. Its taste is reminiscent of Spanish “Gazpacho“, a chilled summer soup that has its roots in Andalucia. The King Prawn & Sesame on Toasts have been Deep-fried twice to make them more crispy. We Deep-fry them at 150ºC for a few minutes until pale gold in colour and then fry them at 180ºC before serving, you have to be careful not to over cook the Sesame seeds otherwise they will become bitter. The New Style Goong Che Nam Pla is one of our favourite pieces.

As the evening wore on, I changed one of the appetisers to our remake of a Bloody Geisha, which is a Bloody Mary with Sake in place of Vodka, I added a twist in the tail by omitting the Tabasco and adding a dollop of Sriracha!… Nice…

The reason why the King Prawns & Sesame Toasts are served in a cone is because I was missing England´s good old Fish n´Chips, which the latter are sometimes served encased in a Newspaper cone…

(If any of you are wondering, it is freshly cut Cucumber that is wrapped around the shot glass. It is cut, wrapped around the glass and placed in the freezer for a few minutes, that way the glass is very chilled and the Cucumber is a little “Crunchy”)

With the appetisers out of the way, its time for the hot action to start.

Saki at the Flames…

Kham joins in to ensure that all our dishes arrive cooked and hot at the same time.

Above, our Beef with Orange Vinegar which is now in its third evolution and is one of our “Test Dishes“. A Test Dish basically means that it is not ordered but given to the guest to see their reaction, if the reaction is positive, it stays on the menu, if otherwise, the recipe is retried with different combinations until, we think it has the right to be a part of the actual menu. Its always a case of “Quality” over “Quantity”.

We love to prepare Asiatic “Canapés”. Not only are they easy to eat, they also look elegant and are a perfect accompaniment to a cold chilled glass of Cava.

When sending out Warm Canapés “timing” is the key, everyone joins in.

Up front are Squid Boulettes, lovingly made by Sen using fresh Squid and Cuttlefish. The texture is subtlety Chewy, the Boulettes even lightly bounce if you drop them on the work surface…

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Saki and Kuchi had a good time preparing our “TriColour” of Sushi.

The Asparagus is lightly blanched so it retains Mother Nature´s intended “Crunchiness”. The Ura-Maki (Inside Out Roll, where the Nori is on the inside, and Rice on the outside) is presented with Salmon, Tuna and King Prawn, respectively known as Sake, Maguro and Ebi.

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Our New Style “Goong Che Nam Pla” is a great hit in the restaurant, and at times when we take it off the menu, we like to serve it as an Amouse Bouche.

Only a small piece is served to tantalise the appetite.

Coriander (Cilantro) Oil lends the dish its lovely colourful touch. The small dish can be prepared in advance and kept cold until needed, in fact it tastes better having been marinated for 20 minutes or so. Before serving we add a small amount of Caviar.

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Continuing the theme of King Prawns, below is a photo of our Black Sesame Prawn Satay, served with a small amount of Tamarind & Black Sesame sauce.

Prawns are very easy to over cook, they just need a light grilling or a few seconds in a hot frying pan, otherwise they end up stringy and tough.

Sen makes sure that the Prawns are cooked “En su punto”.

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There are some guests that don’t like the sight or Raw Beef, in this instant we like to offer our “Nahm Dtok”, which is a Larb Beef which has been grilled but still retains its glorious colour. The Lime Juice will quickly change the colour of raw meats (hence each portion has to be made “a la minute”), and when presented on time, the meat will be within the colour-change transition and still retain its tenderness.

We love “Nahm Dtok” , its name adoringly simply translated as “Falling Water”, referring to the beef juices that drip out during grilling. Its like a Larb with a Charcoal overtone, we always make a little more than necessary, just so that we can eat what we don’t serve (trick of the trade!…lol)

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Our Salmon isn’t only used for Sushi & Sashimi. We like to grill it and serve it with Japanese style Fried Green Tea Soba Noodles. We remove the skin from the fillet after cooking, brush the fish with some Sweet Soy Sauce and top it with our Roasted Nori Flakes, thus creating a “Fake Skin” which will have a distinct almost “nutty” flavour, whilst we are doing that the real skin is placed back in to the pan and cooked until it is Crispy, we also serve this as a “Salmon Skin Cracker”.

Sen cooked up a very nice Larb Gai a few days ago. Sometimes we like to mince the Chicken first, by knife, not machine, other times we like to simply grill a Chicken Breast and thinly slice it. We love all Larbs, and the combination of herbs and spices make it a very satisfying, and simple dish. We always use lime juice instead of lemon, lime adds an accent to the finished dish that lemon can sometimes lack.

The Larb is served on Crispy Yuca which has been seasoned with Sugar & Salt.

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King Prawns make a welcome addition to any “Yum” . We have been using Japanese Somen Noodles, which are great when served cold. They are easy to cook, and when plunged in to ice cold water they taste refreshing.

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Talking about King Prawns, one of our all time favourites is “Goong Che Nam Pla”.

In the Laocook Kitchen this dish has been reworked many times in one way or another, but appearance may change, but the ingredients remain the same.

Fresh Prawns are essential for this dish, and being near the coast, we have an abundant supply. If Raw Prawns are not to your taste, you can blanch them (ever so briefly) before hand. However, the succulent texture will be lost.

Above is a version of the traditional recipe, where the fresh prawns have been cleaned and slit open. We found that presenting this dish in its authentic style raised a few eyebrows amongst our diners. Perhaps the thought of eating raw prawns put some people off.

We pondered over this for a while, because once tasted, the dish really speaks for itself.

Carpaccios is well accepted in the west and involve very thin slices of raw beef or fish, drizzled with Olive Oil, Lemon and other combinations.

I wanted people to taste our “Goong Che Nam Pla”, to appreciate its fine texture and flavours, so I decided to present the King Prawns as a “Carpaccio”. The idea worked and Láminas de Langostinos al “Nam Pla” (Nam Pla King Prawn “Sheets”) is now one of our “best sellers”.

Garlic, which is an essential ingredient, can sometimes be too over powering. In the original dish, it is either thinly sliced or chopped and added “raw” to the prawns. I decided to make the Nam Pla sauce, and infuse it with bruised garlic for about 20 minutes, just to get the “hint” of the bulb. A Carpaccio is not the same without some added Oil, and through my testing phases, we found that Olive Oil was too over powering, hence we ended up using Coriander, Roasted Shallot and Grapeseed Oil instead.

Paper thin slices of fresh King Prawns are briefly Marinated “a la Minute” with the Nam Pla sauce before the oil mixture is added. The Nam Pla sauce in effect “cooks” the raw slices and also renders the meat tender and releases an inherent sweetness, it is best “marinated” for only a few minutes before serving.

An aromatic body and depth is added with the Roasted Shallots, that have been slow cooked to relieve them of their pungent sharpness. What is left is a dish with complex flavours of the sea that are sweet, soft and earthly all at the same time.

We have worked hard on this dish, it has taken 10 months in its evolution and when we finally get down to measuring the ingredients (yes, we work on taste, in a Vote system, we make it, 4 of us try it and if all agree, it is good, if even one of us disagrees, we remake it until we get it right and all of us agree) we will post it in the Recipes Section. Why?, because Lao Food & Cuisine is all about SHARING….

:)

Our friends at The Boat Landing Guest House & Restaurant based in Luang Namtha, in the North West region of Laos have given us their kind permission to recreate some of their dishes that are featured in their restaurant.

This Eco-Lodge is well situated for those looking to discover, or rediscover unspoilt, rural and authentic Laotian lifestyle, set in the backdrops of the various Nature Reserves and Protected Areas that surround the area.

Their wide menu features traditional Laotian fare and also includes Vegetarian dishes. The Boat Landing has 6 wonderful recipes on their site, and we have taken 2 and recreated them in our kitchens. Take a look at the Original Recipes, they are explained in easy-to-follow steps.

Deconstructed Boat Landing “Aw Lam” (Lao Stew)

It took quite a while to take this recipe and look at it in various compositions. We couldnt get some of the ingredients, like Thai Eggplants or Saw Tooth Herb, so we used Aubergines and other Spanish Vegetables.

The Sticky Rice base is a must, that ensures that the sauce “holds together”.

What we basically did is blend the idea of Aw Lam with a Burger, sounds strange but it is not as it seems.

Pounded with a Pestle & Mortar are Lemon Grass Whites, Chilli, Holy Basil Leaves and Roasted Aubergine which are then are stuffed in to a minced Chicken “Patty”, which is then steamed. We like the taste of Roasted Aubergines and use them when we can. The sauce is enriched with lots of Dill, Spanish Parsley and Coriander. A pleasant surprise awaits when the dish is eaten, when you cut in to the Chicken Patty, the wonderful aroma of cooked herbs fill the air. We serve the sauce separately.

The whole idea of deconstructing a dish to separarate the “layers”, rebuild it at the same time being careful not to take away the original taste.

New Style Boat Landing “Lahp Tofu”

We were very excited about this recipe. We all love Tofu and Lahp, to have them together sounded like an opportunity not to be missed. We started by making The Boat Landing´s recipe, with all the ingredients except the Banana Blossom. In our first trial versions we added diced Red and Yellow Peppers and Shredded Lime Leaves, which added a real Summer touch to the dish. Finally we settled on a combination of the original recipe with a few added ingredients. The Lahp is served on a chilled piece of steamed Courgette & Tofu Ring.

We first cut the Tofu in to cubes, dusted them with cornflour and deep fried them (this is a Japanese technique), we also used Spring Onion Tails and Shallots.

This is a great Summer dish to be enjoyed chilled. Just before serving we add some Mint/Coriander Oil Vinaigrette, just to give it a little Mediterranean touch.

We hope that we have done justice to the Original Recipes supplied by Dorothy Culloty and The Boat Landing.

Work is still continuing on a Deconstructed Lahp Tofu theme, which we will advise you of when it is complete and tried on Human Test Subjects…

;)

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