Archive for May, 2009
Something Green. Its not Envy, or The Incredible Hulk…… 
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Its an individual steamed Pandan Sponge cake. Pandan juice has an amazing aroma, an almost sweet buttery note.
The Juice or Extract we use is natural and obtained by blitzing fresh Pandan leaves in a blender and extracting the (small amount) of liquid. This liquid can then be diluted or frozen as is.
For our steamed cakes we only used a small amount of juice, and still the aroma was very present. We avoided adding any food colouring that some recipes ask for. 
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Though the colour is not as intense as some commercial cakes, the taste and distict olfactory “sweetness” of the Pandan was very much evident in these small titbits (“Horm lai, horm lai” said the rest of the Laoocoks) .
I cannot stand the overly (ghastly) green Pandan Cakes that some shops sell. Why pay good earned money for something that has been coloured beyond its natural pigment?
Below are some other “green things” that we tried out this week.
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Unnoticeable until you taste them, these are Green Curry Muffins.
Again, we omitted the use of food colouring and concentrated more on the flavour of these savoury muffins.
We replaced the liquid amount with Coconut Milk cooked with Green Curry paste for this recipe and added some extra Virgin Olive Oil to give the finished product an “glossy earthy” taste.
The result is a sweet and very lightly spicy soft bread. The word “Muffin” originates from the French word “Moufflet”, meaning a soft bread.
We have also made these muffins with Red Curry and Sun Dried Tomatoes, though our favourite are the Green Curry flavoured ones.
The difference between Green and Red Curry pastes has more to do than colour. Green pastes are made using fresh chillies and the latter by using dried chillies. The “hotness” of the finished curry really depends on what other ingredients are used, though I find that the green variety has more of a “kick”.
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Oh by the way, before anyone asks, Yellow Curry paste is made with fresh Turmeric, hence the amber colour.
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Congratulations to
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The King and Queen of Laocook.com
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King and Laurene become Mr. & Mrs. Senathit.
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Weddings are always special. Especially when they involve two people who I love very much. Yes, my brother King married his sweetheart and best friend Laurene.
A gathering of family and friends from all over the globe attended the two days of celebrations in London. Throughout the rainy week, the sun shone on Saturday the 16th of May 2009.
Being a family of cooks, it was only natural that we decided to do the food for the wedding ourselves. Days and days of preparation preceded the Reception for 300 guests.
One dish on the menu was Crispy pork, made to a secret recipe belonging to my uncle. (A recipe that I will surely get my hands on…. )
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Three days before the event the pork belly was prepared and trimmed.
Throughout the evening I could smell a wonderful earthy aroma coming from the kitchen as herbs and spices were slow roasted for the marinade.
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From the 9th through to the 18th of December 2009, Vientiane will be hosting and celebrating the 25th SEA Games.
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This is the first time that Laos has ever held a SEA or South East Asian Games.
This has meant that new stadiums and facilities have been constructed to welcome the athletes and visitors from the 10 other participating countries.
Athletes from Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Myanmar (Burma), Brunei Darussalum, Cambodia and Timor Leste will compete to win medals in 25 or so different disciplines, including my favourite, Football (Soccer). C´mon Laos!
Not only will the representatives and supporters of the above nations be coming, Laos is also gearing up for an influx of tourist from all over the world, including me.
For some reason, Laos seemed to court controversy over its handling of some events, and has been especially criticized for reducing the number of games. Conspiracy theorist have said it is because Laos chose to select games that it had a better chance of winning medals in, but theorist will always theorize. 
Others say that Laos chose the selected games to help Vietnam, in order that the Vietnamese teams can comfortably win medals. Like I said, theorist will always theorize. 
These people should look forward to the games and embrace them, celebrate them, be a part of them and especially, enjoy them.
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Our mascots for the 25th SEA Games.
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For more information such as venues, events, timetables etc.. visit the Official Site of the games or the Official Site of the Organizing Committee.
Both these sites also have Tourism Information about Vientiane and places to visit.
If anyone is going or will be there during the games and wants to meet up for a Beerlao, just drop me a line. 
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