laocook

I cannot believe that we have almost reached the end of May! Wow, how time flies! Almost half the year gone already!

During the spring, the team and I have been busy in the kitchen preparing food for gala dinners, weddings and other big events. There is never a dull moment!

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Many diners got the chance to sample my Nhem as an amuse bouche, I even added slices of Som Moo, just like “at home”.

Another traditional classic, Larb Gai has also been served up, this time I added quinoa to the recipe. The texture is almost rice-like and it absorbs and compliments the flavour of the chicken salad. It looks like I´ll be serving more of this pretty soon.

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Our chicken supplier had thrown in a few boxes of chicken livers and hearts for free (how nice of him!). The latter was served up for the staff (yum yum) and the livers went in to a terrine.

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I also added some quail eggs and for a decadent touch some chunks of foie gras were also included. I like to use Pho stock to set my terrines as I think it lends another dimension to the dish.

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Another thing that had kept me busy was giving culinary classes. For the first time the swinging doors that separate the kitchen from the dining room were open to our hotel guests.

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Giving classes is not an easy thing, I take off my hat and salute all teachers around the world!

Great fun was had by all and I hope that the participants left the two day course with some knowledge and above all, a good experience.

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I also arranged an Introduction to Wine Tasting as well as Dining Etiquette. So much to teach within a short weekend! I´ll definitely organise another one of these events later in the year.

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One dish that I showed the class was my new Lao Salad 2011.

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This dish consists of all the ingredients found in a typical Laotian salad. The egg has been cooked at 62.5 degrees for 45 minutes and sits on top of sauteed ground pork that has been mixed with homemade Honey Coated Peanuts which adds a wonderful sweet crunchy texture. Herbs and salad leaves are dressed with an egg yolk based vinaigrette.

What excites me about this dish is that it will feature on my menu for an upcoming Charity Dinner Event that will be held in London.

Organised through the Young Lao Society based in London, the dinner is to help raise funds for SKL (School for Kids in Laos), a registered charity that aims to do what it is named after, build schools for children in my homeland.

The dinner will take place on June 26th in a riverside restaurant in London. Another dish that I will be preparing is:

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A Study of Goong Che Nam Pa in Textures. This is a reworking of one of our favourite dishes that has been featured on the menu since 2005 under various names such as Laotian Carpaccio of Prawns or its Spanish name “Láminas de Gambas Blancas”.

This version features raw and cooked marinated prawns as well as the “Crystal Shallots” and Nam Pa dressing and new additions like Solid Prawn Oil, Clear Tomato Noodles and Black Olive Powder.

These two dishes form a part of a special 5 course meal that will be served that evening.

The event will also feature a fashion show and live music as well as a Lao Night Market which will be selling handicrafts and textiles from Laos. There are also great raffle prizes to be won such as a 2 night stay at the hotel resort in Spain, Wimbledon tickets, private tennis lesson with British Lao tennis ace Anne Keothavong and other great prizes.

Limited tickets are available for the event for only 55GBP and all proceeds from the event will go to the charity. More information can be found by clicking the logo below.

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Please come to support us and have a drink with me after the meal!

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