Sun-dried Foods and Jeowbong

Adam & I have been cycling around Louang Prabang for a few days now and we have come across so many foods drying in the sun outside peoples homes. I am told that Laos food is quite distinct from any other Asian country, and that Louang Prabang's cuisine is the best in Laos. Each family has their own recipes for Louang Prabang specialties. They may only differ slightly but each recipe is highly regarded.






We have seen dried lemon and lime peels, sticky rice cakes, red chillies, bananas, various herbs and fruit skins for teas, and buffalo meat for the Jeowbong', a famous chilli paste only made in Louang Prabang.







Jeowbong is served as a side dish and can be eaten with most Lao dishes. We have tried some Jeowbong spread on seaweed crackers, (but you could spread this onto any cracker of your choice ( rice, sesame, even a pappadam) and we particularly liked it with dried buffalo skin.

Try it on leftover roast chicken in a sandwich. Or spread it over meats and then roast.



If you like chillies you will enjoy this recipe. Compliments of the Tamnak Lao Restaurant where Adam & I will be taking a Laos cooking class tomorrow.



TAMNAK LAO JEOWBANG



Ingredients

4 tablespoons oil

2 tablespoons chilli powder (see recipe below)

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons garlic chopped finely

Keep 1 tablespoon of oil that the garlic will be fried in later

1/2 teaspoon of chicken stock (powder will do)

1 teaspoon galangal powder (see note)

2.5 tablespoons of fish sauce



Chilli powder

1. To make the chilli powder you will need fifty dried red chillies.

2. Pound them in a mortar and pestle until the chillies are powdered and you have 2 tablespoons of chilli powder

Notes: If you do not want the jeowbong to be hot, take the seeds out of the chillies before pounding.

To save energy you may wish to first process the dried chillies in a kitchen blender and then finish off by pounding them.



JEOWBONG

1.Fry the garlic in 4 tablespoons of oil until golden. (Reserve the remaining oil)



There are two ways to proceed from here 1. The traditional method used by the Lao or 2. The Cheat's Way.



Traditional Method

1. Crush the chilli powder, fried garlic, sugar, salt, chicken stock and galangal powder in a mortar and pestle and pound it down until it is very well mixed.

2. Add the fish sauce and 1 tablespoon of the oil that the garlic was fried in and pound to mix well. Note: It should come together as a paste.

3. Put the paste into a saucepan and fry for a few minutes. The paste should have a rich and pungent chilli smell.

4. Put it into a bowl and serve



Cheat's Way

1. Place 1 tablespoon of the oil that the garlic was fried in, plus all other ingredients into a small blender.

2. Blend slowly on a low setting, making sure the jeowbong does not become too liquid.

3. Continue with the Traditional method in Steps 3 and 4.



Notes:

Galangal powder is often sold as Lao powder in Asian supermarkets. If you do not have galangal, replace it with four small slices ginger. Jeowbong can be made without this ingredient.

Jeowbong will keep for a very long time in the refridgerator.

You may like to add jeowbong to other dishes requiring chillies. For example, fry 60g chicken, pork or prawns in 1.5 tablespoons oil with 3 cloves of chopped garlic and jeowbong to taste until cooked through. Add º cup of coriander or parsley, salt and pepper to taste and two tablespoons of lime or lemon juice. Mix with noodles and spaghetti.