Just off the main street of tourist central is the night food market. I enter fully prepared because I have read - Ant Egg Soup, The Adventures of a Food Tourist in Laos by Natacha Du Pont De Brie and it has given me a basic understanding of Laos food and what to expect.
Laos food is very rural and is based on what is available at the market that day. The market is usually filled with women from the hills that come down into the village to sell what they have grown, caught or picked in the jungle.
Lao people are poor and to get their daily protein intake they will eat anything that moves, slithers, flies or crawls. So I am ready because things can get pretty wild. Who knows what delicacies are in store for us? The first stall serves up a Lao version of Pad Thai, quite simple - egg noodles tossed in Maggi soy sauce, bean sprouts, a pile of chilli, some ground nuts, all served on a banana leaf, wrapped and secured with a toothpick.
Next we have vegetarian spring rolls made with rice noodle paper with a choice of fresh or deep-fried stuffed with noodles, cabbage and bean-sprouts served with a dipping sauce of freshly squeezed lime juice, sugar syrup, dried crushed chillies, fish sauce and ground peanuts. They come in bags of 6 for 5000 kip. (about 30p to you and me) The rice paper is thin and delicate but keeps the ingredients in firmly, they taste light and crispy, not too oily.
Now it starts to get interesting, there is roast pig, crackling and all, chopped into pieces splayed out on the table. The pigs face is staring up at me, skin only and the full snout of course. On a plate, intestines are coiled high, belly, ribs, in fact the entire pig is here, bits and all. The ladies at the pork stand were all crowding around a large woven platter and chatting away. We were curious to find out what they would be eating, each woman took a green leaf - the size of a betel leaf and then selected a piece of chopped pork, various herbs and condiments from the platter.
The Laotians are so friendly, they noticed us peering at what they were eating and decided that we should join in, so they offered to share their dinner with us. I was handed a large green leaf that tasted quite bitter, wrapped tightly around a chunk of roast pork (which part, I don't know) with a pinch of sliced lemongrass, chopped shallots, banana flower and soft rice noodles and a dollop of sweeet chilli sauce and all bite size and very tasty. Adam was lucky, he chose his own pork piece, leaf and condiments, then wrapped it all up to eat. It was really good and seeing the look of satisfaction on our faces, they all laughed and we were offered some more. The Laos love to share their food. In fact the Lao believe that food eaten alone is not delicous and I would have to agree with them.
There are whole roast ducks stuffed with banana leaves and herbs. The grill section has whole fish, pork belly, quail, chicken and something that looks like eel all skewered with lemongrass stalks and grilled to perfection. Adam tried grilled pork belly on a lemongrass stick, the pork was really sticky and chewy on the outside with an intense musk, and very salty pork flavour.
The dessert stand was filled with various soy or coconut milk jellies, custards and pumpkin in coconut milk.
The Buffalo stand had a variety of buffalo - dried, sticky, or glazed with sesame seeds and alongside, the famous jaew bong - a condiment of red chillies, shallots, garlic and dried buffalo skin. (recipe in previous blogpost)
The curry stand has at least a dozen or so containers of various fish, meat, egg or vegetable curries that you can take away in plastic bags ready to be eaten. We are nearing the end of the market and have seen no signs of bush rat, frogs or even snake. To be honest I am a little relieved but disapponted at the same time. I also feel like a tourist because I have just noticed the locals don't eat here and it is just that - a tourist version of a Lao market. The soft version.
At the end of the market there were two vegetarian buffets layed out on long tables with wooden benches and they were packed with people. I can understand why you would want to eat vegetables after walking through all those displays of roasted meats and flies. The aromas were quite intense and it's hot and humid here, there is no refrigeration and to keep the flies away all the women had long sticks with plastic bags attached and they would wave them around like fans to keep the flies off the food but with not much effect.
Laos food looks great and I am sure tastes amazing but I am erring on the cautious side at the moment. So for 5000 kip you can pile your plate with an assortment of noodles, rice, pumpkin, aubergine, watercress, morning-glory, stir-fried vegetables and spring rolls and, of course, beer Lao. Call me a lightweight but I love my vegetables.
4 comments:
"Natacha Du Pont De Brie" clearly takes some beating as a food writer's nom de plume. I'm always impressed by your foodie research powers - these people must guard their recipes jealously under normal circumstances. Now where do I get my hands on the elusive banana flower..?
It's the persuasive power of her winning smile!
Well I am told that you can buy the banana flower in the fruit and veg section in any Asian supermarket.
If I was in London, I would go to Chinatown there is a large fruit and vegetable section there.
I also have a list of suppliers for the UK so if you can wait until I get to Hanoi (sometime in the near future)I will put them up on the blog for you.
Do they deliver to Dorset? :-)
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