Culinary Delights of Laos
I just wanted to share two of the many foods that I enjoy in Laos.
In Laos there is a lot of buzz about a little dish called papaya salad.
When I first heard about “papaya salad”, I pictured a lovely syrupy sweet fruit salad, perhaps artfully carved complete with butterflied pineapple.
In reality, papaya salad, or (Tam Mak Hung in Lao language) is made from shredded unripe papaya, fish sauce, padaek (fermented fish paste), garlic, and as many chili peppers as you can handle.
There is a recipe and tutorial here. I think this would be a falang (foriegner)-friendly version.
Tam Mak Hung is an explosive taste sensation. The first time I tried it, I didn’t like it, but I was determined to make a good impression on my host culture. As seems to be the case with most foreigners, in time I grew to like Tam Mak Hung, and even sometimes crave it.
I order Tam Mak Hung bo sie padaek (no fermented fish paste), because the raw fish can cause liver flukes. Just a little advisory.
I actually don’t know what this dish is called, but it is sold on the street and eaten unheated. It is some kind of “junk food” in the form of noodles with a dark, sweet sauce. It can be served with or without mak phet (chili peppers).
Enjoying different foods is one of my favorite things about traveling.
You can read what I learned about “Eating Locally” on my trip to Belize. Visit the Go Natural Baby blog and read my guest post!
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17 October 2008, 1:32 pm
That’s actually their version of our own atsara in the Philippines minus the fermented fish paste, but ours we heat venigar sugar and onions garlic, carrots, sweet pepper and salt to taste we can keep this for months. This is a siding dish for fatty foods like roasted pig or chicken..
17 October 2008, 3:32 pm
Oh.. Yum yum.. In Thailand we called ‘Som Tum’ for the papaya salad and we do have 2 version as well. The one with fermented crab (Poo Dong) and no crab.. I love both.
17 October 2008, 5:12 pm
This stuff sounds like something I’d like. I love trying different the local food when we travel.
17 October 2008, 5:46 pm
Mmmmmm… one of the best things we did in Thailand (we haven’t been to Laos) was take a cooking class where we learned how to make this salad. I love the crunchy, sweet & salty salad & we’ve made it a few times since we returned home.
Thanks for sharing this post on Photo Friday.
Debbie Dubrows last blog post..Photo Friday: "House Boats" in Phnom Penh, Cambodia
17 October 2008, 9:03 pm
Mmm, it all looked and sounded great until I got to the “causes liver flukes” part. Eeeew. As someone who got hepatitis A in Haiti and very sick in Mexico city by eating Steak tartar ( mind you both of these were in 5 star places), when I was younger, I am much more cautious these days.
The good news is I had no symptoms with my hepatitis and now my breast fed kidlet has immunity along with me!
17 October 2008, 9:05 pm
Left out it was raw clams in Haiti…I know not smart, but I was 20, what can I say?