Laap

One of the joys of living in Vientiane is the food. From the Lao food, low in fat and crammed with herbs, chillies, garlic and fish flavours, to the amazing food we’ve acquired from our Asian neighbours, and to the nod back to colonial times, both in terms of the bread which is available around the country and the plethora of amazing restaurants, we are truly spoilt for choice.
With an abundance of affordable fresh fruit and vegetables, and more and more shops selling products previously hard to find here, it is becoming easier to cook these dishes for ourselves, and with some basic knowledge, we can recreate Lao dishes around the world and cook our favourite western dishes here.

Of course the national dish of Laos is laap, a spicy chopped meat and mint dish, without which no Lao repertoire is complete. It is traditionally made with chicken, pork or fish, but one of the joys of cooking it for ourselves is to try alternatives. Tofu and mushrooms both work well for a vegetarian version. Nam pha (Thai fish sauce) is a traditional substitute for baa dek, the fermented fish ubiquitous to Lao cooking, but if this doesn’t work for you, substitute soy sauce which will give you the same saltiness without the fishiness. Add the chillies slowly, tasting as you go to get the perfect balance of spiciness for your palate. Most Lao folks will enjoy it served with far more spice than the average westerner. Of course, if you are making this in the west, it may be difficult to put your hands on a banana flower. In this case, a savoy cabbage will work fine. Laap does normally contain mono-sodium glutamate but you may skip it, if you prefer.
We made chicken laap, (laap gai) the traditional Lao way.
For this, you’ll need:
a whole chicken,
a couple of cloves of garlic,
a teaspoon of mono sodium glutamate,
some fermented fish (baa dek),
a generous handful of mint leaves, separated from the stems,
ten chillies and a spoonful of dried red chilli powder,
a small handful of coriander, attached to the stems, and chopped
a banana flower, sliced finely
ten spring onions,5 finely chopped, 5 left uncut
two large limes
a cucumber,
some baby aubergines (eggplants)

Cut open the chicken and slice the kidneys, heart and liver into strips, around 5mm wide. Remove the skin from the chicken and cut this into similar strips. Fry this. You won’t need oil as the chicken fat will provide plenty. Add the garlic and a teaspoon of MSG. Cook for around five minutes until the chicken is cooked and the garlic is soft, then take off the heat.
Put about a litre of drinking water in a bowl and add a dozen mint leaves, the juice of half a lemon (and the squeezed fruit), and the banana flower (preferably the yellow one as this has a delicious nutty flavour whilst the red one is more bitter). Leave this to soak while you prepare the rest of the laap.
Next, put a cup of baa dek (fermented fish) into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for around 3 – 5 minutes to increase the flavour. (If you are using a substitute, you can miss out this step).
Squeeze the banana flower mix, chop and add to the meat, together with the juice of one more lemon
Add a heaped tablespoon of dry fried rice powder to the mix.
You can buy the rice powder at the market, but if you wish to make it, fry a handful of uncooked rice in an otherwise empty pan and stir it while it browns, taking care not to let it burn. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Remove any burnt bits and pound to a powder with a pestle and mortar.
Strain and add a couple of spoons of the cooked baa dek, the chilli powder, five chopped up birds eye chillis, a handful of unchopped mint, the spring onions and the coriander. Stir this and serve with raw baby aubergine, peeled and sliced cucumber, the rest of the spring onions, the chilli peppers and, of course, some sticky rice.