“What’s Cooking” from Victor’s Kitchen

It is exactly 2 weeks since I wrote my last post. “Why has it taken me so long to write a new post?” It is not easy to think of what to write next. Even harder after visiting such wonderful places like Laos and Penang in my recent trip. There was so much to share and talk about that finding the next thing to write other than the trip is quite hard.

I can sit in front of my Apple MacBook, with the cursor blinking, blinking and blinking for the first word on the keyboard. But, nothing comes out. How does one find the inspiration to write?

So to keep going, I will leave to my imagination and what comes naturally to my mind at the time. I need a term of reference – “Kitchen”.

A kitchen is the heart of a house. It is the wealth corner where most things take place, and where lots of “chatting” goes on. In a traditional Chinese house, there is an altar worshipping a “Kitchen God” that protects the family. On the twenty third day of the twelfth lunar month, just before Chinese New Year, the Kitchen God returns to Heaven to report the activities of the household over the past year to the Jade Emperor.

My mum always thought me to be good in the kitchen and never say bad things in a kitchen. Otherwise, they will get reported back to the Jade Emperor, and the family will be punished for the following year. But, we are only human. It is hard not to murmur a single bad word, argue, shout or complain about things in the Kitchen, for three hundred and sixty five days. A Kitchen is where we share everything – our food and how the day went, whether it was good or bad. But, there is a trick. Before the Kitchen God ascend to Heaven, the family will make an offering of “Ti Kuih” which is make from glutinous rice finely grinded and sweeten with lots of sugar. This is to sweeten the mouth of the Kitchen God and make his lips sticky so he will report only sweet, good things to the Jade Emperor.

A Kitchen is where food is being prepared and where I find an inspiration to explore and be creative.

When I first moved to Tasmania six years ago, I never imagine that I have talents other than working in a full time professional project management job.

I opened a restaurant with no prior background in running my own business or cooking in a commercial kitchen. It was quite an adventure and exhilarating experience for me. That was one of the biggest highlight of my life. It was a dream. A beautiful dream that came true and a great journey to remember for a lifetime. My only regret is that my parents have never seen it.

I discovered my other talent in gardening. I turned an acre of pasture rich paddock land to a wonderful garden with many variety of flowers, plants, trees, shrubs, spring and summer bulbs. Few years later, I started growing my own herbs – tarragon, basil mint, Thai mint, lemongrass, oregano, peppermint, chamomile, curry tree, curry plant and kaffir lime. Last year I started a vegetable patch of peas, onions, cabbage and tomatoes. Now I have planted carrots and sweet corns.

My own homegrown peas. Nice firm sweet and crunchy.

My own homegrown red onions – a bit small. Sweet in flavour and not too pungent. Quite delicate.

I also discovered that I love cooking and be creative and imaginative with the ingredients I have in the pantry and fridge. Some time I like a simple and quick meal. But other times especially on a weekend, I like to explore and create a more elaborate meal.

There is no fix and fast rule on what go into an Asian dish. It is up to my own imagination. For example, fried rice. Each person has his/her own version. Sometimes, I invented a different fried rice using different ingredients and sauces. In the version below, I used an overnight rice in the fridge with a bit of chopped garlic, tiger prawns, omelette, shredded lettuce, chopped chili, pieces of chicken meat, caramelised dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, sprinkle of salt and pepper.

I served the fried rice with an improvised basil chili chicken with zucchini and unsalted cashew nuts. See my Recipe page on Basil Chili Chicken.

And, another dish of garlic tiger prawn with cauliflower and asparagus.

And, finally:

A Kitchen is where I can share a story.

A story that I shared with a friend a few years ago while cooking in the Kitchen.

I remember when I was studying at Arkansas, I was offered a job as a live-in caretaker for a wealthy middle age solicitor. He lives by himself in an enormous property surrounded by a large collection of Asian and European antiquities. He was seldom at home, living a high profile life and dining out mostly.

One night, he returned home very drunk. I could hear him clearly as he came through the front door. He slammed the door shut, echoing through the house with no other sound except the heavy footsteps of a six foot five body frame. The footsteps grew louder and louder, with an eerily heavy puffing sounds of a large, one hundred kilo man. It was getting closer and closer to my bedroom. He was yelling for my name. He started turning my doorknob, but it was locked. He was very upset and started banging really loud at my door and yelled my name a few times. It lasted for 5 minutes but felt like 5 hours to me! I wished I were never there. It was so remote and isolated. No one will hear me even if I called out for help. I kept very silent inside the room and clutched to my pillow tightly. I slowly went back to sleep.

At the slightest daylight streaming through the horizontal blinds of my bedroom window, I slowly and quietly got out of bed. Turned the doorknob gently without making a single sound. It was silent throughout the house except a faint snore coming from behind the bedroom door of the solicitor. I quickly packed my bag and tip toe my way out of the house and disappeared from the property never to be seen again!

I felt a sense of pity for the solicitor. He was a very lonely man with material wealth around him and no one to share with.

We are surrounded by material things, wealth and greed.  Some people may say there is nothing wrong with that, but I am so humble by the infectious smiles and laughters of children in Laos’s villages when I visited them with a few books and coloured pencils. It was incredible to look at their innocent faces and the joy such small gifts bring to them, and the simple sustainable living they have in their own farms.

“Special Post” Laos Part Six

Yes, this is the last of a six part series on Laos “Special Post”. I am tempted to not make this the last, but maybe the last of a last. But everything has to come to an end. Sounds tragic. But, not so. As there is always a new beginning! Like a prequel to a book (Harry Potter) or movie (Star Wars). I swear I will not do this to you though. This Is It (MJ). My last “Special Post” on Laos.

Part Six is all about food. I came to Laos not knowing what to expect of the food. Rarely have I heard of Lao food in Australia. I have zero knowledge. Zipped. Nothing. So it was quite an adventure to seek out that special Lao food. What really defines the food? Since I started this “Special Post” I have gained several Lao followers. Please feel free to comment on this post, to help us understand your food culture better.

Finding a place to eat is quite a daunting task when there is limited time for visiting a place. Making the correct choice is important. We often doubt our choice before going into the restaurant, and questioned our mind over and over again before making that giant step into the front door. After all, making a wrong choice and feeling disappointed with the meal really cost nothing, but a missed opportunity on another place.

Fortunately, I had mostly good experiences in all the places I have been except one. Ended with a 2 days tummy upset. Ouch! My experiences range from a “so so” to a “wow factor”. From a home cooked lunch prepared by a family at their own remote resort near a Khmu village, which was simply delightful to a trendy, modern Lao food with French influence in Luang Prabang. I am tempted to write on all the places I have eaten. But, decided to pick 2 places that I believed are worth the mention.

One place is called “Tamarind”. A small Lao restaurant with only a few tables. The reason I chose this restaurant to write is because of its long tradition focusing on traditional Lao food. Nothing pretentious about the place. It is a well established restaurant, well known, almost an old institution and a part of Luang Prabang.

The second place is called “3 Nagas”. It is a boutique accommodation in 3 separate heritage buildings and 2 restaurants – a Lao restaurant and a French restaurant. I walked passed this place several times, but never thought of eating there. The place looks “too good”  and up market. I was not sure if the food will live up to my expectation, which one would expect from a posh looking restaurant that stands out in the area. I felt it may be an up market tourist trap. I am glad I was wrong. We went there on our last night in Luang Prabang. And, how I wished I was there a few days earlier because I would definitely go there again for a second time.

“Tamarind”

I was told if I want a table at this place, I need to go early. If lunch, get there before 1pm. Dinner before 7pm. So I rented a bicycle from my hotel and cycled to the restaurant, which is not far. It was very hot that day. No breeze. I got there, parked my bicycle at the front and got the table in the front, at the corner. I was still perspiring away after that short 5 mins cycle ride. There was no fan and breeze. Just scorching, bright sunny day. Well, better than rain I supposed.

I ordered an icy cold thirst quenching drink – ginger and lemongrass. It was sweet, tangy, cooling and very uplifting. I drank the entire glass and ordered a second one to go with my meal. A lemongrass stick was used as a drink stirrer. I like that. Simple and interesting.

Read the menu. Simple and flexible with several different options offer to the customer to enjoy a complete traditional Lao culinary experience. I selected the “Five Bites” in the menu, which was a small selection of 5 different Lao snacks served with sticky rice. There is the Sai Oua, Sinh Savanh, Som Pak Gat, Jeow Nor Mai Som and Miang parcels.

The traditional way to eat Lao food is to use the hands. But first, make sure both hands are washed and cleaned. The restaurant provides a wet cloth to wipe the hands. I used my right hand to pinch a bit of sticky rice, and the left hand to pinch any of the dishes. I put the rice into my mouth first, followed by the left hand with the dish. The dishes were mainly dry for a good reason – to keep the hand dry and not sloppy with sauce dripping everywhere. The other reason for using hands is the food tastes better. Almost finger licking good. The smell stayed with my hands for a couple of days. I tried washing them with soap. It had a strong smell, probably from some fermented seafood glazed on the meat.

Pickled vegetables – the left is local Lao pickled green vegetable (Som Pak Gat)  and the right is the pickled bamboo (Jeow Nor Mai Som). They both have different texture and flavour, but sweet and sourish.

This is Luang Prabang sausage (Sai Oua). I am not sure what it was made of, but it was delicious. A bit strong flavoured and tougher than our normal sausage. It was salty and sweet at the same time. In an earlier post, I had a fried rice cooked with slices of Luang Prabang sausage at a Lao Chinese restaurant in Vientiane. The fried rice had the same smoky flavoured sauage taste.

This is the dried buffalo meat (Sinh Savanh). It was coated with some sweet marinated sauce and then, I believed, smoked over a charcoal burner. It was a bit tough for me. Probably I am getting old and my teeth and gum are getting weak. It tasted like “Bak Kwa” which is a Chinese salty sweet dried meat which is similar to jerky, made in the form of flat thin sheet.

I have mentioned in previous post that Lao food has a bit of cross between Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and French. This dried buffalo meat is definitely a Lao interpretation of a Chinese “Bak Kwa”.

The two lettuce wraps (Miang parcels). One type is a delicate flavoured paste of rice and the other type is a paste of mashed aubergine and noodle. They were both good and different and light. Quite different from eating a Chinese lettuce wrap, like the “San Choy Bow” which is heavier and meaty.

“3 Nagas”

3 Nagas is a beautiful place housed in an European style colonial building, which is the Lao Restaurant as shown above. Across the street is the main building, which housed the individual suites accommodation and the French Restaurant in a garden setting as shown below.

We had a late dinner on our last night in Luang Prabang. Well, almost late about 8pm. Most places in Luang Prabang close by 10pm. It is a very quiet and peaceful town, so don’t expect anything like a Thai resort township. Sorry, no nightclub or Go-Go Bar. We arrived at the restaurant by hitching a ride from our ever faithful hotel’s Golf Buggy. A Frenchman welcomed us and showed us to a table. I thought he might be the manager. But I found out that he is the French Chef. He created the menu for the Lao Restaurant part of the business. He knew the menu intimately and recommended us what to eat.  All the courses that he selected for us in a particular fashion were well executed and an enjoyable experience on the food. The service was excellent. It was a quiet night. Probably because it was a low season. One of the staff serving us was very interesting. We had a long chat on his people and country. The entire mood was relaxing and a wonderful night to end our trip in Luang Prabang.

Compliment from the restaurant – rice cakes with tomato relish. Crunchy and toasty. Light and a great way to warm up our appetite.

Yum Salad – a mixture of coarse lettuce, watercress, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs, fried garlic, fried shallots and several different type of herbs dressed with a mayonnaise Lao style sweet dressing. I have to admit – this taste like Caesar Salad, with a bit of French and Asian infusion. I love eating Caesar salad. This gives a traditional Caesar salad a  new meaning and twist.

Pounded perch fish, eggplants and herb soup with kaffir. A French bouillabaisse dish. Very very good and extremely tasty. A lot of chopped spring onions on top. Chunky pieces of perch – sweet and flavoursome.

Laaps Pedd – minced duck cooked with herb. Lots of lemongrass and coriander. Similar to a Thai larb dish. Again, a beautiful dish.

Mhok Het – steamed mushroom in coconut mousse with lemongrass and herbs. Again, this was similar to a Thai dish – “Hor Mok”, normally fish or chicken is used. I like the mushroom interpretation of a Hor Mok in this dish. Great flavour from the lemongrass and kaffir lime leaves wrapped in banana leaf. It was salty, sweet, a bit spicy and very juicy, which was perfect for this kind of dish.

We finished our dinner with a most delightful Lotus Leaf and Mint “Tiramisu”. It was probably one of the best tiramisu I have ever tasted. I agree it was a bit strange to serve or eat tiramisu at a Lao-French establishment. I guess that is why Lao food is still being defined. But, I believed I have found the traditional Lao food at “Tamarind” and modern Lao food at “3 Nagas”.

This last post complete my personal journey through Laos – people, place, food and culture. Hope you have enjoyed reading the six part series on Laos “Special Post”.

Cheers!

“Special Post” Laos Part Five

My second last chapter on Laos is based on a personal view on the life and culture of Luang Prabang. Before I left on this holiday, I read other traveler’s accounts of their holiday and seen their photos. But, never can I imagine what it was really like until I got here. It is never the same seeing a place in real life compare to still images. Also, it is never the same hearing from other experiences compare to one own experience. Simple reason. We are all different. We are brought up differently, in our own culture and background. But, I always hear this. It is always better to see and experience a place by assimilating ourself into the local scenes. That is how we learn about other people and culture. That is what make life interesting. That is why we travel.

Luang Prabang is no different from how I like to experience things when I travel to a new place. I like to see and experience the local scenes. Thus, this post is focus on Buddhism and morning wet market. This is the local life as how I see it. There is similarity in how I was brought up as a child in Penang, Malaysia.

My mum brought me up based on Buddhism and Taoism believes. In primary school, I also learned about Buddhism and Hinduism as part of history teaching. I never questioned about the practices and believes. I grew up practicing the same things as my mum would have done from generation to generation.

Things changed when I went to America for my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. I began to explore other reasons and believes of my existence. I became friend with a group of Christians in the university, called “Navigator”. It felt different. They were different. They always smile and laugh. They were extremely polite. They opened door for others and let others go before them. It felt strange. I was baptised in a a small icy cold stream in the middle of winter. I became a Christian! Lord help me! Then, it dawn on me that it was very strange and weird to behave that way. How long can someone really be nice all the time, 7 days a week. Or for the matter, not sin or if sin, ask forgiveness on Sunday church service. “Lord, I have sin”.

One day I woke up and came to my senses. I realised the entire charade of being a “Navigator” was not me. There is more to life. It is not me to conform to a certain group and mannerism where there is no individuality and all the same. Or, for the matter, make judgement on others on what is right and what is wrong. That was when I started questioning myself, my upbringing, my cultural background, my values and seeing things and life differently. I assimilated myself into the American student culture, became an Orientation Leader for incoming freshman, a Resident Assistant in a dormitory and became a member of Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity. I still hold the believes of my own culture and values of my upbringing. And, continue to learn, understand and experience the culture of others.

Luang Prabang is rich in culture, still intact and local lives go on daily as normal. The number of tourists flooding their streets keep growing each year, as more and more people are discovering the beauty of the place. It is inevitable that things will change especially in the outskirts of the heritage enclave, which is not protected under the UNESCO heritage listed area. Local life and culture will slowly disappear with the influx of tourism.

In the main heritage precinct, there are several beautiful temples and buildings. Buddhists go on with their daily lives. Phou Si hill in the middle of the peninsula providing a captivating bird eye view of the area. Several buddha statues near the foothill. The beauty of Luang Prabang is magical and enchanting with surrounding mountains, hills and gentle flow of Mekong River. The nature of the area reflects in the calm and gentleness of the locals.

Buddhism is a big part of the people and culture. There are many young Buddhist novices in the area. One of the most traditional custom in the area is the Buddhist morning alms. It starts at 5:45am. I had the chance to witness this morning ritual twice; the first and last morning of my stay. Rain or shine, the ritual goes on. I was quite fortunate as the first time I saw it, it was a beautiful clear morning. The second time it was raining. It was quite surreal to see the monks and the villagers carrying an umbrella. The monks were bare footed and clad in their saffron coloured robe. The villages, mostly women, sat on a bench or bamboo weaved mat. The morning alm continues even in a heavy downpour. The experience was very calming and peaceful.

I read a write-up at one of the local restaurant, “Tamarind” that the morning alm signifies the giving to one ancestral spirit for a better future and blessing in one next life. The giving is in the form of a pinch of sticky rice thrown into a bowl carried by the monk. I also read in the same article that the rice is then taken back to their temple to feed their commune with other charitable food provided by the local community in the area.

The peaceful face of a Reclining Buddha

Note the flat palm hand. My partner was tired and rested himself on the Buddha palm, after walking up and down the other side of Phou Si Hill. It was hot and humid. Thought it was cute. After he got down, one huge bee was buzzing around his face. It will not go away! I told him that he was being disrespectful to the Buddha and the bee was “basically” scolding him!

Villager’s food in containers waiting for morning alms

Place mats for the local women villagers

Buddhist morning alms

Watch the quietness of the morning alm, except the occasional clicking of a camera.

After the morning alms, I went to the wet market. It was really nice to see a living wet market. It was busy with local villagers buying their produces for the day cooking. The market here is more exotic than the one in Penang, Malaysia.

When I was young, I like to go to the wet market with my mum. It was only a short  5 minutes walk from our pre-war terraced house in Georgetown, Penang. At the time, there were life stocks such as chicken and duck, which were slaughtered and cleaned on the spot on order. But, this practice is no longer allowed in Malaysia.

The market in Luang Prabang has more than what I would expect to see; from the common Asian greens, herbs, roots, poultry, fish and meat to something quite exotic that I cannot contemplate cooking or eating myself.

Vegetables stalls

Live eels

Live toads!

How about some bats?

Or, live worms? Think about this as dry tequila!

Live baby shrimps – now this is new to me. I would love to fry some. Very fresh.

Variety of small chilies – I can tell they are extremely hot!

Something more common – garlic and shallots

Or black fungus, ginger? Very fresh. I wish I can buy some for cooking

Looks like Oyster Mushroom? But, maybe not. Very tempting.

What about this fresh greens?

Lemongrass and young Galangal

Fresh rice noodles stall

As I finished my personal tour of the wet market and about to leave the exit point, lo and behold someone had to arrive in style! It was none other than my partner, chauffeured by a handsome young man from the Mekong Riverview Hotel. Here I was, got up at 5:30am, went to see the Buddhist morning alm and finished browsing the wet market. And, he being more civilised (in a true sense), got up about 8am, had a decent breakfast and arrived in the hotel owned Golf Buggy!

“What’s Cooking” – 20 minutes Noodle

Landed back at home. In-laws left this morning. Last night a busy day cooking for everybody. Time to wind down and take it easy again. Back to normal and daily routine.

I have neglected my other regular post on “What’s Cooking” in the past few weeks. Simple reason – I didn’t have to cook. Eating out was the norm in the past 2 weeks in Penang and Laos. If I was given a kitchen – I would have loved to cook a few local dishes. One day, maybe just one day, my dream of walking through an Asian wet market picking fresh produce and ingredients for cooking may happen. This may come soon. I will make another trip back home to Penang in 5 weeks! I may try cooking out in my mum’s tiny kitchen of one portable gas burner! That will be a challenge for any decent Cook.

In case you are wondering if I have finished my posts on Laos. The answer is NO. I have a few more special posts to write on Laos. But, for now, I like to share my 20 minutes nooodle on tonight’s dinner. It is so simple. That is what I like. Nothing fancy. Just the two of us. Just a bowl in one hand and a chopstick in the other hand. He sat in front of his computer blogging happily. I sat on a bar stool watching tele.

All you need is a jar of Black Bean Chili Sauce (same as the one in my previous post), ginger, garlic, spring onion, Chinese black vinegar, sesame oil, thick caramel sauce, tofu puff, chinese cabbage and of course, some dry noodle. The flavour is very spicy, like a Sichuan dish.

Step 1: Preparation

1. Boil a pot of water with a bit of salt. On boiling, toss in some dry noodle. Boil until almost soft, then rinse in cold water. Let sit until ready to use.

2. Cut the tofu puff into small quarter. Set aside.

3. Chop 4 garlic cloves and small section of ginger. Set aside.

4. Chop 4 spring onion. Set aside for garnish later.

5. Chop 3 leaves of Chinese cabbage. Set aside.

Step 2: Cooking

1. Heat some cooking oil in a hot wok. Toss in garlic and ginger. Stir fry until fragrant.

2. Add 200-300 gm minced pork. Stir fry until cooked.

3. Add tofu puff and chinese cabbage. Continue to stir fry. Add a big tablespoon of black bean chili sauce, 1 tablespoon thick caramel sauce, 2 tablespoon black vinegar, 1 teaspoon sesame oil. Mix through and continue to stir fry. Continue to stir fry for another 5 minutes.

4. Add noodle and toss evenly through the ingredients. Sprinkle a bit of salt and sugar to taste.

Now, enjoy your 20 minutes noodle! Not a 5 minute Maggi Noodle. But better – tastier and very spicy! Use less black bean chili sauce if you like it mild.

“Special Post” Laos Part Four

In part three of my last post, I mentioned that I will talk about the markets next. After some thought, it is more important for me to talk about my experience on Lao culture and people. That is why I came to visit Laos – in the order of cultural experience, captivating scenery, delightful cuisines and exotic wet market, and then shopping (if any).

Laos Part Four is all about Lao people and culture. Buddhism plays a big part in Lao culture and their lives. I had the opportunity during my 8 days visit to Laos to visit a couple of remote villages (thanks to Daniel at Mekong Riverview Hotel for arranging the trip), spoke and listened to the people and witnessed the Buddhist early morning alms. The experience, though short, has touched my heart. There are few ethnic groups in Lao – Hmong (Highland Lao), Khmu (Midland Lao) and Lao Loum (Lowland Lao). Lao Loum is the largest ethnic group among the three, with the highest literacy. Both Hmong and Lao Loum still lives in poverty, farm their own food, sell their produce in markets. Most of their children have never seen or read a book. Literacy among the children is poor.

I had the opportunity to visit two villages; Khmu and Lao Loum. The contrast between the two villages is clear to my eyes. I hate to generalise my view, but will write based on what I saw, heard and listened. I was told before I went on this trip that these villages are not accustomed to outside tourists. Their daily lives go on as normal. They are not put on as a “show” for outside people or the camera mad tourists.

The Lao Loum village is far more progressive than the Khmu village. They live in semi brick and wooden houses, with some modern comfort for outside communication. The Lao Loum village is no different from a local Malaysian village out in the remote area. Their people are more educated. Most children go to school in Luang Prabang. Farming is a big part of their daily lives. The village is small, surrounded by farming, distant hills and cluster of giant bamboo growths.

There is a wooden bridge with rusted iron railings leading to the only street into the village. Rice fields, vegetable and herb farms fronted either side of the dirt road before the bridge. I leisurely walked along the only street, observing the local scene along the way. There was a lovely, aromatic scent in the air as I strolled along the dirt road. Not the smell of cow dung. But, the beautiful smell of fresh coriander! Yes, there are coriander herbs, dills, lemongrass grown vastly in this village. I was lucky to see the local villages sorting out the coriander from their bamboo weaved basket, tying a small bunch together with a thin string, make from bamboo! The tiny bunch of fresh coriander is then taken to the market in Luang Prabang and sold for 700 Kips (1 USD = 8,450 Kips). I will never forget this experience. It was great just to squat there for a moment, watched and listened to them sorting out the coriander. The smell of the coriander gently waft passed my face left a great sensation in my brain, longing to taste those fine herbs.

Bridge leading to a local Lao Loum village

Only street in the village – note the satellite dish outside the house

Giant bamboo forest

Rice fields

Lemongrass fields

Coriander fields

Freshly picked coriander in a basket

Local children sorting out coriander

Sorting out coriander, bind into small bunch for selling at the market

The next village was the Khmu village. It was an eye opening experience. This village is far more remote. The locals are not as accustomed to outside visitor as the previous village, Lao Loum. They live in a wooden bamboo huts. There is a small local school for the children, built from bamboo. It is a small rectangular building. The school was shut on the day we visited, a Sunday.

My partner and I bought several children books in English and Lao language, and several boxes of coloured pencils for the children. We bought from Big Brother Mouse, which was setup to help the local children to improve their literacy in English. I am very happy that we can do something like this – to help the children.

We arrived at the local village – there are so many children. Living condition is still poor in this village. Women and children were sorting out spring onions, bundled them to sell at the market. Different kinds of rice and chilies being air dried in the sun. Some women were stripping bamboo into thin strips, later use to tie a bundle of spring onion together for selling at the market. We slowly walked through the village, handing out books and pencils to the children. We did not know there are so many children. I wished we had enough for them.

Handing out books and coloured pencils to Khmu children

Spring Onions

A Khmu woman stripping bamboo

Finely stripped bamboo

Rice being air dried

Chilies being air dried – Ooh..they are very hot!

Local village Khmu Hen with her chicks

On our last night in Laos, we decided to stay at Vientiane. Same hotel – Lao Orchid Hotel. Nice small hotel. Very clean in a great location and friendly staff. We stayed there on our first day in Laos, before flying to Luang Prabang the next morning. We went back to Pho Dung, which was mentioned in my earlier post. Had lunch there. But our last dinner is what I like to share with you.

It was at a place called Mak Phet – a restaurant setup by Friends, training former street kids to give them a better future in hospitality. I had a nice chat with one of the staff. There are a total of 24 former street kids – 12 being trained in the kitchen and the other 12 being trained in the service section. They are trained over 2 years, with a one year rotation between the kitchen and front of the house service.

The restaurant is very tastefully set up, with potted plants in the front and a few tables. The decor is dark, rich timber work. The inside has a warm feel with a small shop selling small gifts. All profits and proceeds in the restaurant go to help the street children.

We ordered a couple of pre dinner drink, a few glasses of wine, 3 dishes and a dessert. Total bill was 261,000 Kips, about $30 USD. It is the best value in town. Mak Phet described their food as modern Laos in the menu. Serving size was huge and food was very tasty, cooked and served by former street children. It was a lovely night. The place was packed with customers. I intentionally gave some tips in cash together with the total bill. But was returned the cash by the staff. I supposed they are trained to return the cash and honesty as the policy. There was a small box marked “tips for staff” inside the main dining room. I dropped the cash into the box. Felt good and very happy with the night.

Lemongrass spiced chicken, young bamboo and mushroom stir fry. This dish has a certain Thai influence, almost like a green jungle curry. Less spicy but tasty. Stir fried with “Prik Thai On” (green peppercorn), which is a common spiced ingredient in Thai cooking.

Deep fried crispy shrimp with Lao green vegetables in lime and chili sauce. The sauce came separately in a small bowl for dipping. The shrimp was a good size river prawn, nicely coated and deep fried. We would normally called it tempura, and there were a few tempura sliced eggplant at the bottom of the salad, which tasted like coleslaw with Asian herbs of coriander and dill. The salad was refreshing and fresh. Prawn was soft and crunchy. A lovely dish.

Mok Head Che – bean curd, mushroom and pumpkin amok. We ordered this dish as a comparison to the one we had on our last night in Luang Prabang, at an exquisite Lao restaurant called 3Nagas. We are familiar with “Hor Mok” in Thai cuisine, which is normally cooked with chicken or fish. But, never tried mushroom until we had it at 3Nagas. This version at Mak Phek was equally good – very tasty and enough kaffir lime leaves to flavour the dish. It was our favourite dish at Mak Phet.

I had to try this dessert – pandan scented sticky rice and banana rolls served with coconut ice cream. I was glad we only ordered one dessert to share. It was huge. Rich, sweet, crunchy, toasty and really nice. But, I was not sure about sticky rice. Not anywhere to be found. I didn’t asked either as I was so taken away by the flavour of this sweet. The banana is sugar banana variety. In Malaysia, it is called Pisang Emas. The banana was coated with shredded coconut and flour and then deep fried.

I had the opportunity to taste the banana freshly plucked at one of the place visited. The skin was almost paper thin. The flesh thicker and has honey liked flavour and tint of orange in the inside flesh.

When you are in SEA, you have to try this variety of banana. It is sugary, soft and extremely tasty. Try it deep fried, which can be found in street stalls.

Hope you enjoy reading this post.

“Special Post” Laos Part Three

The Wattay domestic terminal is located in a small building next to the international building. It took 10 minutes to get there from our hotel in Vientiane downtown. There was no stress or fuss at the airport. We walked in and casually strolled to the check-in counter. The check-in was a manual process. There was a metal weighing scale for the check-in luggage. It was very simple. We arrived early so there was no crowd, and all was done in 10 minutes.

We waited for our flight to Luang Prabang. It departed on time. The plane was a French made turboprop aircraft produced by ATR (Avions de Transport Regional). There were two seats on either side of the aisle. I have flown in a smaller plane from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport to Fayetteville, Arkansas. That was back in 1982! It was quite an experience with lots of turbulence and bumpy rides along the way. I was glad that our flight to Luang Prabang was smooth and the landing was spectacular with surrounding mountain scapes on either side of the mighty Mekong River. If you are flying to Luang Prabang, make sure you have a window seat. The view is just stunning!

Mekong River is the seventh longest river in Asia. It flows through seven different countries; starting from the top of Tibetan Plateau down to China’s Yunnan province, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.

Luang Prabang Airport is small, so small that the plane disembarked the passengers less than 100 metres from the door of the arrival terminal building. Quite impressive if I may say. The entire flight trip was so simple and easy.

We had a picked up service from the hotel, Mekong Riverview Hotel. The staff waited for us on arrival. There was a welcoming smile from the young man. It does not take much effort for visitor to be charmed by Lao people. It reminds me of Thai culture and people, which is one of my favourite SEA (South East Asia) destinations.

In Laos, there are printed T-shirts that reads “Same Same”. I can understand why. If you love Thailand, you will love Laos. Think about the place, especially Luang Prabang, as Chiang Mai twenty or thirty years ago. It has a “same same” feel to the place – temples, monks, Buddhist rituals, big warm smile and regular greetings of “Sabai Dee” in Laos, or “Sawaddee” in Thai.

Luang Prabang is the former capital of Laos Kingdom, which was officially inscribed by UNESCO as a world heritage site in 1995. It has outstanding architecture blending traditional Lao architecture with European colonial structures built in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The townscape is remarkably impressive and best explored by foot or bicycle.

On arrival at Mekong Riverview Hotel, we were warmly greeted by Daniel, the residence manager and his staff. It is a small boutique hotel – a ground floor with front courtyard and a top floor with a balcony. Daniel and his staff were incredibly hospitable and friendly throughout our stay. The hotel provides free bicycle hire to house guest, the best way to see the place. Another option is to be chauffeured by one of the staff in a cute white golf buggy.

The view from our room and balcony is quite impressive. The gentle flow of Nam Khan River joining up to the Mekong River.  A wooden thatched roofing hut on the verge of two rivers bank. A tree lined street with swaying coconut trees. A few small fisherman boats in early morning – removing their fishnets supported by floating plastic bottles – to discover their prized catch of the day.

The hotel is located within walking distance to several café and restaurants. There are two ends to the streets in the heritage enclave of Luang Prabang peninsula.

The eastern side of the peninsula – quieter, less people and traffic. This side of the peninsula has the expansive boutique hotels and restaurants, interesting architectures and temples.

The western side of the peninsula – more known as the “farang” side with low to medium cost guest houses cater for backpackers. “Farang” is a term used locally in Laos and Thai to refer to foreigners. The tour agencies, Money Exchange, shops, cafes, markets are located in this side of the peninsula.

Went to Lala Cafe for lunch. There was a relaxed feel to the place. We walked in. There were 3 other tables with people using WiFi.

The place is stylish and modern with a contemporary touch. Lovely jazz music playing in the background. There are 3 different sitting areas; all open air. Inside and outside tables, and a few tables across the road in public space next to Nam Khan River.

We wanted a light lunch. Browsed through the menu. It has a mix of Lao and western food. We opted for Lao food, and ordered a vermicelli noodle with Lao spring roll and beef slices, and Lao snack of stuffed lemongrass.

While we were about to eat, two other tourists pulled up with their bicycles. I recognised them immediately. They were on the same flight with us from Penang to Kuala Lumpur and Kuala Lumpur to Vientiane. We began to chat. Michael and Traci, that is their names, live in Penang as expatriates. They were also in the same hotel as us, at Mekong Riverview. We laughed. It was like old friends meeting up in Luang Prabang.

This vermicelli noodle dish was very similar to the Vietnamese vermicelli dish. As I understand, most dishes in Laos are similar to Vietnamese and Thai. The dish was topped with lots of roasted nuts and dried shallots. It was refreshing with lots of mint and coriander herbs. The dressing which came in a separate bowl was sweet, sour, slightly spicy and very nutty. Spring roll was nice and slightly crunchy on the outside. Beef was again probably a water buffalo meat.

This was truly a Lao dish – stuffed lemongrass. It looked beautiful and interesting. The flavour was a bit subtle and blend for me, even with the sweet vinegary dressing. The stuffing was a blended minced meat (probably pork or chicken) with some herbs, wrapped in lemongrass and then deep fried. I was not sure how to eat it at first. I attempted to eat the lemongrass, which was a wrong thing. It was stringy and chewy. Eventually I figured out that I had to remove the lemongrass casing and eat the inside meat by dipping into the sauce. The dish came with sticky rice, which is a staple of Lao food.

The way to eat the sticky rice and accompanied dish is to use the right hand by pinching some of the rice and the left hand to pinch a dish from the plate. The rice is then put into the mouth first, followed by a left hand with the meat or vegetables. Most Lao dishes are dry, which explained how they can be eaten with a hand. Otherwise, the hand and fingers will get too wet and sloppy with sauce and gravy all over. I tried this with another Lao meal at a different restaurant. My left hand was left smelling like fermented shrimp paste for a couple of days.

Next post features the markets.