Sao Darly

Starting the week off right with Lao food to sooth my soul. The dish is no other than green papaya salad with rice noodle. I still have enough left of kiep moo or pork rinds to add to the meal.

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What a happy Friday it is to have my favorite dish for dinner. I made green papaya and noodle salad to go with kiep moo or pork rinds. The papaya was a bit ripe so it was a sign of good luck. Well, that is a Lao saying anyway to buy a green papaya and it happened to be a bit ripe.

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An experiment that turned out really well using carrot with noodles and adding Dutch shrimps to the salad.

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I made Laap Beef or Lao minced meat salad for dinner. It was a perfect meal to go with World Cup Football match. Laap beef is not my favorite Lao food dish but I can eat it a few times a year.

I bought some string beans from a Chinese grocery store in Rotterdam over the weekend. I usually like to steam them along with other vegetables to go with tomato chutney or Jeow maak len. But now and then it’s nice to have tum maak thua or Lao string bean salad with grilled fish or fried fish.

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I made another Lao green papaya salad for dinner on June 28, 2010. It was a perfect meal to go with the World Cup Match. I even treated myself extra with Som Moo or soured pork sausage and pork rinds. The meal was served with rice stick noodles rather than steamed sticky rice.

I don’t eat much Lao food like I used to daily when I was still living with my parents. I eat simple food most of the time like salad for dinner, fruits and soy drink for breakfast and lunch. When I do make Lao dish, it’s usually Lao green papaya salad. On a rare occasion I would take my time to make bamboo shoot soup or other Lao traditional food like mushroom soup when I have a craving for it.

Here is another Lao green papaya salad for dinner on June 25, 2010. I buy one big papaya so it takes a few salads before it’s all gone.

Growing up in Laos meant spending a great deal of time watching sports such as boxing and football. I can still remember the thrill of going to football matches at a stadium in Vientiane. Football is like a religion in our family so naturally the World Cup is a time when we would feast on various Lao dishes and how can I forget the snacks for the men and their Beer Lao. It’s a good time for family and friends to gather around the TV cheering the favorite team.

Even though I am at “Home away from Home” I still treat myself to my favorite Lao food like Lao green papaya while cheering for my favorite teams during the World Cup.

Lao green papaya salad on June 24, 2010 for Netherlands vs Cameroon match.

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When I went to Laos in February and March of this year, I was introduced to Ant Eggs Omelet in Vientiane. Every morning there would be old ladies passing by the house to sell us fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, and other various grocery items. These ladies would carry their produce the old fashion way with baskets and a handle on their shoulders made from bamboo.

On this particular morning there was a few hundred grams of ant eggs. The eggs were quite small, not as big as the ones I saw in southern Laos back in 2007. With such small amount of ant eggs, our cook decided to make ant eggs omelet to add to the breakfast table. I took a couple of bites for the experience and it was like the usual omelet with ant eggs popping in my mouth. Yummy!

Green mango snack I made in March of this year during my trip to Laos. My friend Fong insisted that I be an Alpha tester of the young mangoes. The trees were bearing their first season of fruits and were doing quite well than their next door neighbors. This year was not a good year for mango lover due to lack of rain across the country.

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