My parents were born in Laos but from two separate cities. My mom grew up in the north-central part of Laos called the city of Luang Prabang and my dad grew up in city Vientiane. This Laotian dish originated in Laos, but everyone has their own twist on making their best to fulfill their own with multiple bursting flavors.
I grew up on a lot of Laotian dishes.I was never a picky eater, but my older brother was. This specific dish made everyone satisfied because of how fresh and different it is while getting a solid nutritional value. I would always remember the smell of the rice balls being fried and instantly knew what my mom was making in the kitchen. We would usually make a lot at once because it’s easier to freeze them and then fry them whenever you were craving them. So, it’s not hard at all.
Lao Crispy Rice Salad (Nam Khao with Som moo)
Serves: 20 people
Preparation: 2 hours
Cooking: 45 min
(Adapted from Mini Loh Rice balls and sour pork salad for reference)
Ingredients
3 tablespoon fish sauce
2 ½ limes
1 teaspoon white sugar
6 Kaffir lime leaves, finely shredded
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup of cilantro, finely shredded
1 cup of green onions, finely shredded
Green leaf lettuce and betel leaves
Whole peanuts and deep-fried dried chilies, to serve
Red curry paste
9 large dried chilies, soaked, drained, seeded and sliced
2 Kaffir lime, rind finely shredded, or 8 finely shredded kaffir lime leaves
15 red Asian shallots
1 ½ small knob fresh galangal
4 lemongrass stalks, white part only
1 tablespoon shrimp paste
¾ cup red paprika
Nam khao (rice balls)
1110 grams 6 cups hot steamed jasmine rice
3 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon white sugar
5 eggs
2 tablespoon cornflour
1 bottle vegetable oil, for deep-frying
Som moo (sour pork sausage)
1 large block of fermented pork or 3 small packets, chopped
Instructions
To makes the red curry paste, use a mortar and pestle to pound all ingredients until paste forms.
To make the rice balls, cook the jasmine rice in a rice cooker and cool for 20 minutes. Combine the rice, red curry paste, fish sauce, sugar and 2 eggs. Gently mix the ingredients together and then roll mixture into a large golf ball-sized round.
Combine cornflour with the eggs. In a separate bowl, beat the remaining 3 eggs.
One-third fill a wok or a deep-fryer with vegetable oil and heat to 180 degrees Celsius. Dip the rolled rice balls into the cornflour mixture and then the beaten egg. Deep-fry in batches until lightly golden brown and crunchy. Drain on paper towel and cool for 20 minutes.
To make the salad, break sour pork into small pieces and place in a mixing bowl. Season the rice mixture with fish sauce, lime juice, sugar, lime leaves and a pinch of salt. Break rice balls into mixture and toss through with green onions and cilantro. Serve with green leaf lettuce or on betel leaves and scatter with whole peanuts and deep-fried chilies (optional)
Final Note: Betel leaves are leaves from the pepper tree and are available from Asian supermarkets along with every ingredient listed.
VICTORIA LEUANG 