Recipes from Laos

This meal is pretty simple to prepare and is quite tasty at the same time (provided you like your veggies!). The only problem with it was the mess; it generated a good bit of dishes and quite a bit of cleanup. Maybe you can avoid that if you're more prepared and orderly than I was.

The main dish of this meal is the Five Vegetable Stir-Fry (the five vegetables being onions, carrots, cabbage, broccoli, and pepper). Laotian egg-rolls make quite a nice side dish, though some tend to think of them as the main attraction. If you want to fill out the meal nicely, you can make some rice along with it, though that isn't necessary as there is plenty of food without.

The real time-consuming part of this meal is chopping vegetables. If you don't have a lot of kitchen space, and multiple cutting boards, it can take a lot longer than the estimates the recipes give, so make sure that you either give yourself some extra time to cook or chop up all the vegetables beforehand.

Also note that you may want to halve these recipes if you don't want leftovers or you have a smaller family.

Once you have all of the vegetables chopped up, you should start out with the egg rolls.



To begin, boil water in a small pot, then add the rice noodles and remove from the heat. Allow to soften for 5 minutes. Drain them and set them aside.

Saute the ground pork, onions, and garlic in a frying pan until the pork is browned on all sides. Add in the carrots and cabbage and continue to saute until the vegetables are soft. Remove the vegetables and meat from the heat and put them a mixing bowl. Stir in the eggs, soy sauce, salt, and sugar.

Next, it's time to put the filling inside the egg roll wrappers. This process is outlined below:

Start out by spreading a few of the wrappers out and placing a small amount of filling on each of them. Not that you don't want them to be so full that they rip or tear, as the filling may spill out during cooking.


Next, fold two of the corners over and use a bit of water to stick them together:


Take one of the unfolded corners and fold it over the other side, tucking it under the fold already there:

Finish by rolling the egg roll up and sealing the seams with water.

Once all the egg rolls are ready to go, switch over to working on the stir fry, as cooking the egg rolls only takes 10 minutes.

Start by heating some oil in a pan, then saute the onions, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, and pepper until the vegetables begin to get soft. This should take around 5 minutes. Note that if you don't have a large wok, or aren't halving the recipe, you will most likely need to use two frying pans.

Add the water and broth powder, and stir. Cover and turn down the heat to low. Let steam for 10-12 minutes. After that, you can keep the vegetables in the pan on low for a little while if the egg rolls aren't done. Sprinkle with fish sauce and salt and pepper right before you serve.


Even before you get the vegetables on their last stretch of cooking, start heating up the oil for the egg rolls. When you think it's near ready, test a small bit of egg roll wrapper in the oil. If it immediately begins puffing up and bubbling, the oil is ready.

Do batches of 5 egg rolls at a time if your pan can support it. Depending on how many egg rolls you made, this could take a while, but generally no longer than 1-2 minutes per batch. When the egg rolls are close to brown, take them out of the oil with tongs and place them on a plate lined with paper-towels. If you're making a lot of them, place them in a low-heat oven while they're waiting to serve.


Once the vegetables are ready to go and the egg rolls are all cooked, you're ready to enjoy your meal!

The finished product:

And of course, here are the recipes:

Recipes

Laos

Now we will be going over to our first country from Asia: Laos. Laos is a small country between Thailand and Vietnam, populated primarily by those of Lao descent. Some of its distinguishing cultural features are its religious makeup - 67% of its population are Buddhists, with only 1.5% being Christian - and the fact that the country has remained predominantly Lao in demographics, culture, and language. The of Laos has been slightly influenced by Cambodia and Thailand, though both countries are quite close to Laos geographically.

The climate and environment of Laos make it a country quite suitable for tourism and vacationing. Though it lies in an area of the world which experience monsoons in the summer months, it is nonetheless quite enjoyable to visit during the non-monsoon months.

The rivers of Laos provide an important means of transportation, and can also give visitors the enjoyment of a kayak ride with many sights to see along. The varying terrain of Laos means there are many sights to see: from jungles, to deep gorges, even extensive caves (some of which the rivers flow right through).

A few of the special festivals of Laos include Boun Khoun Khao, a festival held in March to celebrate the harvest, Boun Pimai, the Lao equivalent of New Years, and Lao Naitional Day, a day which can be likened to the 4th of July. There are many more festivals that take place throughout the year as well.

Laotian cuisine differs a bit from other countries in southwest Asia. It varies from region to region, depending on the food available from each redion, but a few of the foods eaten include sticky rice, papayas, lemongrass, and banana flowers. Spices such as coriander, hot pepper, mint, dill, and more are often used in the Laotian kitchen.

The meal we will be cooking from Laos will be a five vegetable stir fry with some Laotian-style egg rolls, only a small but tasty look at the cusine of Laos.