I had driven all the way to Ban Pa Miang, a remote village at the edge of jungle in Lampang, in pursuit of khai paam, an old-school dish of eggs cracked into a banana leaf cup, seasoned and slow-cooked over coals – a grilled omelet of sorts.
At least that’s what I thought I was doing.
“Paam means to cook without oil in a banana leaf,” explained Pensri Rakwong, the friendly 48-year-old woman responsible for cooking duties at the village’s homestay program, from her semi open-air kitchen. This I was aware of, but it soon became clear that Pensri had something else in mind.
“Northern Thais consider khai paam a grilled dish,” she explained, while setting up a wok, “but most of the people here do it this way.”
“This way” meant placing two sheets of banana leaf over some simmering water in a wok, and cooking the eggs on top of them, essentially steaming them. The lack of oil and the use of a banana leaf – the defining elements of paam – were indeed present, but the process was entirely different. Also breaking the mold, Pensri supplemented her dish with mushrooms, tomatoes and onion, making it hearty, rather than the rich, smoky dish I had in mind.
I’ll admit, I was disappointed. I had driven all this way with something very specific in mind. But upon tasting it, I rallied: although Pensri’s khai paam took a significantly different form from what I had expected, its roots – a method of cooking eggs for those with little or no access to cooking oil – were still there, and perhaps most importantly, it was delicious.
Khai Paam
ไข่ป่าม
A steamed “grilled” omelet
Serves 4
Ingredients
3 eggs
2 large shiitake mushrooms (approximately 30 grams total), sliced thinly
1 small onion (approximately 50 grams), peeled and sliced thinly
1 medium tomato (approximately 80 grams), seeded and sliced thinly
1 small bunch green onion (approximately 20 grams), chopped
½ teaspoon ‘white’ soy sauce
1 pinch salt
3 feet of banana leaf, cut into 3 sections 1 foot long each
Thai Kitchen Tools
medium (approximately 12-inch) wok
Procedure
To a small mixing bowl, add the eggs, shiitake mushrooms, onion, tomato, green onion, ‘white’ soy sauce and salt. Stir thoroughly.
To a wok over medium-high heat, add 1 cup of water. When simmering, cover with two banana leaves. When the leaves are warm and pliable, and ensuring that there’s a bowl-like depression in the center, pour the egg mixture on topmost banana leaf. Cover the wok (if your wok doesn’t have a cover you can use any remaining banana leaves to do this) and steam the omelet until firm on the bottom, about 5 minutes. Place the remaining banana leaf over the top of the omelet and flip (including the banana leaf that’s below the omelet), steaming until the omelet is firm, another 5 minutes or so.
Remove to a serving dish and serve, warm or at room temperature, with sticky rice, as part of a northern Thai meal.