Things I like about Laos #3: Funerals in Luang Prabang

This may sound like a macabre title for blog post, but anybody who's been to a Buddhist funeral in Southeast Asia knows the events take a decidedly different form here. For starters, funerals in this part of the world are more like family reunions, and are generally festive, rather than dour in atmosphere. They can often last several days, depending on the family's budget. And most importantly, like much of life in Southeast Asia, they tend to revolve around food.

I learned this firsthand while walking the streets of Luang Prabang, in northern Laos. I was searching for images to illustrate an article on Lao food, when I came across a funeral entering its fifth day. A man of 82 had died, and directly in front of the house in which he grew up, his relatives and people who knew him had erected a tent and were busy cooking.

It truly was a communal affair, at least among the women, and everybody pitched in, including neighbours, neighbours' relatives visiting from America, and sometimes people who just happened to walk by:

Those not able to help in the more physical parts of preparation simply dished out the final product:

in this case, a thick coconut curry called khua kai.

When a meal, usually consisting of four different dishes, sides of fresh herbs and veggies, and sticky rice, was completed, the dishes were put on trays then laid out to be consumed:

Between meals everybody snacked on miang laao:

A variety of toppings ranging from pork crackling to garlic that are put in a leaf, topped with a salty/sour sauce, and popped in the mouth.

Among the dishes made in the three days I visited the funeral were an herb-filled omelet, a laap-like pork dish, and because it was in season, several dishes revolving around bamboo, including a clear soup (pictured at the top of this post), and a delicious stir-fry of crispy bamboo, egg and ground pork:

Below is the recipe for saem, an eggplant and pork dish that I was able to watch being made from beginning to end. I was told by the people making it that the dish can only be found in Luang Prabang, and is among a repertoire of dishes often served at funerals and other occasions.

I've failed to include amounts here simply because the women themselves didn't measure anything; like most recipes in this part of the world the cooking was done entirely by taste, feel and experience. The dish is pictured at the top of this post at about 4 o'clock, and below.

Saem: Pork and eggplant 'salad'

Making saem

-Boiled pork liver and belly, sliced thinly -Lao fish sauce (paa daek) -Rice cakes (khao khop) -Young, round purple eggplants (ideally w/out seeds), boiled until soft and peeled -Ground pork, boiled -Salt, MSG, dried chili powder -Green onion and cilantro, sliced finely -Sides: fresh mint, watercress, leafy pak boong, long beans, chilies and small purple eggplants.

Slicing pork liver for saem

1. Simmer fish sauce with some of the broth left over from boiling the pork liver and belly until reduced and fragrant. Strain and reserve. 2. Pound rice cakes in mortar and pestle until very fine. Remove. 3. Pound eggplant and ground pork in mortar and pestle until well blended. 4. Season to taste with Lao fish sauce, salt, MSG and chili. 5. Add pounded rice cake powder, liver and belly. Blend well. 6. Garnish with green onion and cilantro. 7. Serve with sides and sticky rice.

Visions of Laos

At Phonsavan's evening market.

I recently spent two weeks in Laos, taking photos and gathering information for two separate articles on food and travel. I was primarily occupied with these two topics until while in Luang Prabang I happened to run into Magnum photographer Abbas. Talking to him about his work, I was inspired to go back through the pics I had taken that didn't necessarily have to do with my work. There's little in common with Abbas' work (he's doing a long-term project on Buddhism), and no single unifying theme, but rather the images below are simply those that I find interesting.

Landscape, Vientiane.

Watch repairman, Xam Nuea.

Mekong River, Luang Prabang.

Rice farmer outside Phonsavan.

Cooking, Luang Prabang.

At Xam Nuea's evening market.

Takraw, Vieng Xai.

For a slideshow of the entire photoset of 19 images go here.

Things I like about Laos #2: sticky rice

Known in these parts as khao niaow, I could eat this stuff all day. In Laos that's easier done than said. And at the moment, I'm also fortunate enough to witness the first stage in rice production:

not to mention the last:

Things I like about Laos #1: khao jii

  Yes, I realize these fantastically delicious baguette sandwiches are Vietnamese/French in origin, but they're virtually nonexistent in Thailand and are one of the things I look forward to eating when in Laos. More Things I Like About Laos to follow...

Any guesses where I am?

  And no, it's no isaan (northeastern Thailand). A pretty easy challenge for most of you, I imagine... Sorry blogs have been slow in coming, but I'm on the road at the moment and have little time to spend at the computer. When I'm a bit more stationary, I'll be blogging on some of the interesting stuff I've seen and eaten in this country. In the meantime, be sure to check out the feature I've done on backpacker food at the Lonely Planet website.

Nang Loeng Market

Nang Loeng Market, located just north of Banglamphu, off Th Nakhorn Sawan, is among the city's oldest continuously operating markets. The recipient of a recently-finished makeover culminating in a fresh coat of paint, new tiles and a rather garish sign, Nang Loeng Market is hardly looking its 100+ years. However, in all honesty, the label 'market' is a bit of misnomer here. The Nang Loeng of today resembles something more of a food court than a fresh market, and the main hall is dominated not by piles of greens or still-flapping fish, but rather by stalls selling prepared dishes:

For larger version of this image, go here. 

At lunch the market is packed with hungry employees from the surrounding area; come at virtually any other time and you're likely to have the entire place to yourself.

My favourite stall at Nang Loeng, and among the most popular, is a curry vendor called Ratana:

I've blogged on this stall previously, and on every consecutive visit, seem to find some unusual dish. My most recent meal revealed a bizarre soup combining pork leg and peanuts. I continue to find their slightly dry green curry (made with a spicy, but not hot-spicy, homemade curry paste) among the most delicious in town.

At virtually every stall other than Ratana, Nang Loeng epitomises old-school/central Thai flava, meaning you'll find two things in abundance: noodles and sugar. The former was present in a bowl of kuaytiaw khae, fishball noodles, from the stall pictured at the top of this post:

Despite the vendor's experience ('couple decades', I was told) and confidence-inspiring old-school stall, it turned out to be a pretty normal bowl of noodles with handmade, although underwhelming fishballs.

Sugar and noodles were present in just about everything else I consumed. They reached an almost harmonious junction in an old-school Thai dish called mee kathi:

Thin rice noodles (coloured yellow with food colouring, 'To make them look more delicious,' according to the vendor) topped with tofu, dried shrimp and a thick coconut milk-mushroom-ground pork dressing. In theory a savoury dish, but boasting enough sweetness to border on dessert, for me at least. The dish is what I imagine much of Thai food, in particular that of Bangkok and the surrounding provinces, used to taste like in the not-so-distant past. Not surprisingly, the vendor, who looked at least 70, claims to have been making this dish since she was a child. She told me that she used to use crab meat, but finds it too expensive now.

Another dish that combined sweet flavours and noodles was the hard to find kuaytiaw kaeng, 'curry noodles':

This the beef version, which also included bits of tofu and a hard-boiled egg and a thick curry broth not unlike the sweet, peanuty dipping sauce that accompanies satay.

Not surprisingly, given the emphasis on the sweet, Nang Loeng is also known for its Thai desserts, such as these photogenic sticky rice with various toppings:

And as if this wasn't enough to rot your teeth, Nang Loeng is also something of a depot for sugarcane juice:

The fresh stalks are squeezed of their juice in a dark room just outside the market, before being bottled and loaded into carts to be sold on the streets of Bangkok.

Being a fan of salty, rather than sweet flavours, I must admit that I like Nang Loeng more for its old-school atmosphere:

than its food, but it's still worth a visit if you're never been, or at not least since the renovation.

For a slideshow of the complete photoset of images, go here. For my previous writeup of the market, including a couple interesting vendors I didn't mention above, go here. And for additional blogger insights into Nang Loeng, go here and if you're willing to search around a bit, here.

Nang Loeng Market (Google Maps link) Th Nakhorn Sawan 10am-2pm, Mon-Fri

A not yet unpacked street stall

as seen in Bangkok's Chinatown. Any idea what this stall serves?

Incidentally,  I initially wrote 'An unpacked street stall' until I realised that the word unpacked literally means not packed, despite the fact that it's commonly used to mean the exact opposite of this. If you're not completely confused and desire more details on this odd linguistic phenomenon, go here.

Press Photo in Focus

Tim Hetherington's image of US soldier in Afghanistan is the 2007 World Press Photo Photo of the Year.

For the first time, the prestigious World Press Photo exhibition is being held in Bangkok. The exhibition features 156 photographs from the 51st annual World Press Photo Contest as well as the Thai Press Photo Exhibition. The exhibition is being held from now until July 6 at Zen Event Gallery, 8th floor, Zen Department Store, CentralWorld. Official site here. While at CentralWorld, be sure to stop by Earth From Above.

Baan Phat Thai

As the painfully obvious name ('Phat Thai House') suggests, this is indeed a phat thai restaurant, but there are no noodles in today's post. Rather, walking by this tiny shophouse restaurant in Olde Bangkok, I was drawn to the vast array of ingredients used to make khao khluk kapi, rice cooked in shrimp paste and served with a vast array of toppings. This is one of my favourite Thai dishes, and as it seems to be little-known among visitors to Thailand, I've been working tirelessly to promote it, with previous mentions here, here and here.

And I'm lucky I decided to stop by, as Baan Phat Thai's khao khluk kapi, pictured at the top of this post, is one of the better I've tasted. Here's the proprietor assembling a dish, with the reflection of Sino-Portuguese shopfronts along Th Mahanop in the background:

Baan Phat Thai is a Muslim restaurant, so rather than muu waan (sweet pork), beef is used. Other ingredients include, starting at 12 o'clock and moving clockwise, a garlicky-salty-dried shrimp mixture similar to a dry sambal belacan; am omelet that has been sliced into thin strips; beef braised in palm sugar and fish sauce; thinly sliced long bean; lime; cucumber; sliced shallots; shredded sour mango. Whew. The rice itself was rich and savoury, and lacked the oil that many weaker versions of this dish have.

Excellent, and more incentive to try the phat thai on my next visit, I reckon.

And yes, I know exactly what you're thinking, so here goes: a recipe for khao khluk kapi in Swedish.

Baan Phat Thai (Google Maps link) 105 Th Mahanop 9:30am-5pm

Panoramadness

Bangkok's Saphan Phut, Memorial Bridge, at night. A composite of five separate images stitched together with Photoshop CS3's Photomerge function. For larger image, go here.

For mindless photographic phun, I've been turning to Photoshop CS3's Photomerge function. With little more than the push of a button, it seamlessly welds separate images together into a flawless panorama. An Adobe-sanctioned video tutorial can be found here.

Hua Lamphong, June 16, 2008

Apparent apathy at Bangkok's central train station.

Bangkok's Sunday Vietnamese Market

In reading Suthon Sukphisit's excellent Cornucopia column, which runs every Saturday in the Bangkok Post, I was reminded of a Vietnamese market that takes place every Sunday morning off Th Samsen. Considering that my last few posts have been decidedly Vietnam-oriented, I figured a visit and a blog wouldn't be out of place here and now.

The market unfolds in an area known locally as Baan Yuan ('Vietnam Town') directly behind the St Francis Xavier Church. According to Suthon, the area has been inhabited by people of Vietnamese origin for more than 200 years. Other than the Catholic church, today there's little to indicate that the area is any different from any other riverside community in Bangkok. However a close look at the neighbourhood's Sunday market reveals its Vietnamese origins.

It's a small market that appears to thrive on the after-service rush at about 10am or so:

A couple stalls sell ingredients imported from Vietnam or used exclusively in Vietnamese cooking:

including several varieties of muu yor, the ubiquitous steamed pork sausage, tiny baguettes from Nong Khai, jars of coarsely ground black pepper, and the rice noodles and rice paper wrappers used in various Vietnamese dishes.

If you come hungry there are also a few prepared dishes, including khao kriap paak mor, shown at the top of this post.  As mentioned previously, this dish takes a freshly-steamed noodle:

and fills it with a pork and herb mixture and serves it with a spicy/sour dipping sauce. A variation on this, known as ban daa, and previously mentioned here, takes the steamed noodle and puts it in a crispy rice cracker:

I liked the khao tom yuan, a thick fish (or chicken) based soup with round, squiggly noodles:

I also liked the khanom bueang yuan, the famous Vietnamese stuffed crepe:

although, in rather un-Vietnamese fashion the dish was served without fresh veggies and herbs.

Other dishes include deep-fried spring rolls, Vietnamese-style roast pig (unfortunately sold out when I arrived) and a shop at the middle of Soi 11 that appeared to sell some tasty-looking naem nueang.

Sunday Vietnamese Market (Google Maps link) Samsen Soi 11-13 (located directly behind St Francis Xavier Church) Sundays, 6-10am

Nong New

Nong New, a stall in Bangkok's Chinatown, specialises in a few dishes that you're more than likely to run into in this part of town: birds' nest and shark fin soup. I've had bird nest soup a couple times, and find it too sweet for my taste. And shark fin soup is a ridiculous dish that's more superstition than cuisine. But there's still reason to visit Nong New's stall; he's known for making some of the best phat mee hong kong, 'Hong Kong-style fried noodles', in the area:

This dish, which one could best describe as deliciously bland, combines thin round wheat noodles with exceedingly fresh and tasty shrimp, crab meat, chicken breast and dried mushrooms, not to mention a variety of sauces and flavourings, ranging from what looked like oyster sauce to Chinese dark vinegar.  Nong New (shown at the top of this post) takes great care in preparing his noodles, at times judiciously mixing the contents with a small metal spatula, and at other times simply grabbing the wok with a towel and tossing the ingredients in the air by hand. This results in a dish that's not only balanced and delicious, but at 100B (about $2.50 US), also the most expensive mee phat hong kong in the area.

Having never been to Hong Kong, I was wondering if this dish, or something similar to it, can actually be found there?

Nong New (Google Maps link) Th Yaowarat (across from Th Phadung Dao) 081 497 6125 6pm-late

Chinatown, June 11, 2008

Ladyboy prostitute, Bangkok's Chinatown

Reflections, Bangkok's Chinatown

Man and bespectacled dog, Bangkok's Chinatown

Fat baby and owner, Bangkok's Chinatown

Soi Texas, a dodgy back alley in Bangkok's Chinatown

A prostitute in a back alley in Bangkok's Chinatown

Mukdahan by night

Mukdahan is probably the least known and quietest of Thailand's large cities located along the Mekong. Despite this, it had one of the region's best night markets:

It was surprisingly large for such a small town, and despite being firmly rooted in rural northeastern Thailand, Vietnamese food was just about everywhere.

A couple stalls sold this previously unseen specialty:

Pig legs stuffed with a pork and mushroom mixture. Sliced into disks and served as an appetizer, it was deliciously rich and savoury, almost like a pate.

Another unique dish was ban daa, shown at the top of this post. The dish takes the steamed noodle I've mentioned previously, but mixes it with a beaten egg and slaps a crispy sesame-laden rice cracker on top:

Bizarre, but actually truly wonderful--crunchy, hot and soft--it's a real texture experience. I've seen a similar dish elsewhere, but according to the vendor, the egg version is only available around Mukdahan.

Another stall sold naem nuang (Vietnamese: nem nướng):

skewers of grilled pork that are eaten wrapped in tiny squares of rice paper along with sour fruits, copious herbs and a sweet sauce. Far less meaty than those sold in Bangkok, the pork was also freshly grilled and still had that wonderfully smoky flavour.

See the entire photoset here.

Khai katha

Khai katha, literally 'pan eggs', is a dish I came across in virtually every Thai town that bordered the Mekong River. It's apparently a Vietnamese take on fried eggs for breakfast, although I don't recall having seen it there.  The eggs, fried up in a tiny aluminum pan (the katha), are supplemented with thin slices of kun chiang (Chinese sausage), muu yor (Vietnamese sausage), sliced green onions, and unusually for Thailand, ground black pepper. The dish is also accompanied by bread, which at the better places, takes the form of a freshly-toasted French-style baguette (although it must be said that the Thai ones are nowhere near as good as their Vietnamese and Cambodian counterparts).

The khai katha above is from Nong Khai, where after meeting it for the first time by the city's morning market, noticed the dish just about everywhere on the drive back to my hotel. Khai katha is big in Nong Khai. The bread shown in the background is a half-arsed Thai attempt at bánh mì, a Vietnamese-style sandwich, but included a few thin slices of the previously-mentioned sausages and little more.

Another version in the town of That Phnom, in Nakhorn Phnom province, was more like an omelet:

Rather than the muu yor they used cheap hotdogs and ground pork, and in place of the French-style bread, toasted white bread. It was a low point in my khai katha experience.

Undeterred, I bought two katha in Mukdahan, and since returning home have been making the dish for breakfast nearly every day, using tasty free-range eggs, muu yor from Ubon Ratchathani and decent French bread from La Boulange, and have refrained from cooking the hell out of the eggs.

Banglamphu, June 7, 2008

Golden Mount, Bangkok

Flying kites at Sanaam Luang, Bangkok

Mae Ut

From Chiang Mai, I decided to go back home the long way: over to Chiang Rai, then back to Bangkok along Thailand's length of the Mekong River. The vast majority of this trip took place in isaan, Thailand's rural northeast, which food-wise, normally inspires thoughts of sticky rice, som tam and grilled chicken. However the residents of the Mekong region love their Vietnamese food. I had heard this before, but was not prepared for just how completely ubiquitous and utterly delicious Vietnamese food was. In Nakhorn Phnom, for example, there were three Vietnamese restaurants within walking distance of each other, but not a sticky rice steamer or mortar and pestle to be seen. I'm going to profile some of these dishes and restaurants in the next couple blogs, beginning with this amazing restaurant in Nong Khai.

Mae Ut told me her mother was originally from Hanoi. She learned her recipes from her when she was young, and has making them in the same location for more than 40 years:

Her son, pictured above, lends a hand, and they're both extremely kind and enthusiastic about their food, taking the time to describe to me the dishes I wasn't familiar with. This didn't take a great deal of time, as Mae Ut only makes about four different things. Naturally I decided to have three of them.

I started with khanom paak mor (pictured at the top of this post), known elsewhere in Thailand as khaao kriap paak mor, and in its country of origin as bánh cuốn. It's a freshly-steamed noodle, filled with a ground pork mixture, topped with deep-fried crispy shallots and served with sides of muu yor, a Vietnamese-style pork sausage, a sweet/sour dipping sauce, and a vast plate of fresh veggies and herbs. This dish is sometimes available at Vietnamese restaurants in Bangkok, but Mae Ut's version was heads and shoulders above anything I've ever had here, and might even be tastier than the bánh cuốn I had in Hanoi. The noodle was soft and almost egg-like, and the filling was deliciously savoury and peppery. The muu yor was among the better I've had, and the dipping sauce was balanced, unlike versions in Bangkok which tend to be sweet, or versions in Hanoi, which I often found varyingly too sweet or too sour. My only complaint would be Mae Ut's herbs, which although diverse, weren't as fresh as they could possibly be.

I followed this with deep-fried spring rolls, known in this part of Thailand as miang thot:

Unlike pawpia, typical Thai spring rolls, miang thot wrappers are clear and shatteringly crispy, and the ground pork and veggie filling nearly spicy from the copious white pepper, and if I'm not mistaken, a very slight cumin flavour. The dipping sauce for this dish was slightly different than that of the previous dish and included ground peanuts, but was still balanced and delicious.

My final dish, ban baew (from, I believe, the Vietnamese bánh bèo), was the most unusual:

It took thick, coin-sized rounds of noodle and topped them with pork floss, crumbled pork rinds, crispy deep-fried shallots, and a sweet/sour dipping sauce, slightly different than the one accompanying the other dishes. I'm not a big fan of the sweet flavour of pork floss, so this was my least favourite dish.

Friendly proprietors, simple but excellent food and great old-school atmosphere; hands down one of the best meals I've had in Thailand in a long time. Unfortunately I'll probably never be able to eat Vietnamese in Bangkok again...

Mae Ut (Google Maps link) Th Meechai, Nong Khai 042 461 04

Chinatown, June 5, 2008

Reflections on Th Yaowarat, the main street in Bangkok's Chinatown

Playing a Chinese instrument in Bangkok's Chinatown

Selling lottery tickets near Th Charoen Krung, Bangkok's Chinatown

Selling sexual aids in Bangkok's Chinatown

In Bangkok's Chinatown

Playing xiang qi, 'Chinese chess' in Bangkok's Chinatown

Earth From Above

The Corcovado overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Image courtesy of Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

Those in Bangkok are highly encouraged to visit Earth From Above, a photo exhibition currently on display at Central World. French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand has been taking photos from helicopters, planes and balloons for several decades now, and this exhibition features his work from 1999's Earth From Above, a bestselling book and accompanying traveling exhibition of a series of aerial photographs that goes back to the 1990s. The full title of the exhibition, 'Earth From Above: An Aerial Portrait of Our Planet Towards A Sustainable Development' makes it clear that these aren't just pretty pictures, but rather a look at man's impact on the earth, as well as the change that witnessing this can potentially inspire.

The exhibition is at Zen Outdoor Arena until September 9, from 10am to 10pm Monday to Thursday, and from 10am to 11pm Friday to Saturday. Admission is free.

Photos and additional information can be found at the photographer's website: www.yannarthusbertrand.org.