Thai Lao Bamboo Soup

Happy Thai and Lao New Year 2550! For this occasion, I like to meet up with my family at Wat Lao Veluwanaram, a Buddhist temple that is an hour north of Toronto. We choose to "takbat" at this location because my cousin, Vilaysith Sanoubane, is the Chairman and CEO and my brother-in-law drew the architectural design that captures the spirit of Wat Lao. If you go there in the summer, it feels like you are in Laos.

I encourage everyone to visit the web site to read up on Buddhism and browse through the pictures. Better yet, go visit and meditate with the monks! Don't forget to make this traditional bamboo soup and offer it to them.

Soup Recipe: Bamboo Soup
2 cups yanang extract
2 cups bamboo
1 cup chopped mushrooms
15 to 20 quail eggs hard boiled
2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass
2 tablespoons chopped shallots
2 tablespoons sticky rice
4 chilies
2 tablespoons salted gourami fish or 3 tablespoons fish sauce

Boil bamboo for 30 minutes. Drain water and chop bamboo. Soak sticky rice in water for 30 minutes. Drain water and add sticky rice in mortar with chilies. Pound with pestle until rice is a thick paste. Remove the sticky rice thickening paste and reserve. Add lemongrass and shallots in the mortar and pound with pestle until they are crushed into small pieces. In a pot over high heat, add chopped bamboo, yanang extract, mushrooms, and crushed lemongrass and shallots. Bring to boil. Add salted gourami fish, sticky rice thickening paste, and quail eggs. Cook for 15 minutes or until rice cooks. Stir pot often to prevent rice from burning at bottom of pot.

As an option, add 1/2 of chopped squash, as seen in the squash and custard video.

Tapioca Pearl, Taro & Jackfruit Dessert

The tapioca pearl dessert is probably the most popular of Lao desserts. There are endless versions. For instance, you can use yam instead of taro; jackfruit is optional; tapioca pearl comes in different sizes and colours. This Lao dessert is probably similar to the Asian "bubble tea" since they both contain the tapioca pearl.

For a colour and crunch version of the tapioca pearl, the substitute the dessert with the water chestnut dumplings.

Dessert Recipe: Tapioca Pearl, & Taro Jackfruit Dessert
1 cup tapioca pearl
2 cups chopped taro or yam
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1 cup fresh coconut milk
½ chopped jackfruit (optional)
water

Peel bark from taro and wash. Cut taro into bite size pieces. Bring 6 cups water to boil. Add tapioca pearl and boil for 15 minutes. Drain tapioca pearl in colander and rinse under running water. In a bowl, add tapioca pearl and 1/2 cup of cold water. In a pot, over high heat, add 2 cups water. Once water boils, add salt, sugar, taro, and coconut milk. Boil taro for 15 minutes. Turn heat off. Add tapioca pearl and chopped jackfruit. Mix and serve warm or cold. When dessert thickens over time, serve with ice.

Tapioca Pearl is a common ingredient for Thai and Lao Dessert Recipes like the khao dome corn wrap dessert. Taro is a common ingredient for the khao dome - sticky rice in banana leaves.

Chicken Rice Noodle Porridge

This Chicken Rice Noodle Porridge is the gourmet version of the Jasmine Rice Porridge and both dishes are called 'khao biek'. Other Asians would call this dish "congee soup".

Soup Recipe: Chicken Rice Noodle Porridge1 cup chopped chicken pieces
Chicken bone (optional)
3 to 4 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 cup rice flour
1 cup glutinous rice flour
1 cup boiling hot water
Tapioca starch

Sides:
Soy sauce
Fried garlic
Dry chili flakes
Oil & garlic chili sauce
Chopped green onions and cilantro

For Chicken broth: In a pot over high heat, crisp garlic and oil. Add chopped chicken are stir fry until cooked. Add water, salt and chicken bone. Bring broth to boil. Scoop out any foam residue from broth. Reduce heat to medium and cover.

For Noodle: Mix rice flour, glutinous rice flour and boiling hot water. Knead rice dough for 3 minutes. On a flat surface, sprinkle tapioca starch. Roll out rice dough until it is 15 centimeters long, 3 millimeters thick and cut noodles about 5 millimeters apart. Use tapioca starch to sprinkle where dough is sticky.

Chicken Rice Noodle Porridge Individual bowls:
Add noodles to broth and cook noodle for 3 to 5 minutes. Laddle on to individual serving bowls. Add ½ teaspoon fried garlic, ½ teaspoon chili flakes, ½ oil & garlic chili sauce, 1 teaspoon soy sauce, chopped green onions and cilantro. Mix and enjoy.