Editorial
Lao cuisine: children of sticky rice and Thaiwashing
Lao cuisine is almost impossible to find in the Netherlands, but those who look hard are rewarded: Lao food is fresh, spicy and fermented.
Lao cuisine is almost impossible to find in the Netherlands, but those who look closely will be rewarded: Lao food is fresh, spicy and fermented and those elements come together in a giant sticky rice party.
While there are naturally overlaps between Thai and Lao cuisine, the two are nevertheless distinct from one another. Whereas Thai curries sometimes simmer for hours in coconut milk or need to be marinated, Lao food is a lot quicker to prepare and consequently fresher too. And because coconut milk is usually absent and a great many vegetables and fresh herbs are used as well, it is also healthier.
Sticky rice is the absolute foundation of Lao cuisine – it is the glue that holds everything together. Even though oceans lie between them, in the Lao diaspora it is sticky rice that connects Lao people all over the world to their culture and to Laos. Sticky rice child do they call themselves: the children (or descendants) of glutinous rice. The glutinous rice is also used as cutlery, pressed flat on your hand you scoop up your mouthfuls with it from your plate.
Padaek: fermented fish sauce
Another essential ingredient is padaek. Fermented fish sauce with a strong smell and typical taste that provides the savouriness in many Laotian dishes. And for the salty touch. If someone opens a bottle of padaek you can't escape it.
Bee this lovely little shop in Rotterdam make padaek themselves. You can see the owner in the photo here with a fish that had been fermenting for over a year:
And this is the fish sauce:
Extra kick thanks to dried chillies is not shied away from either, just like bitter flavours. For instance, thinly sliced banana blossom and raw Thai aubergines are used for bitterness as well as texture. Other commonly used ingredients: fresh bamboo shoots, ginger, galangal, large amounts of fresh herbs such as mint, coriander, kaffir lime leaves and dill. And limes.
Snails, duck confit croque monsieur
And in the capital of Laos, Vientiane, the French influence can be seen in the form of baguettes. Laos was a French colony until 1953, when it gained independence. As a result, you can still go to Laos for escargots, croque monsieur and confit de canard.
One of my favourite dishes is nam tok moo:
‘Nam tok’ means waterfall and refers to the juices released when the marinated meat is grilled. At this address with a secret Laotian menu you eat a very nice one.
Lao food in the Netherlands
Laotian food is rare in the Netherlands. At the address in Rotterdam do they make besides tasty laab...
... also home-fermented Lao sausages with rice.
The reality is that in some countries, such as England, the United States and France, Laotian food has already flourished much further. Here in the Netherlands, the cuisine is still in its infancy. And the fewer people know a cuisine, the fewer dishes from that cuisine are on the menu. And that is also the case with the two establishments I mentioned: a long list of Thai food and a small part of the menu is Laotian.
So definitely go there and ask plenty of questions about Laotian dishes. At the address in Rotterdam that has already helped: due to more demand following. this mooncake article is more Laotian cooking being done nowadays. By the way, it is not the first time that a menu of a cuisine that is rare in the Netherlands is upgraded because all of you start eating there. It happened before with this restaurant English this restaurant. Because a lot more was ordered, there are now many more specialities on the menu. And that is how, bite by bite, we make this country even tastier and more enjoyable.
Thaiwashing
Over the past 25 years, immigration from Thailand to the Netherlands has taken off. And you can see that reflected, among other things, in the Thai restaurants that you find all over the Netherlands. The fact that Western tourism to Thailand has been going on for longer also contributes to the popularity. But some dishes on the menu, such as papaya salad and sticky rice, are actually Laotian. And more Laotian specialities have similarly been subjected to Thailandisation. Dishes such as som tam (green papaya salad) and laab (a (raw) meat or fish salad) are gethaiwashed by using fewer chillies and more sugar. The use of fermented fish and insects is pushed aside. The food is then presented to the world as Thai.
