July 1st, 2011
After being lucky in the so called rainy season in Southeast Asia, we touch down in Luang Prabang and it's raining- for two days straight. The airport looks like about the size of a gift shop, and as soon as we cross customs we decide to change our money over as ATMs are few and far between in Laos. In fact, I saw maybe one bank our whole time there. No Western chains- not even KFC which seemed to follow us everywhere else.
We checked into the hotel, and get into our room, and Andrea screams out. There was a dead mouse in the toilet. She was too freaked out to try and flush it, so I had to get the hotel staff to dispose of it. Disaster averted.
We walked into town around the river, setup a cooking class for the next day, and we split up for dinner.
July 2nd, 2011
Most of us (with the exception of Andrea's parents) headed to the Tamarind restaurant for a Lao cooking class. They took us to the market to see what would a typical Lao person might pick up. First up, was a snack known as "cat poop" which was essentially a stringy version of caramel corn. We were also shown the vegetables and spices they use, and finally the meat. This portion of the tour was smelly and disgusting for the most part- tripe, pig's feet, pig brains, and everyone's favorite- congealed blood! They use it in soup apparently.
It was back on the tuk tuks on a bumpy dirt and gravel road to our cooking classroom. Tamarind has their own farm out there. They even harvest their own monkfish which they breed. We started by making an eggplant and tomato chili dip, then moved onto a lemon dill monk fish wrapped into a banana leaf and steamed. Folding those leaves is harder than it looks! Both of these dishes were very flavorful, and we had ample time to use a mortar and pestle, which is good for getting out excess aggression.
Things took a more exotic turn when we made a stew with water buffalo, and river plants. We had the option of pork which was a no go, although I'm not sure how kosher water buffalo is! It was kind of gamey tasting, and was not the best dish of the day.
The last main dish was stuffed lemongrass- yes you can stuff a thin stalk root. Basically, you cut notches around the stalk until you can form the strings into a basket. I had a little bit of trouble forming it but the instructor helped me stuff the chicken moisture in. Roll it in egg and then throw it on the fire. By the time it was cooked, we sat down and enjoyed the fruits of our labour.
After the meal, we learned how to make coconut sticky rice and combined with some fresh fruit for dessert. By this time, everyone else was stuffed but I was hungry about ten minutes later. I guess at 30, I'm still growing ...well maybe outwards.
As the sun set, we descended into the night market. I learned a new negotiating technique- not negotiating at all and just asking what the price is, saying nothing, and starting to leave. I got a good deal on a souvenir this way. Andrea and I milled around in the market for awhile before calling it a night.
Next episode... "The Elephant In The Room".
No comments:
Post a Comment