Rice-Tapioca Noodle Soup (Kow Piek Sehn)

I thought this dish was perfect for the current weather conditions outside. If you're stuck inside the house and want something to warm you up, you should definitely try this.

Kow piek sehn is a very traditional Laotian dish that's known to cure the common cold and hangovers. At least that's what we Laotians believe. I think it's kind of strange that we love to eat this when it's cold outside but back in the homeland this dish is enjoyed in 100 plus degrees temperature with 100 percent humidity. I guess that means this dish is good no matter the weather or temperature.

Because these noodles are made from scratch many people tend to think that it's complicated to make. In actuality, the noodles consist of only 3 ingredients: rice flour (non-glutinous), tapioca starch, and scorching hot water. The soup/broth itself is merely chicken itself. So the next time you're craving this dish, try making it yourself and enjoy the fruits of your labor. You, your friends, and family will love you more for it.

The recipe below will yield 2-3 servings, so do the math to determine your desired yield for your guests.

Ingredients:

Noodles:

1/2 cup rice flour (non-glutinous)
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1 cup boiling hot water

Soup:

3 quarts chicken broth
1/2 chicken (bone-in)
1 tablespoon kosher salt (sea salt is fine too)
2 inch piece of galangal root (thinly sliced)

Accompaniments:

Cilantro (roughly chopped)
Scallions (roughly chopped)
Red or white onions (thinly sliced)
Chili oil or dried crushed chili peppers
Fried shallots
Jalapenos (fresh or pickled)
Soy sauce
Sriracha
Hoison sauce
Limes (cut for juicing)

Directions:

Noodles:

Combine the flour and starch and mix well. Now, slowly add the boiling hot water. Begin kneading the dough but be very careful as it can give you a 1st degree burn. To avoid this try wearing latex gloves, wait for it to cool just slightly (but not too much, just enough to where it feels like your hands won't burn), or use a stand mixer with the dough hook attachment.

You can add a little flour or water to the dough if it feels to wet or dry. Once you have a nice and consistent dough, flour your working surface and begin rolling out the dough as you would do with pasta. You'll want to roll it out to about 1/8 of an inch or as thick or thin as you like it. I like mine as thin as possible since they'll thicken during the cooking process.

With a knife begin cutting thin strips of the rolled out dough and you'll see your noodles taking form. While cutting your noodles remember to lightly dust with flour to keep the noodles from sticking. Keep the noodles in a sealed container until they are ready to be cooked.

Soup:

Add the chicken broth to a stock pot on high heat. Then add the chicken and galangal root. Add 1/2 tablespoon of the salt and more if needed later. Lower the heat to medium and cook for an additional hour or until the chicken starts to fall off the bone.

Remove the chicken and begin to shred the meat away from the bones. Keep the two separated and set the meat aside. You can discard the bones now or you can add it back to the soup for more flavor.

Assembly:

Now that you have everything prepared you can now begin putting all the ingredients together. There's one last step before you can do all of that, cooking the noodles. You can choose to cook the noodles in a separate pot or add it to the pot with the soup already prepared.

If you choose to cook in a separate pot then add a few ladles of your soup to a new pot on high heat and add a few handful of noodles. Stir for about 2 minutes and pour entire contents into a serving bowl.

If you choose to add all the noodles to the large soup pot then make sure you remove the bones and roots first. Cook the noodles until it turns slightly translucent.

Now you're ready to add all the accompaniments that you'll enjoy. Don't forget to add your shredded chicken. The herbs and vegetables will add freshness to your dish. The soy sauce will add saltiness, while the hoison will add sweetness. The jalapenos, crushed chili peppers, chili oil and sriracha will all add different levels of heat. Balance out the saltiness, sweetness, and spiciness with some lime juice for some tart. As with any Laotian dish, the perfect balance of all these flavors makes the perfect dish.

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Balut, Khai Luk, Hột Vịt Lộn (Steamed Fertilized Egg)

This item has many name and you can call it whatever you want; most people would probably call it disgusting. However, these eggs are a delicacy to some and an everyday item for others. All I know is that I woke up this morning and had a craving for it. Everyone knows that Sunday is normally my lazy day; where I don't leave my place at all, but in order to satisfy my craving I had to pay a visit to the local Asian market. After searching for a few minutes and not being able to locate these eggs, I reluctantly asked the Asian lady behind the counter. I asked for the duck eggs and she responded by telling me that she had some but they were too far in development and that she didn't want to sell them to me. But, she said she had the chicken eggs available and guaranteed me that they were just as good and if not, even better. Most people would eat these eggs plain. But I love wrap it in various Asian herbs and dip it in jeow som (see previous posting for Laotian Chimichurri).

Ingredients:

Dozen fertilized chicken/duck eggs

2 whole scallions (roughly chopped)

10-12 sprigs cilantro

10-12 sprigs fish mint

Handful sawtooth herb

Handful Vietnamese coriander

Laotian Chimichurri (Jeow Som)

Directions:

Steam the eggs for approximately 12-15 minutes. Crack the egg open on the larger side carefully. You'll want to keep all the juices in the egg so you can slurp it. Trust me, the juice inside is very flavorful. Then, crack open the rest of the egg and discard the hard white part - it has no taste and has a very rubbery consistency. You can eat the yellow (yolk) part and the young chick/duckling at the same time. I like to savor mine and divide the two and eat them one at a time. I like to shred all of the herbs and veggies on top of each portion and drizzle some sauce on top of that.

If your afraid or disgusted by this dish, you shouldn't be. As I stated before, this is a common everyday dish in other cultures plus it tastes good.

Fire Roasted Tomato Salsa (Jeow Mak Len)

I've been asked by several of my friends to cook and post this, so here it is. Normally, this would be part of an ordinary lunch for Laotians. All you need see some sin lot/sin savanh (beef jerky) and some sticky rice to go doing with it. I've also paired this sauce with tamales to give it an extra kick. With the right equipment this can be made very easily.

Ingredients:

1 pint cherry tomatoes
4 garlic cloves
4 Thai chili peppers
10 sprigs cilantro (roughly chopped)
2 scallions (thinly sliced)
Juice of half a lime
3-4 tablespoon fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

Fold a piece of foil that's about a foot long at the edges about 2 inches on each side to create a box. Place the tomatoes, chili peppers, and garlic on three foil. Set you oven to broil with the rack on the second highest level from the top. Place the foil containing the ingredients on the rack and let it roast for about 4-5 minutes or until the contents begin to char. Remove the chili peppers and garlic and rotate the tomatoes to where the charred side is now in the bottom. Roast for another 4-5 minutes and remove from oven. Fold and enclose contents in foil and let it steam for another 5 minutes. If you have a torch, open the foil and begin torching the tomatoes for extra charredness.

In a mortar and pestle, add the toasted chili peppers and garlic along with the salt and begin mashing into a paste. Add tomatoes along with any juice that is remaining in the foil. Begin mashing into a paste. Now add the lime juice and fish sauce. You may want to add a little bit of each at a time and taste, adjust your tartness by adding more lime juice and saltiness with more fish sauce. Once you get the taste that pleases your palette, add cilantro and scallions.

This salsa is very versatile and here are few suggestions of how to use it.

-Dip with sticky rice
-On top of steamed jasmin rice
-As a sauce with tamales
-Toasted bruschetta
-Tortilla chips

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