Banana Blossom Salad

Salad Recipe: Mak Bea – Banana Blossom
1 cup shredded banana blossom
½ teaspoon chopped garlic
½ teaspoon chopped chilies
1 tablespoon squeezed lime
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ cup chopped green onions and cilantro

In a bowl, add 3 cups of water and 2 tablespoons of squeezed lime. Shred finely, in an angle, of only the purple layers of the banana blossom. Place the shredded banana blossoms into lime water and soak for 15 minutes. Drain water out. Combine with the rest of the ingredients and toss to make the Mak Bea Salad.

Banana blossoms are commonly added as a filling for rice paper spring rolls, and as a garnish for khao bune ba - fish curry noodle soup.

Long Bean Noodle Salad

Since the fibers of long beans are tougher than green papayas, you must crush the long beans with garlic and chilies until they are in small pieces before adding other ingredients.
Salad Recipe: Long Bean Noodle with Ba Dek4 chilies
1 clove garlic
1 cup long beans chopped into 1 inch lengths
1/4 cup tomato slices
2 tablespoons squeezed lime
2 tablespoons Salted Gourami Fish (ba dek)
1 teaspoon sugar (optional)
1 teaspoon MSG (optional)
1 to 2 rice noodle bundles (Sin Khao Bune)

Using the Thai / Lao Mortar & Pestle Set, crush chilies and garlic until they are separated. Add chopped long beans and crush with a pestle for 5 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients in the mortar and mix all the ingredients. Cut rice noodles in half, add into mortar, and mix with spoon.

Lap Chicken

The basic ingredients of the Lap Chicken is the same as Lap Lao Beef. However the method of preparing and cooking chicken is different from beef. You can mince chicken by using a food processor or you can view the video and learn how to mince meat by using a knife.

Salad Recipe: Lap Chicken
2 cups minced chicken meat
1 inch piece of galanga
1 inch piece of lemongrass
1 kaffir lime leaf
1 tablespoon salt
3 cups water
1 chili chopped
1 kaffir lime leaf chopped
1 teaspoon chopped galanga
1 teaspoon chopped lemongrass
3 tablespoons chopped mint
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
2-3 tablespoons squeezed lime
2-3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon ground toasted sticky rice
½ cup bean sprouts

In a medium pot add water, salt, galanga, lemongrass, and kaffir lime leaf and bring to boil. Place minced chicken into a bowl and add hot water. Leave hot water in bowl for 1 minute and stir to separate chicken chunks, then drain water from the chicken. Repeat process of adding hot water into bowl and draining water out at least 3 times or until chicken is cooked. Lastly drain water using a colander. Let meat cool to room temperature then place into a large bowl. Use a fork to separate any large chunks. Add chopped chilies, kaffir lime leaf, galanga, lemongrass, mint, and green onions. Add squeezed lime and fish sauce. Toss all ingredients together. Add ground toasted sticky rice. Toss all ingredients again. Add bean sprouts and toss lightly so that bean sprouts do not break.

All lap dishes are served traditionally with sticky rice but Thai jasmine rice is also good. This video does not show you how to chop lemongrass, kaffir lime leaf and galanga so view the Lap Lao Beef to learn how to chop these Thai / Lao herbs.

Green Mango Salad

I shred the green mango like the Green Papaya; I use only a sharp knife.

Salad Recipe: Green Mango Salad --> Watch Green Mango Salad on YouTube
1 cup shredded mango
2 tablespoons crushed toasted peanuts or ground toasted rice
2 tablespoons chopped red onions
1 chopped chili (optional)
2-3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons fish sauce
1 teaspoon shrimp paste

In a bowl, add sugar, fish sauce and shrimp paste. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Add chilies and red onions and mix. Add mixture to a bowl of shredded mango and toss. Top with crushed toasted peanuts or ground toasted rice. Alternatively you can use the sour fruit dipping sauce. to make this green mango salad

Lap Lao Beef

Lap Lao is the national food dish of Laos. It is like a salad dish with meat and Thai Lao herbs tossed together. You can make Lap Chicken, fish, and shrimp. The mint and the Ground Toasted Sticky Rice are the two ingredients that distinguish lap Lao from others.


Salad Recipe: Lap Lao Beef:
1 cup thinly sliced beef that is barbecued to medium rare
¼ cup thinly sliced tripe (optional)
½ teaspoon chopped galangal
1 chili chopped
1 tablespoon chopped green onions
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
2 tablespoon chopped mint
1 kaffir lime leaf
½ teaspoon chopped lemongrass
2 -3 tablespoon fish sauce
2 -3 tablespoon squeezed lime
½ teaspoon MSG (optional)
1 tablespoon toasted ground rice - recipe is at Ground Toasted Sticky Rice

A lot of chopping is involved but the hard work is worth it. Also watch the Lap Chicken video.

Thai Lao Seafood Salad

Recipe for the Thai / Lao Seafood Salad:1 cup fresh or frozen raw squid or cuttlefish
1 cup fresh or frozen raw shrimp
1 cup fresh or frozen raw mussels
¼ cup chopped sweet red peppers
¼ cup chopped green onions
¼ cup chopped cilantro
¼ cup chopped mint
1 chopped chili
3 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime

If using frozen seafood, thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then rinse in cold water and drain to remove any residue. If using fresh seafood, also rinse them in cold water and drain to remove any residue. Bring water to boil in a large pot. Submerge squid or cuttlefish into the boiling water for up to one minute. Submerge shrimp for up to two minutes and mussels for up to three minutes. Drain the seafood and combine them into a large mixing bowl. Cool seafood to room temperature or keep refrigerated until ready to mix. Add the remaining ingredients into the cooked seafood bowl and mix well. Garnish with extra mint.

Papaya Salad

Recipe for Green Papaya salad:
1-4 chilies
1 garlic cloves
3 cups shredded green papaya (watch video: Shredding Green Papaya)
1/2 cup sliced tomatoes
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon shrimp paste
3 tablespoons squeezed lime
1 tablespoon sugar (optional)
2 tablespoons dried shrimp (optional)

Using the Thai / Lao Mortar & Pestle Set, crush chilies and garlic until they are separated. Add the rest of the ingredients in the mortar. Using the pestle to crush and a tablespoon to stir, mix all the ingredients in the mortar. When the sugar and shrimp paste are dissolved the papaya salad is ready to be served.

The Thai & Lao Food video shows the traditional method. Some Thai / Lao restaurants toss all the ingredients into a large bowl. In my opinion, for an authentic texture, the tomatoes need to be crushed with a Thai / Lao Mortar & Pestle Set.

Welcome to Thai & Lao Salad Recipe

I create the Thai & Lao Salad Recipe in order to group all salad recipes into one blog. My main blog is www.thai-laos-food.blogspot.com but because Blogger does not have a category feature where I can group my food recipes, I decided to create another account with Blogger.

Now you can view all the Thai and Lao Salad Recipes from one blog.