My favourite dish when I am in Phana is available at just one little restaurant, the one run by the daughter of Penri's adopted brother, Tuan. It is cooked in the same way as sukiyaki and most of the ingredients are similar. The sauce is quite different and there is no egg, so it doesn't taste like sukiyaki at all. It tastes very Lao, in fact.
It is called Jao Hawn, which means hot sauce, hot in the sense of cooking heat, although it also contains chilli to taste. Hawn is the Lao word for hot, by the way.
Here are the ingredients:
A dish of lean pork (or beef), cut into bitesize pieces, mixed with a few bean sprouts and some mint.
A tray of bean sprouts, basil and glass noodles. These noodles are also known as cellophane noodles, vermicelli noodles or bean threads. They are made from mung-bean (bean sprout) starch. You get very little carbohydrate from them. Glass noodles are very thin, string-like noodles that become almost transparent when cooked. They do not have much flavour themselves but they are great for picking up the taste of other ingredients. This type of noodle needs to be soaked for a few minutes before cooking. You can tell the noodles are done when they become completely clear. In Thai they are known as wun sen (วุ้นเส้น).
A plateful of chopped cabbage:
The jao. In this case it is very liquid, made of beef stock with some soy sauce, garlic and lots of dried chilli. Usually there is also some chopped fresh coriander, too. A small bowl of this jao is served to each person to add according to his/her taste.
A key part of the process is the earthenware pot and the charcoal container. The pot comes to the table about three-quarters full of liquid, which again is chiefly composed of beef stock. It is this stock which gives the dish its unique flavour.
In the backgound you can see P'Tuan's daughter, Eum. She runs the little restaurant single-handed these days although in the past she has had some help from her son when he was still at school. He is now a musician in a mor lam band and is currently touring with the band in Lao PDR. As well as jao hawn, she serves a very limited range of noodle dishes, either fried or more often the wet variety. Fried food is not very popular here, it is seen as a Thai taste, not a Lao one. Most Lao dishes are grilled or boiled. Much more healthy.
Here are all the ingredients and utensils assembled on the table:
When the liquid in the pot is boiling, about a quarter of the meat is ladled into the pot, and a similar proportion of the vegetables and noodles added on top. The lid is put on the pot and then you sit back and wait for everything to be cooked. You have to watch that the pot doesn't boil over. That would be a waste of the valuable liquid inside.
When the first serving is cooked (usually after about 5 minutes) some of it is ladled into individual bowls and it is at this point that the jao is added to taste.
Before you begin eating, you add more ingredients to the pot. Usually you need to wait a little while between each bowlful, so it is a good exercise in slow, thoughtful eating. It is also an extremely healthy dish, of course, because there is no oil or fat, almost no starch, just lean meat and vegetables. And a great taste. Perfect!
Eum charges 120 Baht for one of these Jao Hawn. That includes water and ice, and she always seems willing to add more vegetables, meat, and the magic liquid if you need more. She never charges extra, but maybe that is just for us. One of these meals is plenty for two people and I have known three people to share one and be well-satisfied at the end of it.
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