Beautiful Colors of Laos @ Kong View Restaurant

It’s time to break the hiatus(…again)

 

I’m now a short-timer here in Laos and as such, I am frantically eating and photogging as much as I can before my time is up.

 

I was working for a while and that had been my excuse not to blog anything. That excuse went along with the job... Then it was a lost recipe that was holding back another post.

 

Realizing my short-timer status (and my newly-mandated free-time) I’ve decided to just do it. Why not? I love eating and taking pictures and writing about it. It’s like something you really enjoy doing when you sit down to do it, but you never actually sit down to do it. This is a BAAAD funk to get into. Break it! Break it down!!!

Now begins the actual blog content…

 

I’ve been to Kong View many times and have heard the food’s rave reviews. Unfortunately all of my previous experiences with KV have been at night or sans camera. Thankfully my camera was attached to my wrist today! I think I really lucked out with the view we got with the Mekong and the fisherman speeding past. A quick hand to my camera didn’t hurt matters either.. The colors out on the river are just so ALIVE! The water levels seem to be “up” so close-up opportunities are abound.

On to the food.

Ever since I discovered Tom Yum Minced Pork ramen noodles from WaiWai I’ve had this ungodly craving for the stuff. Trust me, the ramen is so good I am bringing home CASES of the stuff! Tom Yum is a soup (if you couldn’t tell from the photo). It’s bit sour, salty, tangy, yummmm. This Tom Yum is Tom Yum Gai (chicken) and i my experience, Tom Yum of any variety should be spicy. Even though I spoke Lao to the waitress she still saw Falang and as a result, there weren’t any chilis in my Tom Yum :( This is quickly remedied, “Pusao, a nee baw phet. Khaw Makphet, baw?” (Miss, this is not spicy. Could I have some chilis?) Soon after this request, a bowl of freshly sliced chilis are brought to my plate and are ceremoniously (yes, ceremoniously) dumped into my Tom Yum. The chili adding was done after the photos were taken so you can’t really get the full effect.

Of course, no blog post of mine would be complete without the obligatory  extreme close-up food porn. I will say that the chicken used in my Tom Yum was very…”country. By that I mean made with the less desirable parts of the chicken or parts that contained a lot of bone or connective tissue. Baw pen yang, I can eat around it :)

Another dish of the day was the surprisingly delectable Cashew Chicken. As its name implies, Cashew Chicken has cashews and chicken. What its name doesn’t imply is that it is also chock full of awesomeness. Awesomeness and Yum! This dish tastes as if it was prepared in a similar manner to American-Chinese food. Very delicious and full of umami so often found in wok-cooked foods. We had so much food that I got this packed up to go, but ate it soon after getting home. It was that good!

As is tradition, (and tasty) some sticky rice was ordered. Culturally, it is used a healthy meal filler. It’s also less expensive than processed carbs (Breads, flours, etc.) and proteins. In my opinion, sticky rice is most useful as the vehicle for your journey into the flavors of Lao food (Yeah, I know it went over the top..). Just pull off a small handful and smush it together. From here you can dip your sticky rice mound into all sorts of sauces and dishes. I’ll sometimes end up doing this and finish the sticky rice before I get to the other foods..

Thanks and enjoy!