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!

Restaurant: Indochina - 199 Setthatilath Rd.

 
I’ve walked by this place so many times wondering where/what Indochina is
.

(I honestly hadn’t heard of it before, but  Wikipedia has been very helpful in furthering my education)

The restaurant is very smartly executed. An obvious French influence is discernible throughout the restaurant, from the presentation of some dishes to the design of the interior.

This lovely green foliage was very traditionally served alongside the fried spring rolls. 

Many places I have tried, leave out this little detail. I believe that the inclusion of lettuce (at least!) and mint or basil, etc. make an incredible eating experience and that by not including it, the diner is being “robbed!”
(OK a bit dramatic, I know, but I seriously LOVE food too much to accept being robbed of an incredible dining experience)

MMM YUMMY! These were some beautiful (though not my favorite) spring rolls. They had a delicious crunchy exterior and a nice vegetable filling.

In Moscow I could only find spring rolls made from блины (absolutely unacceptable!) They were soggy, poorly fried and had a terrible tasting interior. The sauce often served was either unpalatable or made from mayo (or both!) I digress…

The sauce served with THESE spring rolls was a nice sort of citrus/cilantro/fish sauce with a hint of peanut and chiles. (and no mayo)  The way that it should be..

For my main meal I ordered the stir-fried chicken with vegetables and ginger.

I have been favoring these protein/vegetable, i.e. healthy, dishes for a while. I finally have access to such dishes here. (No restaurant in Moscow would have me be healthy..)

The ginger in this meal gave the food a very healthy essence/taste. I feel that ginger in nearly any dish gives the same healthy essence.

It tasted MUCH better than the picture. I will definitely be returning to take a better photo of it and try more food…

And lastly, a picture of me! I don’t have too many of these on here. The big reason is that I am the photographer and don’t like to do too many self portraits. Another reason is that I made this blog for food not for people pics. I will put some up from time to time though, don’t worry!

Another day, another market... I think this was a local only market

Today I wandered over to a market. I suspiciously think that only locals go to this market. Here is the entrance to said market!

 

These were the first two people I saw in this market. I thought their presentation of the rice was so amazing! I managed to ask them if I could take their photo long with the rice. They seemed so happy when I asked, they even posed together for me.

 

 I love the presentation of this rice.

I bought some lemon basil from this vendor. It smells LOVELY and tastes even better. I had heard of lemon basil before but I never knew how much it actually tasted like lemon!

 Next time I go I am DEFINITELY buying some of those baby bok choy.

 

 This is the Thai sweet basil i bought from a vendor who was technically in the fish/seafood market. I didn't stay long in that area. The smell wasn't bad, but the woman I bought the basil from was super grumpy at me. I need to get her picture next time. She's already grumpy, so why not?

 

 This was my first time trying rambutan. They are really good. They taste like a grape and lychee love-child. The fruit inside is pretty juicy too and surrounds a hard stone-like pit that you have to eat around.

 

Yes, I know it has nothing to do with the food, but it was on one side of the market and I really like the look of it.

 

Trip to the Huang Market

Unfortunately I was unable to make it to this trip but I did get some goodies. Laos used to be a French colony. Because of this there are still a lot of things written in French and of course, MANY French influenced items in stores, restaurants, there are also French bakeries and restaurants on nearly every corner. The bread here is phenomenal! This bread that I got was a slightly sweet croissant coated with black sesame seeds. The only thing I can't figure out is how they were able to get the croissants sliced so evenly Any suggestions?

This region has some interesting flavors for the potato chips. Some of them are pretty out there (fish sauce flavor perhaps...) but there are also some that are slightly more familiar if not found in the states. I got the sweet Thai basil flavor, with chiles!! MMM! I don't usually eat potato chips, they get all stuck in my teeth and it's not that fab. These chips were incredibly worth it soooo good. (almost nommy)

Saving the best for last, I introduce: orange-flavored M&M's. I have already had a request for these from one of my stateside friends. Order is shipping out this week Along with some Lao coffee.(apparently it's the good stuff)

Now if anyone wants any of the things that I've found or any other souvenir requests, let me know, I'll do what I can!