RECIPES OF LAOS

5 small

7 small

2

2 tbsp

1 piece

Bamboo shoots (no mai lai or no mai bong)

Shallots (pounded)

Eggs

Flour

Pork (including some fat) (the size of the palm of a hand) (minced)

Salt

Fish sauce

Ground black pepper

Chopped spring onion leaves

Pork fat

1. Boil the bamboo shoots until they lose their (bitter) taste, then cut off all the hard outer layer and cut the trimmed shoots into sections 8 cm long - after this use a needle to make slits in them lengthwise, but leaving the ends of each section intact

2. Mix together in a large bowl the minced pork, the pounded shallots, ground black pepper and 1 tbsp of the flour and mix all this thoroughly

3. Add salt, fish sauce and some of the chopped spring onions and mix again, taste to check the saltiness, and add more of the chopped spring onion

4. Stuff the mixture into the slit-open bamboo shoots and wrap these in pieces of banana leaf

5. Use a bamboo holder to grill the packages until they are cooked, then open up the banana leaf coverings and leave the contents to cool

6. Heat some pork fat in a wok

7. Beat the eggs in a bowl with salt and some flour mixed in

8. Dip the cooked bamboo shoots in the egg mixture and fry them in the hot fat until they are nice and golden

9. Place them on a platter to serve