Loving Laos and More

At Pekky's House

Lunch

①

I once saw a garden in a house in Laos on a live video. There were various herbs, fruits, tamarind trees, and frogs in a small pond, all of which were edible. I hate to say it, but it seemed like they just left it there. That's what I like about it. Harvesting the bounty of nature in your own home and using it on your daily dinner table. This is what I want to see in Laos.

And at last, this wish came true.

We visited Becky (2 years old, female) in the suburbs of Vientiane. She lives with her mom and dad. Today, Becky looked happy that her mom's mom and grandma came to help with cooking.

We were immediately taken to the banana tree. Wow, there are already four rows of green bananas growing on top of the beautiful flowers. I'm curious to know when they will be ready to eat. When we cut the flowers with scissors, sugary water drips out. It's the luxury of freshly picked bananas.

Nyan Mappy is "Banana flower salad". Nyan means to mix. The center of the flower is chopped finely and soaked in water, then roughly chopped and mixed with fried meat (pork on this day) along with eggplant and parboiled bamboo shoots. While we were shopping at the market, my grandmother prepared the flowers for us. Although it is simple, it is a very time-consuming task. The texture of the flowers is crunchy and moist, with no strong flavor. The closest thing to it is the texture of Japanese ginger. I wonder if it is usually spicier. While thinking about such things, the deliciousness of the dish, enhanced by the flavor of the padaek and meat, made me tweet that line again today.

"It goes so well with beer! It goes so well with Kao Niao!" (continued)