You could choose your protein for this dish, so I chose prawn. The noodles were thin and served in a broth with coconut milk. I chose spice level four out of five. The noodles and prawns were served in a bowl together with a salad of sorts with lettuce, carrot, bean sprouts, and cucumber. The salad really freshened up the dish. There was lots of sauce, but this dish in a bowl wasn't a soup, but it was close. The Lao part was probably the thicker stronger fish sauce that flavored the dish. The prawns were big and juicy, and along with the fish sauce, they provided some good seafood flavor that worked well with the spicy coconut milk broth. I have never been disappointed at this Lao restaurant on Whidbey Island, and this was one of the best noodle dishes I've had anywhere.
Location: Tamayo, 800 SE Pioneer Way, Oak Harbor, Washington. Date: November 12, 2021.
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This Lao soup consisted of a spicy and creamy broth (obviously some coconut milk was in it), and in the broth were round rice noodles, little blocks of congealed pork blood, bamboo shoots, thinly sliced red cabbage and carrot, cilantro, green onion, mint, and lots of bean sprouts on top. All of the veggies were crispy, including what I thought was a green bean until my head almost exploded! It was a very hot green chili. The dish came with a lime wedge for squeezing, and that gave some sourness to the spicy and savory broth. The cubes of blood were actually very nice: mild and soft. They used to garnish this soup with a chicken foot, and that's still on the menu; however, when I asked them about it, they said they'd discontinued it a couple of weeks ago due to complaints. Now who would complain about a chicken foot in their soup!
Location: Ban Lao Cuisine, 4134 University Avenue, San Diego, California. Date: July 28, 2021. I was surprised to find Lao, Thai, and Vietnamese food in this small agricultural town located at over 3,000 feet in altitude. This used to be a BBQ joint, but some Lao people, who live on a mountainside above my desert valley, took it over, and now it's Asian cuisine. They offer numerous condiments on every table: pickled jalapeños, chili oil, chili sauce, and powdered hot pepper; they also offer bottles of fish sauce, sriracha, hoisin sauce, and soy sauce. I ordered the black pepper shrimp, which consisted of eight nicely cooked tail-on shrimp with stir fried onion and red and green bell pepper. I could see specs of black pepper, but I couldn't really taste it; however, with the array of condiments, it was a very tasty dish. The food came super fast, and I discovered that they offer Beerlao. I tried the Beerlao Gold for the first time, but the regular Beerlao lager is better and cheaper. For me, nothing beats Beerlao dark, but they didn't have it here. While the food was good, it's the location of this place that makes it noteworthy.
Location: Taste of Asia, 53071 Highway 371, Anza, California. Date: June 8, 2021. I've had the beef version of this soup, here at Tamayo's, and it was to die for, so now I'm trying it with chicken, but it's really more about the broth than the protein. The broth is an intense balance of sweet, sour, salty, and spicy. You can have it with or without noodles; I'm having it without as I tend to eat more than my fair share of noodles anyway. The broth has fish sauce for umami and scallions and bean sprouts for crunch and freshness. The chicken was pulled and soft, and there are fried garlic pieces in the soup for intense garlicky goodness. According to the restaurant's Lao owner, what separates Lao soup from Vietnamese is that Lao don't use hoisin sauce. Apparently, lack of hoisin can be amazing!
Location: Tamayo's Restaurant, 800 SE Pioneer Way, Oak Harbor, Washington. Date: September 24, 2018. This sausage is flavored with lemongrass and is served with an oil and soy dipping sauce, fresh sliced ginger, and a little fresh cabbage and carrot. The sausage is mildly sweet and savory, but as you eat, the spice builds. The meat is fine textured pork, though I think there's also some vegetable in them, and the sausages are grilled before serving. The owner's brother makes these, so not only is this my first taste of Lao sausage, it's also an artisan treat!
Location: Tamayo's Restaurant, 800 SE Pioneer Way, Oak Harbor, Washington. Date: September 23, 2018. Lao Sausage wasn't available today, so I decided to try the Lao style stir fried beef, and I'm glad I did. When the waitress, who could barely speak English, asked me how spicy I wanted my dish, I presumed she was Lao and told her I wanted it as spicy as she liked it. Turns out she was a Filipina who probably doesn't like food spicy at all! But she did seem to understand because my dish came quite spicy, just the way I like it. The dish was composed of onion, tomato, pea pods, and spicy beef in a light sweet and sour sauce, served on lettuce leaves with cabbage and carrot slaw on the side. It was a lovely dish with a great balance of spicy, sour, and sweet. The beef was tender and there was some crunch from the pea pods and the mild onion, not to mention the crunchy freshness of the slaw. I enjoyed a rich and malty Beerlao lager beer with my meal, and I met Jessie, the Lao owner of this restaurant, and she's a delightful person.
Location: Tamayo's Restaurant, 800 SE Pioneer Way, Oak Harbor, Washington. Date: September 19, 2018. If I was to make a list of the world's great salads, green papaya would be on there. Although I've had Thai versions numerous times, this was only my second experience with Lao green papaya salad. The first was in San Diego, and when I asked the owner of the restaurant what the difference between Thai and Lao style was, she said it was the fish sauce. Here in Palm Springs my Lao waitress was more forthcoming; she explained that Lao fish sauce is different, using the whole fish and rice bran. It's stronger, browner, and thicker than fish sauce I've had in Thai restaurants. They apparently used very little of it, but I could smell the fish when my order arrived, but not in an unpleasant way. I ordered my salad medium spicy, and at first there was hardly any spice at all, but as I kept eating the spice built until my mouth was on fire! My friendly Lao waitress declared that this was the authentic Lao food experience. This salad consisted of shredded green papaya and carrot with chunks of tomato. My salad came with thin slices of beef that had been deep fried until crispy, which provided a nice textural component. In San Diego I had chopped peanuts on my salad, but here I was told that they didn't serve peanuts out of allergy concerns. The beef became chewy as I ate it, and it had a mild sweet flavor. On the side was a container of sticky rice, mild fish sauce, and a cilantro sauce. I was told to dip rice into the sauces, and they turned the plain sticky rice into deliciousness. I was excited to see Lao beer on the menu as I'd never had one before. I ordered a Beerlao Dark Lager and was rewarded with a bittersweet rich flavor. The beer was brewed from rice, malted barley, yeast, and hops, and it packed a punch with 6.5% alcohol. This beer is noteworthy! Location: Fuzion Five, 285 S. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California. Date: April 23, 2017. |
AuthorChef Roland has been a legal resident of seven countries and has travelled in over thirty, documenting food along the way. He currently resides in the desert in Southern California. Categories
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