Name: Luang Prabang garden salad
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Laotian
Ingredients: small bunch each of mint and coriander, leaves only; 3 tbsp vegetable or groundnut oil; 4 free-range eggs, hard-boiled and separated into yolks and whites; 2 bunches watercress, any coarse stems removed; 1 small ridged cucumber, finely sliced; 3 tbsp lime juice; 1 tsp caster sugar; 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped; small bunch of spring onions, chopped; salt and white pepper; 2 cooked egg yolks (from the eggs above), crushed to a paste; 8 small plum tomatoes, halved

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Food and Travels

By Alastair Hendy

Published 2004

About

Watercress, something we think of as being so cool-climate British, grows effortlessly and in quantity in Luang Prabang’s vegetable plots. It’s one of their best-loved leaves, just like it is ours. It’s their dressing that makes this wondrous - the mix of toasted garlic oil and creamed egg yolk. A splosh of the old soy sauce is good in it too. Swap the cucumber for sliced Asian pear, if you know where to get it: very Laos.