A Bitter Eggplant Yam (mixture)

Name: A Bitter Eggplant Yam (mixture) (Yam Mak Kheua Khuen)
Cuisine: Luang prabang
Ingredients: sesame seeds, roasted in a dry pan and ground; 2 (small) heads of garlic cooked until almost done in the embers of a charcoal fire, then (peeled and) sliced across; 2 leaves of a ginger plant, chopped; 3 sprigs of coriander, chopped; 2 stalks of lemon grass, chopped; 2 (small) heads of garlic, cook until done by placing them in the embers of a charcoal fire; 3 straight-bulbed spring onions, chopped; 1 dried red chilli pepper, grilled until crisp; 4 (small) shallots, cook until done by placing them in the embers of a charcoal fire; minced lean pork, a quantity the size of a duck’s egg—form it into a round (like a thin hamburger) and boil it in just sufficient water to cover it; 10 bitter round eggplants (mak kheua khuen)—choose only the fresh, crunchy ones, put them in a large bowl and use your hands to separate their cores and seeds and to break what is left into small pieces, then soak these pieces in water with (a little) lime (the powder, not the fruit), drain them and wash them thoroughly—finally, discard the cores (but keep the seeds), or else the taste will be too bitter*; salt and fish sauce; (meat broth)

Yam Mak Kheua Khuen

Preparation info

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Traditional Recipes of Laos

By Phia Sing

Published 1981

About

Ingredients

10 bitter round eggplants (mak kheua khuen)—choose only the fresh, crunchy ones, put them in a large bowl and use your hands to separate their cores and seeds and to break what is left into small pieces, then soak these pieces in water with (

Asia
Laos
Side dish
Southeast Asia
Gluten-free
Spicy

Method

Put the boiled minced pork in a mortar and pound it finely. Then pound and stir into it the kheuang horn. Add meat broth, just enough to produce a thick mixture. Add this to the bowl in which the eggplants have been processed, and mix in the chopped lemon grass and spring onions and the sliced garlic. Sprinkle with salt, fish sauce and the ground sesame seeds. Taste, and