Jeow Bong

Ingredients

Chillies

• 60 gdried red chillies, stems removed
• hot water, to soak

Aromatics

• 1whole head of garlic
• 6shallots
• 1large piece of galangal, about 60 g

Buffalo skin

• 80 gdried buffalo skin, or dried pork skin
• water, to soak and simmer

Seasoning

• 4 tbsppalm sugar
• 3 tbspfish sauce
• 2 tbsppadaek, if you have it
• 2 tbsptamarind paste
• 1 tspsalt

Oil

• 150 mlvegetable oil

To serve

• sticky rice
• kaipen, or dried river weed
• raw vegetables

Directions

1. Soak it in cold water overnight until it softens and swells. Drain it and simmer it in fresh water for about an hour. It should become tender enough to cut but should still have bite.
2. Drain it and scrape off any hair or hard patches with a knife. Cut it into fine short strips, about three centimetres long. Break the dried chillies open and shake out most of the seeds. Leaving all the seeds in makes it fiercely hot rather than warm.
3. Soak the chillies in hot water for thirty minutes until pliable. Drain them and squeeze out the water. Heat a dry pan or set a grill over charcoal. Roast the whole unpeeled garlic head, turning it, for about fifteen minutes. Roast the unpeeled shallots alongside for the same time.
4. Roast the galangal in thick slices until it is charred at the edges. Everything should be blackened in patches and soft inside. Let them cool, then peel the garlic and shallots. Now pounding, which is traditionally done in a mortar.
5. Pound the galangal first, since it is the toughest. Work it to a fibrous paste before adding anything else. Add the roasted garlic and shallots and pound them in. Add the soaked chillies and pound until the mixture is a coarse red paste. Now cooking the paste, which takes patience. Heat the oil in a wide heavy pan over a medium heat. Add the pounded paste and stand back, since it will spit.
6. Fry it for fifteen minutes, stirring constantly. Lower the heat if it starts to catch on the bottom. Add the palm sugar and stir until it melts into the paste. Add the fish sauce, the padaek if using, and the tamarind. Cook it for another five minutes so everything combines.
7. Taste it: it should be sweet first, then hot, then salty and sour. Adjust with more sugar, fish sauce or tamarind as needed. Stir the buffalo skin strips into the paste.
8. Cook it for a further ten minutes over a low heat. Now the consistency, which should be thick and glossy. Add a little more oil if it looks dry. Let it cool completely before jarring. Pack it into sterilised jars and press it down to remove air pockets.
9. Pour a thin layer of oil over the surface to seal it. It keeps for months in the fridge under that oil layer. Serve it in a small bowl beside a basket of sticky rice.

Technique

• Soak the buffalo skin overnight and simmer it an hour, since it is rock hard dry.
• Fry the paste until the oil separates, which is the sign it is properly cooked.
• The oil layer on top is what preserves it, so do not reduce it.

Substitutions

• Dried pork skin in place of buffalo skin.
• Fish sauce alone if padaek is unavailable, though the flavour is shallower.

Variations

• Vegetarian, with the skin left out entirely.
• With dried shrimp pounded in.
• Hotter, with the chilli seeds left in.

History

Sweet-hot Luang Prabang chilli paste with galangal and strips of dried buffalo skin, eaten with sticky rice and kaipen.

Frequently asked questions

What is Jeow Bong?

Jeow Bong is a sauce & condiment from Laos: sweet-spicy Luang Prabang chili paste with buffalo skin. Sweet-hot Luang Prabang chilli paste with galangal and strips of dried buffalo skin, eaten with sticky rice and kaipen.

How long does Jeow Bong take to make?

Jeow Bong takes 40 min plus soaking of preparation and 40 min of cooking. The recipe makes 1 large jar. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Jeow Bong?

Yes, within limits. Dried pork skin in place of buffalo skin. Fish sauce alone if padaek is unavailable, though the flavour is shallower.

What is the most important thing to get right in Jeow Bong?

Drain it and scrape off any hair or hard patches with a knife. Cut it into fine short strips, about three centimetres long. Break the dried chillies open and shake out most of the seeds. Leaving all the seeds in makes it fiercely hot rather than warm.