B, b, b... What begins with B?

Bangkok begins with a bit of boredom, but brandishing our brains we barricaded against the blues.

Buffets are Best in Bangkok!

Blundering by busy back streets, between billboards, buildings and businesses, beware of buses and motor bikes bellowing, 'BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!' Enough to befuddle and baffle these two country bumpkin.

Bumper to Bumper

Battling the boisterous blare we brush off beckoning, bi-lingual bargainers boasting their bountiful belongings.

Bump into a Buddy! (Ross Williamson)

Bags, bought at Big C, are brought back brimming with boxed bites. Basking in bread... bacon... beef!
Building brilliant birthday memories by the bucket-load with buff hubby.

A Blush of Beauty

Betwixt the bustle, our beautiful baby bundle in Kaarina's blossoming belly becomes big, big, bigger!
--Blessings!

Mountain of Rice

What would prompt a group of 5 MCC staff and several district partners to crawl over +1000 bags of rice piled high in the living room of a Lao home?

A few weeks ago I (Jeffrey) had the privilege of going with the team to inspect the first shipment of this year's rice for the food-for-work program. This rice will be given to villagers who have invested work in building the irrigation system and paddy land that are currently under construction.

Rice Piled High

The process of inspecting the quality of rice should be simple right? Check a few bags...take a few samples...do some analyzing. But how do you take a good representative sample from a mountain of rice bags 8 ft high, 20ft wide, and 15ft deep? Well that is where the crawling comes in!

Climbing on the Piles

To get to the bottom of the pile we had to 'dig' holes randomly in the mountain as deep as was possible to get a random sample from the bags.

Using a slick rice sampling tool (a hollow pointed tube with a handle attached) we would pierce one bag at a time. Rice would then flow out into small sample collection bags (sort of like taking blood samples...just less need to be precise in the puncture!). The bag's weave would then self-seal once the tool was removed. After enough rice was collected from each row the sample bags were collected and sent to Vientiane to be analyzed by a rice quality testing facility.

Kong Withdrawing a Sample

Vone Extracting a Sample

Rice is analyzed on a variety of points such as: hardness, % of broken grains, % of red grains, % of un-husked grains, and softness once steamed. Once the rice passes quality control MCC will distribute the rice as payment to villagers for their work on the construction projects.

Wendy Organizing Samples

Gluttons for Glutinous Rice

There is nothing so central to Lao culture and food than sticky rice (also referred to as glutinous rice). Meals are not considered a meal unless there is rice present. Soaking, steaming and sharing rice together are all important rituals most Lao families repeat three times a day. Eating sticky rice yields a special opportunity to feel the warm soft texture of steamed rice. Sometimes, as the name depicts, the rice will feel a little sticky. It is easily kneaded with fingers into small balls, and then used to dip in various dishes or to pick up small cut vegetables and meat.

A Typical Lao Meal (With Sticky Rice)

While eating sticky rice, Lao people will comment on the flavor, smell and texture of the rice. Certain varieties are highly praised for the aroma and nutty flavor. Though a Lao family will generally eat white sticky rice on a daily basis, there are other colors, such as brown or purple, that are used for special occasions and dishes.

In my first year and a half in the country, I have only begun to learn about the vast world of sticky rice, the best ways to steam it and the many ways to enjoy eating it. I steam rice for ourselves to eat and enjoy. It’s a simple process, though time consuming.

Up Goes the Rice, Away Goes the Chaff

To begin making rice for our evening meal, I will start by cleaning and soaking the rice at about noon. I will generally steam about 4 cups of rice. It's enough for two 'non-Lao' eaters with a little leftover. This time of year the rice is ‘new,’ having just been harvested in the past few months. It only requires about 4 hours soaking. At the end of the growing year, when the rice has been stored many months, I often have to soak it 6 to 8 hours. You can tell old rice, by the clear, ‘glassy’ look of the kernels. Fresh, new rice has a creamy white color.

Rice Steamer Atop Water Pot

In the evening I start a fire and put on a pot of water to boil. Once the water has come to a full boil, rice is scooped out of the soaking bowl and placed into a special bamboo steamer. There are other steamer designs, some resembling a basket or whittled out of wood. Whatever the design, all steamers have a loosely woven bottom. Once the steamer is placed on the pot of boiling water, covered and sealed with a piece of cloth around the pot, steam will rise through the rice to cook it. Steaming rice usually takes about 30 min, but again it can depend on the freshness of the rice and the length of soaking.

Steamy Rice

After the rice is steamed, it is removed from the basket and stirred with a spoon. The rice is very hot; stirring it allows a release of steam so that it will not sweat once it is stored. Lao people will use a special basket lined with rice bag fabric, but since I don’t have one I improvise with a piece of linoleum. During this step of the process, it’s fun to smell the newly steamed rice and notice the beautifully shaped kernels. Sticky rice is unique in that once it is cooked the kernels still retain their shape. You will never have a mushy mass as can happen with normal white rice.

Rice Ball Ready for the Basket

Once enough heat has escaped and the rice is cool enough to handle by hand, it is loosely rolled into a ball and placed in the rice basket. Sticky rice is now ready to be eaten, whether shared with friends or family … enjoy the opportunity to relish in the delicious flavor and beauty of Lao culture!

Thank you, Mom and Dad Knisely, for the pictures!

You Know You Are in Laos When...

1. 90% of the people who come to your wedding arrive on motorbikes.
2. You are asked if you have eaten rice yet…3 times a day.
3. Shoes are left at the door.



No Shoes Allowed

4. You must bend over and bow your head to cross a room full of seated people.
5. You walk past a group of complete strangers and they invite you to eat with them.
6. You start your garden in November.
7. Welding while wearing only your towel is totally appropriate.
8. You can predict the wedding menu before arriving (Lapp, Ragu, Lao salad, sticky rice and Beer Lao).
9. Safety has a different meaning:



Be Careful with this Mower...It Might Trim More than Grass!



Just Don't Get Shoveled into that Paver



DIY Wiring



Sleeping While Riding...Precariously

10. The echo nob is cranked up on every sound system for every event.
11. Almost anything moving can be eaten.
12. Wearing your PJ’s in public is acceptable.
13. Stickers are usually not removed from items bought. (This shows that they are new!)



"New" Glasses

14. Buying a light bulb (or any other electrical equipment) involves having the shop keeper test the unit to make sure it works before you pay for it.
15. Copyright…what’s that?!

Two Different Water Companies' Labels. Any Similarities?

Babies

Babies are a blessing the world around. As we look forward to addition to our own family, we also have enjoyed the opportunity to learn more about the Lao culture we find ourselves in.

New Mothers and Babies

We have heard local proverbs surrounding pregnancy and babies, such as the proverb I shared in a previous blog entry. Another one we have found interesting is, ‘A pregnant woman should not eat a rooster otherwise the child will be very noisy and will cry a lot.’ I hope this one isn’t true, because as Jeffrey has been raising chickens, we’ve been harvesting the roosters and keeping the hens for eggs!

Some proverbs may not hold much truth, but some hold important wisdom. It’s common knowledge in Laos of the wonderful qualities of green coconut water. When I was about four months pregnant I was in one of the small shops in Tha Thom. While chatting with the store-owner, she asked how far along I was and if I felt the baby moving yet. When I told her I had not, she became very concerned and told me adamantly, "You need to drink more coconut water. Do you drink it? There, do you see across the road? Ai Phoukhan has green coconuts on his tree. Go ask him for one so you can drink it."

Once a child is born, there are more interesting traditions. After a woman gives birth she is brought home and placed on a warm bed. The bed is warmed by placing a small fire of coals under it. It sounded quite dangerous to me when I first heard it, but after visiting a co-workers wife who recently had a baby, I found in reality it is quite safe and smokeless with the coals slightly under or to the side of the bed.

Kaarina's Belly with One of Our Sunflowers

For the first two weeks after a child is born, family and friends gather at the home visiting, eating grilled meat and playing cards – usually late into the night to all night long! So if you aren’t tired by the baby keeping you up at all hours you will be after the nocturnal card games.

If you ask a mother or father what their newborn child is named they will most likely look at you confusingly. Having a name right away is not very important here. Hmong children will not be named until the third day, after the family has performed a special baby bacci ceremony. Whereas a child in a Lao Loum home will often not have a name for two or three months! Our Lao friends have shared that it gives them time to observe the child and decide the best name for them. If a child is very big and healthy, they may get the name, Dui (Lao for fat). Naming children is also an honor that is sometimes given to a special friend or relative. While the perfect name is found a baby will just be referred to as A Noy, which simply means Little One!

Downtown

This is the Main Street in Tha Thom. Lots of construction happens this time of year. The sky is almost always clear and the temperature is perfect for a walk even at midday! Enjoy this 360 pan of town!

Click here for the full screen experience.

Pickled Pak Gad

There is a saying Laos that goes,

‘If a pregnant woman likes to eat sour foods, she’ll have a girl. If she likes to eat sweet foods, she’ll have a boy.’ 

I don’t know if it holds much sway, but for this, my first pregnancy, I’m lovin’ sour!

Laos is a great place to crave sour foods, because the people love to eat them every day. Actually the best translation of ‘snack’ is gin som, which literally means ‘eat sour.’

Mak Fai or Burmese Grapes

Some of their favorite sour snacks include: Dam mak hoong (Papaya Salad), Dam mak tua, (Green bean salad), Som mak kham (Sour tamarind), Mak fai (Burmese grapes), Pomelo and a whole assortment of un-ripe, thus slightly sour fruits (mango, guava, crab apples… etc.).

All of these are on my new ‘favorite’s’ list, but among the very best is Som Pak Gad, especially because I have recently learned to make it myself.  

Som Pak Gad or Pickled Mustard is really easy to make though the name, Pak Gad, is a confusing term for me. Lao people will use it for a large number of leafy vegetables: Kale, Swiss Chard, Mustard, Bak Choy… and more I’m sure. I’ve only seen Som Pak Gad made from what appears to be a Chinese Mustard. I tried to make it with Swiss Chard once and it only rotted – not a do over!

Finished Product

 First you slice the Mustard leaves into stripes into a glass or plastic container. Then sprinkle liberally with salt and ‘knead’ the salt into the leaves. After several minutes the leaves will wilt and feel limp. Rinse with clean water, add more salt and knead again. After the leaves are evenly limp, add enough water to cover the bottom of the container by about an inch. The liquid should be light green in color and taste slightly salty. Finally add a quarter sized ball of cooked rice to the mustard and mix into the leaves and liquid. Cover lightly with cloth and let sit. Here in the tropics Som Pak Gad will be ready in about 1 or 2 days (Some Laotians leave it for longer, but I don’t like mine quite as sour as them). Just keep tasting it until you like the flavor, then cover and store in the refrigerator.