Nam khao is a delicious Lao salad made by frying balls of seasoned rice then breaking them up and mixing with herbs, peanuts and more. It's a wonderful mix of flavors and textures, and makes a tasty light meal.
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We went to Laos many years ago as part of our honeymoon, and I have wanted to return ever since. I think for me at least it was the favorite part of our trip. Don't get me wrong, places like Angkor Wat and Bangkok were well worth seeing too, and possibly more spectacular. But there was something about the calmer nature of life in Laos that I loved. Not to mention the interesting places and tasty food.
We did our best to explore as many different foods as we could while there, and I took a cooking lesson too. This meant we came back armed with many new favorites.
While I don't manage to make quite as many of them as often now (kids that don't really eat spice doesn't help), I still make some. And this is definitely one I need to make sure comes into more regular rotation. The mixture of flavors and textures are just so good.
A different kind of salad
If you are familiar with other Southeast Asian salads, you will probably already know that many don't quite follow the more classic greens with mix-ins script. Instead, some can be mainly fruit or vegetables, like Laos green papaya salad. Others are mainly proteins, like Thai nam tok (waterfall beef salad).
Any 'green' is often more herbs mixed in with everything else, or sometimes cooked vegetables rather than raw leaves, as in Indonesian urap sayur (vegetables with coconut topping). Dressings are often a mix of sweet, tart and spicy, and sometimes with no or little oil.
But common to most is lots of bright, fresh flavor, and often a mix of textures, and this is true for nam khao as well. The texture is unlike any other 'rice salad' I know since you fry balls of cooked rice. This gives a great mix of crispy bits and softer rice.
Origins of nam khao
Nam khao comes from the village of Thadeua, a small port city near the capital, Vientiane. It can be called nam or naem Thadeua, after the origins.
You will find a few variations in this dish, though generally not huge differences. Here I have made one of the most typical changes from what you might say is the original as I haven't included the meat component. Some skip it because in order to make a vegetarian (and, indeed vegan) version.
In my case, it's mainly because it can be really hard to find the som moo cured pork, also known as naem. It's a cured or possibly better described as fermented pork sausage. It can be both a snack in itself and used as an ingredient in dishes like this.
If you can find it, or try making your own, feel free to add some in as it is more typical. However even without it, this is a delicious mix. And as I say, being vegetarian is a bonus for many, too.
Other ingredients and substitutions
Most other ingredients are easy to find in pretty much any store these days - fish sauce and Thai red curry paste are available in any good sized supermarket. Ready-made curry paste is just fine for this.
Rice - I do recommend using jasmine rice, which is also widely available, if at all possible. The texture is that bit firmer, but also not sticky or starchy. If you don't have any, a similar long grain or even non-starchy medium grain rice would work instead.
Coconut - ideally, you are looking for freshly grated coconut, but it is not always that easy to find, in part as it doesn't keep that well. If you find a chunk of fresh coconut you can grate some yourself.
However if you can't find fresh, most Asian supermarkets will have grated coconut in the freezer. You can break off a chunk and defrost it then save the rest in the freezer for another use (such as this next time!).
Makrut lime leaves - (also known as kaffir lime leaves) these can be a little tricky to find. One of my local Asian supermarkets sometimes has them readily but other times not for weeks. While you may find jarred leaves, I don't recommend them for this.
If you can't find fresh leaves, you could replace them with some lime zest. They are worth trying to find, though, as they do add a lovely brightness lime zest can't quite replace.
Top tip: make sure your oil is hot
When you come to frying the seasoned balls of rice, you need to make sure the oil is hot first. Not smoking, but hot enough that the rice crisps rather than just absorbs oil.
You can test with a grain of rice or a drop of water - either should sizzle when you add them. If they don't, wait a minute or two more.
Remember not to overcrowd the skillet/pan when you cook as they are both harder to turn and it brings the temperature down more.
How to serve nam khao
While you can eat this just as it is, the most typical way to enjoy it is taking some in pieces of lettuce and enjoying as little lettuce wraps. The fresh leaves contrast well with the fried rice. You can eat it both gently warm, straight after cooking, or at room temperature.
Given it doesn't have much, other than the herbs, that wilts, it travels pretty well so can make a good option for a potluck or picnic lunch. However, the crispness does become less over time, particularly after being in the fridge, and herbs aren't quite as bright. So it is definitely at its best when freshly made.
Nam khao is far from your typical rice salad, but in the best way possible. It has a little spice and a little sour, plus a tasty range of textures from the crisp rice edges and nuts, to crunchy green onions and soft herbs and inner rice. Definitely one to enjoy soon - hopefully you'll love it as much as we do.
Try these other tasty rice dishes:
- Nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice, another use for jasmine rice and packed with delicious flavor)
- Spanakorizo (Greek spinach rice, great as both a side and a main in itself)
- Kedgeree (an Indo-British dish of rice, lentils and smoked fish)
- Shirin polow (Persian sweet rice, a lovely side with gently sweet notes)
- Plus get more Southeast Asian dishes in the archives.
Nam khao (Lao crispy rice salad)
Ingredients
For rice balls
- ⅔ cup jasmine rice
- 1 cup water
- 1 tablespoon egg (1 tablespoon is approx ½ egg)
- ⅓ cup shredded fresh coconut you can use frozen, defrosted if you don't have fresh
- 1 tablespoon Thai red curry paste
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 teaspoon makrut lime leaves kaffir lime leaves, very finely chopped
- vegetable or other neutral oil for frying
To serve
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro coriander
- ¼ cup green onion spring onion, thinly sliced (¼ cup is around 3-4 onions)
- 2 tablespoon roasted unsalted peanuts
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 2 teaspoon fish sauce
- ½ small lettuce approx - for serving
- fried red chili to garnish
Instructions
- Rinse the rice well in cold water, agitating the rice with your hands to get as much starch out as you can. Drain then place in pot with the water. Cover, bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the rice has absorbed all of the water and is cooked through.
- Transfer the rice to a bowl and let it cool to at least lukewarm, but ideally room temperature. Meanwhile, prepare other ingredients - very finely chop the lime leaves and measure out the other additions to the rice. You can also chop the cilantro and green onions to add later.
- Once the rice has cooled, add the egg, coconut, curry paste, sugar and lime leaves. Mix everything together so well combined but without chopping or mashing the rice - by hand is in many ways the easiest.
- Take handfuls of the rice and press it together by cupping your hands to form a slightly flattened ball. Repeat with the rest of the rice - you should make 7 or 8 flattened balls.
- Warm some oil over in a small - medium skillet/frying pan around ⅔ inch/2cm deep over a medium-high heat. Test the heat with a grain of rice to see if it sizzles.
- Add around 3 - 4 of the rice balls and cook for around 6 - 10 minutes in total, turning halfway through so that they are crisp and golden on both sides.
- Once cooked, drain on kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
- Place the rice balls in a wide bowl and break them up into chunks with your hands. Add the cilantro, green onion, peanuts, lime juice and fish sauce and mix everything together so well distributed.
- Serve with fried chili as a garnish and lettuce leaves on the side to use as scoops to eat the crispy rice salad.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Carrie Robinson
A rice salad?? I love everything about this! Sounds so flavorful too. 🙂
Caroline's Cooking
Thanks, it is indeed!
dana
This is sooo delicious!! Absolutely love those crispy bits!
Caroline's Cooking
The crispy bits are so good, I agree! Glad you enjoyed.