Steamer
A steamer cooks food above heated water under a cover. The broad term includes improvised pot-and-rack setups, metal tiers and basket steamers; individual forms have different designs and uses.
Equipment · Baskets, trays and beds
Huad
houad · houd · ຫວດ
A woven upper basket used to steam Lao glutinous rice over a separate water pot. It holds the drained rice above the water; a different lidded basket, the katip khao, is used to carry and serve the cooked rice.
The upper basket and the pot beneath it
Huad is the woven upper part of a Lao sticky-rice steamer. It is also written houad or houd; Lao-language sources give the name as ຫວດ. The basket rests on a separate pot, called maw nung or maw neung in the sources, whose water is heated to produce steam. The basket is therefore a cooking vessel, while the lower pot supplies heat and water.
Woven bamboo is the characteristic material in the sources, but the shape is not fixed. Documentation from northern Laos describes both conical and barrel-shaped baskets, and notes that some are made from wood, sometimes coconut trunk. The two linked photographs also record different household setups: one shows two conical baskets over metal pots in Luang Prabang; the other shows a Katang steamer being adjusted in Savannakhet. These are examples, not a single pattern all households follow.
Steam cooks the drained rice
In the described method, glutinous rice is soaked, drained, and placed in the huad above boiling water. Steam rises through the basket and cooks the rice without immersing it. The northern Laos guide warns that the basket bottom should not sit in the water, which can make the rice soggy. A lid or clean cloth covers the rice while it steams; the basket must sit securely on the pot rim.
Turning the rice partway through is one source-specific technique for distributing the heat through a larger mass. Published examples give different timings: one northern Laos guide uses 20–30 minutes and says rice age affects the time, while a Tourism Laos example steams for 15–20 minutes, turns the rice, then steams for another 5–10. Those examples describe particular rice and equipment, not a fixed universal schedule.
Sources for this section
Not the serving basket or a tiered rack
The huad is removed after steaming and the rice may be spread on a tray to release surface steam. A katip khao is a different object: the separate lidded woven basket that receives the cooked rice for keeping and serving. The existing katip khao record is linked as the huad’s companion.
A 1981 Lao cookbook also distinguishes the upper bamboo houad from its lower pot and from a stackable Chinese steaming rack. It notes an aluminum all-metal steamer as another, modern form. Those arrangements help explain the huad’s defining feature: it is the upper woven basket in a two-part cooking system, not every steamer used for rice.
Sources for this section
A documented tradition without a dated origin
A published Lao cookbook from 1981 describes the bamboo houad as traditional cooking equipment, while present-day Lao food guides continue to describe the woven basket-and-pot method. Together they document use by the late twentieth century and today; they do not establish when the steamer was invented or a single place of origin.
The huad belongs in a broader Lao rice practice in which sticky rice is steamed, then aired and served separately. Its fit over the water pot and its open weave let the cook handle the rice as a mass while steam moves through it. There is no standard capacity, size or acquisition route in the sources reviewed; a basket must fit its own pot, and regional forms should not be flattened into a single universal design.
Sources for this section
History
A 1981 Lao cookbook distinguishes the upper bamboo steamer, called houad, from the lower maw nung pot and from a stackable Chinese steaming rack. The publication documents the equipment by that date but does not date its invention or first use.
Equipment details
SizeNo standard dimensions or capacity are given in the inspected sources; sources describe both conical and barrel-shaped forms.
How you get oneNot established The sources describe woven bamboo and some wooden forms but do not establish where or how a reader can obtain one today, or its price.
CareUse a clean food-contact basket and keep the rice above the pot water as the referenced preparation guide directs. The inspected sources do not give a model-specific cleaning, drying, or storage schedule.
Made of
- Woven bamboo — Basket body for holding rice above the water pot
Northern Laos documentation describes conical or barrel-shaped woven bamboo forms; the two inspected Lao photographs show different individual baskets. - Wood or coconut trunk — Documented alternative material for some regional baskets
A northern Laos source describes some huad forms made of wood, sometimes coconut trunk; it does not establish how common these variants are.
Limits
The huad is the upper basket, not the water pot. Its rice should be held above the water and cooked by rising steam; the northern Laos guide warns that letting the basket bottom sit in the water can make rice soggy.
Source →A huad steams rice; the separate katip khao receives and holds cooked sticky rice for serving. The two baskets are not interchangeable.
Source →The sources document several basket shapes and materials; they do not establish one universal design, capacity or timing.
Source →Places
Laos
Traditional use · Country evidenceThese sources document a Lao sticky-rice steamer and its use; they do not establish an exclusive origin.
Luang Prabang
Documented use · Locality evidenceThe image caption identifies Lao sticky rice steaming in traditional baskets in Luang Prabang; it represents one photographed setup.
Savannakhet Province
Documented use · Region evidenceThe Commons caption identifies a Katang household using a basket over a pot; this is one documented example.
Related
Same method
Pairs with
Katip khao
A lidded woven bamboo or rattan basket used in Laos to hold steamed sticky rice and keep it warm and soft for serving.
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Sources
Pha Khao LaoForm · Method
How to prepare sticky riceIdentifies a conical bamboo houad over the maw nung pot for cooking sticky rice.
Describes soaking and draining the rice, steaming with a cover, turning a larger mass midway, and gives a 20–30 minute example that varies with rice age.
Cited in: The upper basket and the pot beneath it; Steam cooks the drained rice
Pha Khao LaoName · Materials · Regional variation · Method
Food from Northern LaosIdentifies the upper part of a sticky-rice steamer as ຫວດ houd and the lower aluminum part as maw neung.
Describes conical or barrel-shaped woven-bamboo baskets, with some made from wood or coconut trunk.
Says the basket sits on the pot and should not have its bottom in the water; describes steaming, turning and airing the cooked rice.
Cited in: The upper basket and the pot beneath it; Steam cooks the drained rice; A documented tradition without a dated origin
Tourism LaosLao cuisine · Equipment distinction · Method
Food & FlavoursNames the conical woven-bamboo huad as the steamer and the katip khao as the distinct lidded serving basket.
Describes a local example of steaming sticky rice, turning it and spreading it on a tray before serving.
Cited in: Steam cooks the drained rice; Not the serving basket or a tiered rack; A documented tradition without a dated origin
ckbk (excerpt)Historical attestation · Names · Comparison
Traditional Recipes of Laos — Cooking UtensilsThe book identifies the Lao upper bamboo steamer as houad and its lower pot as maw nung.
It distinguishes an aluminum modern steamer from a stackable steaming rack described as Chinese rather than traditional Lao.
Cited in: Not the serving basket or a tiered rack; A documented tradition without a dated origin
Wikimedia CommonsImage reference · Documented use
File:Steaming rice.jpgThe inspected photograph shows two woven baskets steaming Lao sticky rice above metal water pots in Luang Prabang; the Commons page records CC BY 2.0.
Cited in: The upper basket and the pot beneath it
Wikimedia CommonsImage reference · Documented use
File:Lao Katang girl steams rice.JPGThe inspected photograph and caption show a Katang girl adjusting the sticky-rice basket over a water pot in Savannakhet Province; the Commons page records CC BY-SA 3.0.
Cited in: The upper basket and the pot beneath it