Katip khao

A serving basket, not a steamer

Katip khao, presented in the English source as a rice basket, is a covered serving and holding container for cooked sticky rice. Tourism Laos describes it as woven from bamboo or rattan and fitted with a lid. The guide says the closed basket keeps steamed rice warm and soft. It does not describe one standard dimension, weave, capacity or lid design, so those details should not be assumed for every example.

The katip khao is distinct from the huad. The huad is the cone-shaped woven-bamboo basket in which glutinous rice is steamed over a water pot; the katip khao receives the rice after cooking. Keeping the names and functions separate prevents the serving basket from being mistaken for the steaming equipment.

From steaming to service

The documented sequence begins with glutinous rice washed, soaked and drained for steaming in the huad. After the rice has cooked, it is spread and gently tossed on a tray so surface steam can escape. While still warm, it is packed into the katip khao and the lid is closed. In this sequence the basket holds and serves the finished rice; it is not placed over the boiling pot and does not cook the grain.

Sticky rice, or khao niew, is described as a staple of Lao cuisine. A lidded basket gives the cooked rice a dedicated place at the meal and helps it remain warm and soft during service. This quality claim does not establish a safe holding period; no duration is specified here.

A northern Lao cookbook also describes a special woven bamboo basket for storing and serving sticky rice after steaming. It notes that diners press the rice by hand into small balls to scoop up accompanying foods. This account confirms the basket's place in serving, while describing the rice practice broadly rather than specifying one maker or basket size.

Place and documented variation

The national tourism guide places the katip khao in Laos but does not narrow its use to a particular province, community or historical period. It names bamboo and rattan as possible woven materials without assigning a single material to every basket. The sources give no measured dimensions, capacity, maker, acquisition route or cleaning instructions, so this entry leaves those particulars open rather than turning one photographed example into a universal pattern.

A Wikimedia Commons photograph documents cooked sticky rice in a woven basket at Kualao Restaurant in Vientiane. Its purple rice and open basket show one served example in a restaurant setting; the photograph does not establish that color, shape or setting as typical of all Lao katip khao.

A Laos basketry account describes round lidded bamboo containers called ka-dip for steamed sticky rice. It says their size varies with whether the basket serves one person, a family or a larger gathering, and that artisans sell baskets locally. The spelling differs from katip khao, so the related term is recorded as a documented basketry form rather than assumed to be an exact equivalent.