Fish sauce
Fish sauce is a clear, salty seasoning made by maturing fish with salt and drawing off the liquid. The broad family includes distinct regional sauces rather than one interchangeable method.
Jeow bong
ແຈ່ວບອງ (jeow bong) · jaew bong · bong sauce
Jeow bong is a Lao paste of dried chilli, shallot, garlic and galangal cooked with buffalo or cow skin, a Luang Prabang specialty eaten with sticky rice and grilled meat.
A chilli paste with skin
Jeow bong (Lao: ແຈ່ວບອງ) is a Lao paste of dried chilli, shallot, garlic and galangal, cooked or pounded together with strips of dried buffalo or cow skin. It is associated with Luang Prabang in northern Laos, and a Lao-American recipe author calls it an iconic Lao condiment there. She says the Luang Prabang style is usually sweeter, milder and made without chilli seeds, while the version on this page is the less sweet, very spicy family style.
The skin is a distinctive part of it. Singed, simmered or roasted until tender and then sliced thin, it adds a soft, chewy texture to the paste and carries the chilli oil and seasoning. It is served with sticky rice and with grilled dried beef or Lao jerky.
Sources for this section
The measured family recipe
Saeng Douangdara's recipe makes enough for eight to ten servings. The cow skin is singed over a flame and simmered with a stalk of lemongrass for an hour until very tender, then trimmed and cut in thin strips. Dried bird's eye chillies are ground and combined with shallots, garlic, galangal, makrut lime leaves and salt, then fried in a cup of oil for 12 to 15 minutes until dark red. The mixture is strained and cooled, pressed to remove oil, pounded or pulsed, and seasoned with sugar, fish sauce, tamarind and MSG before the skin is stirred in.
Cooking the chillies in oil softens them and moves colour and flavour into the fat, which is why the oil is drained, kept as a chilli oil and returned in small amounts. The tamarind and fish sauce add sourness and savour against the sugar. Nothing in the method ferments.
Sources for this section
Other versions
A transcription on Northern Illinois University's Southeast Asia site records an older style. Ten dried red chillies are grilled slowly until brittle, five small shallots and five small heads of garlic are charcoal-seared, and two slices of galangal are added; all are pounded, then seasoned with salt and fish sauce, loosened with a little water and mixed with half a strip of grilled water-buffalo skin that has been scraped, sliced and soaked in salt water. It is garnished with coriander and served with grilled dried beef.
Pha Khao Lao, a Lao kitchen site, lists dried chillies, galangal, ginger, garlic, onion, salt, stock powder, sugar, buffalo skin and vegetable oil without quantities. The chillies are seeded and soaked for an hour, the skin roasted, sliced and soaked, and the paste eaten with cooked sticky rice or sold as a packaged product. These are different versions with different skins and methods, not interchangeable formulas.
Sources for this section
Name, keeping and what is not known
Bong means pickled. The editors of the NIU transcription note that the sauce is not technically a pickle but keeps a long time, which explains the name. That keeping claim has no duration or conditions, Pha Khao Lao's three to five months in a jar or box is loosely worded, and the family recipe's months in an airtight container is a cook's statement. None is a tested shelf life, so store the paste cold.
No source dates jeow bong. The NIU recipe comes from a Lao recipe collection published in 1981 from recipe notebooks, but that is a book date, not the date of the recipe.
Sources for this section
History
No source dates jeow bong. A collection of Lao recipes was published in 1981 from recipe notebooks; that is a publication date and does not show when this recipe began.
Ingredients
Yield 9 servings · Scaling: source batch only
Cow skinSinge the hair side over flame, simmer for 60 minutes until very tender, cool, trim the fat and slice into thin strips.
57 g2 oz as recorded
Buffalo skin is used in Lao versions.LemongrassOne stalk, simmered with the skin.
1
Whole dried bird's eye chilliesGround in a food processor.
946 mL4 cup as recorded
ShallotsLarge, thinly sliced.
5
Garlic cloves
118 mL½ cup as recorded
GalangalMinced.
59 mL¼ cup as recorded
Makrut lime leavesLarge, minced.
6
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Vegetable oil
237 mL1 cup as recorded
59 mL4 tbsp as recorded
74 mL5 tbsp as recorded
Tamarind paste
30 mL2 tbsp as recorded
Monosodium glutamate
4.9 mL1 tsp as recorded
Method
Risks and precautions · Standard risk
Long storage of a moist cooked paste
Recipes claim the paste keeps for months, but no source gives a tested shelf life, pH or water activity. Animal skin and oil add to the question.
Hazard sourceDrain the oil well, store airtight and cold; the keeping claims are not tested limits.
Control sourceClaims that the paste keeps for a very long time or for three to five months are cook's statements without a tested method. Smell or taste does not show safety. The recipe contains fish sauce, an allergen.
- Prepare the skin: singe the hair side over an open flame. Simmer the skin with the lemongrass in a half-full pot of boiling water, covered, on medium-low for 60 minutes, until very tender. Cool to room temperature, trim the fat and slice into thin strips.
- Grind the dried chillies in a food processor. Combine them in a large bowl with the shallots, garlic, galangal, lime leaves and salt.
- Heat the oil over medium-high for 2 minutes. Add the mixture, lower the heat to medium and cook 12 to 15 minutes, stirring often, until it turns a vibrant dark red. Watch closely near the end, because it darkens quickly.
- Strain the mixture over a large bowl and let it cool about 30 minutes. Press or spoon off as much oil as possible; the oil can be kept as a chilli oil.
- Pound the mixture in a mortar, or pulse it briefly in a food processor for a smoother texture. Season with the sugar, fish sauce, tamarind paste and monosodium glutamate, and stir in 1 tablespoon of the drained chilli oil.
- Add the skin strips and mix until evenly combined. Serve with sticky rice and Lao jerky.
Conditions
Yield9 servings
Active time75 min
Places
Luang Prabang
Traditional preparation · Region evidenceA Lao-American recipe author calls jeow bong an iconic condiment of Luang Prabang; no date or exact origin is established.
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Sources
Saeng DouangdaraMethod · Variations · Uses
Mae's Jeow Bong | Lao Spicy Dipping SauceMeasured family recipe with cow skin: ingredients, quantities, method with timings, serving 8 to 10.
Jeow bong is an iconic Lao condiment from Luang Prabang, where the version is usually sweeter, milder and made without pepper seeds; this is the less sweet, very spicy family style.
Served with sticky rice and Lao jerky; the drained chilli oil can be drizzled on noodle soups. Keeps for months airtight (cook's statement).
Cited in: A chilli paste with skin; The measured family recipe
Northern Illinois University SEA SiteVariations · History
Jaew Bong / Bong SauceTranscribed Lao recipe: 10 dried red chillies grilled until brittle, 5 small shallots and 5 small heads of garlic charcoal-seared, 2 slices of galangal, salt, fish sauce, half a strip of grilled water-buffalo skin soaked in salt water; pounded, mixed with a little water; served with grilled dried beef.
Bong means pickled; the editors say the sauce is not technically a pickle but keeps a long time.
Cited in: Other versions; Name, keeping and what is not known
Pha Khao Lao, Lao KitchenVariations · Uses
Jeow BongIngredients without quantities: dry chillies, galangal, ginger, garlic, onion, salt, stock powder, sugar, buffalo skin, vegetable oil; chillies seeded and soaked 1 hour; buffalo skin roasted, sliced and soaked.
Served with cooked sticky rice and can be made as a packaged product; keeps 3 to 5 months in a jar or box (ambiguous wording).
Cited in: Other versions; Name, keeping and what is not known
Prospect Books / Equinox PublishingHistory
Traditional Recipes of LaosEdition account of a 1981 collection of Lao recipes drawn from recipe notebooks.
Cited in: Name, keeping and what is not known