Sunday, July 29, 2007

Will You Join Me?

Kin khao is the title of this blog because in the Lao language it means "eat rice", but to the Lao people it means eat breakfast, eat lunch, eat dinner and just eat food in general. The Lao people love to use that phrase, my husband can vouch for that. It's the first phrase he learned when we were dating because that's all he would hear every time he was over at my house.

The food of Thailand is the most known out of the southeast Asian countries, and no one really knows what Lao food is. It is really similar to Thai food, as they share in many of the same dishes, but Lao food is much more spicy and earthy, I think.

What I want to get out of this blog is for the preservation of the Lao food and culture. To be honest, I have not been very attentive growing up. I hated to hang out in the kitchen when my sisters were preparing meals, I hated to go to the temple, I hated to do anything that was "Lao". What a difference age does to a person. I now love being in the kitchen and wish I would have learned how to cook Lao food. To my credit I do know how to make thom bak houng (papaya salad), because it's my favorite dish. I am at that age where I want a family of my own, so it is very important to me that I have this knowledge so I can pass my heritage down to my children and hopefully their children's children.

I hope that this blog will be an open forum for other Lao Americans like myself who assimilated into the American culture with full force as a young child and have forgotten some of the Lao ways. I'm basically trying to find my way back and learn everything that I didn't learn growing up and in the process I want to share my progress with anyone who is interested.

I really want to focus on childhood memories of food that I grew up on and that I miss very much. You have to understand, I live about 3000 miles from my family and there are no other Laotians that live within a 10 mile radius, actually I'm sure there are, but I wouldn't know them. I hope to share recipes (but don't be surprise if these recipes don't have any measurements, but rather "just a little amount of sugar and about a handful of that etc."), photos and insights.

Labels: About Me, Food, Laos

posted by Kay @ 7/29/2007

5 Comments:

At July 30, 2007 6:37 AM, sopheak said…

Welcome home, sister! I think this is a great idea. Please share with me some of your recipes.
At July 31, 2007 4:32 PM, Reggie The Gator said…

This sounds like fun. Any food that you make and have leftovers of just come and give it to me at the zoo.
At September 17, 2007 8:52 PM, Hopeful young Laotian said…

Hi Kay. I think it is such a wonderful idea for you to have a blog about Laotian food. I agree with what you said there in your introduction about our cuisine being so under represented. I for one feel very strongly about this ugly truth. In fact, I am in school right now to become a chef. My hope is to introduce Lao cuisine to people in a sophisticated and refined manner. I live in Southern California so keep a look out, because this is the region I will be sweeping up first. Keep doing what you're doing. I think our generation will be the ones who will push Lao people into the forefront. Go you, go us.

-Lyly
At September 18, 2007 11:35 AM, Kay said…

Hi Lyly,

thanks for stopping by, i'm glad to hear that you will be bringing lao food to a new level, i will be your biggest support =)

let us know when you have your restaurant we'll be there ;)

Kay
At October 2, 2007 10:32 PM, Vieng said…

Kay,
My name is Vieng, also a Lao/American like yourself. I really think this is great what you are doing here. But first of all I just want to say that I am very sorry to hear of your father's recent passing. I was originally linked to your blog because I was researching information about Lao Funerals. I am also going through a recent passing, one of my two uncles. It was hard for me not to have tears run down my face while reading your story. Thank you for all of your insights on the traditions of a Lao Funeral, this will be my first relative passing. My Uncle and Aunt actually brought us here to the great Free Land of America in 1982 and really showed my family of 8 that there is more to life than hardship in Laos. My Uncle also married my husband and I 2 years ago, when I had no idea he was dying from liver cancer! The last time I saw him was 2 months ago at the temple in my hometown of 10,000 and I did not recognize him at all! He looked so sick and frail, if my brother-in-law wouldn't have pointed him out to me, I wouldn't have been able to give him-what I didn't know at the time was going to be-our last hug. Kay, I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experiences and insights on the Lao culture. Oh and I love your idea on refreshening the talk on Lao Cuisine's. I love.........Lao food!
Definately the spicier the better! My favorite dish my mother makes is ghang naw-mi som (sour bamboo soup) and jao-kabpoo (spicy crab dip) and of course kao-neo (sticky rice) to go with! Well kaup-chai again and eat lots of Lao food when you can and don't forget to savor it!
Sincerely,
Vieng