About this Dish
A rustic Luang Prabang stew of buffalo meat, eggplant, and forest vegetables.
History & Origin
A signature dish of Luang Prabang, or lam is flavored with "sakhaan", a woody Lao pepper vine found nowhere else, giving the stew its distinctive tingling heat.
IngredientsServes 3
🥩Buffalo meat (or beef chuck), 600g cut into chunky pieces
🍆Thai eggplants, 4-5 small, halved or quartered
🌿Fresh dill, a large handful, roughly chopped
🌶️Dried whole chilies, 4-6 or to taste
🧅Shallots, 5 large, peeled and left whole
🎋Fresh or dried wood ear mushrooms, 1 cup rehydrated and torn
🌱Sakhan (or substitute with 1 tsp black pepper + 1 tsp fresh lemongrass, minced), 2-3 young shoots bruised
🫙Padek (fermented fish sauce), 2-3 tablespoons (or use regular fish sauce as substitute)
🍖Pork skin or dried buffalo skin, 100g soaked until soft
💧Water or light stock, 1 litre
Method
1
Char your shallots and dried chilies directly over a gas flame or in a dry pan until slightly blackened on the outside — this gives the stew its deep, smoky backbone. Set them aside.2
In a heavy pot or clay pot over medium heat, add the buffalo meat with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Skim off any foam that rises, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the meat starts to become tender.3
Add the charred shallots, dried chilies, sakhan (or your substitute), padek, and soaked pork skin to the pot. Pour in the litre of stock or water and continue to simmer on low heat for another 20 minutes so all the flavours meld together.4
Add the eggplants and wood ear mushrooms and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until the eggplant is completely soft and almost melting into the broth — or lam should be thick and hearty, not a clear soup.5
Taste the stew and adjust seasoning with more padek or fish sauce if needed. The flavour should be deeply savoury, slightly smoky, and funky from the fermented fish sauce.6
Take the pot off the heat and stir through the fresh dill generously. Let it sit for 5 minutes before serving so the dill wilts gently from the residual heat and perfumes the whole dish.7
Serve hot in deep bowls alongside sticky rice for scooping — true to the Luang Prabang way of eating.User Reviews
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