Lao · sauce/condiment
Jeow Bong (Luang Prabang Chilli Relish with Buffalo Skin)
Jeow Bong (Luang Prabang Chilli Relish with Buffalo Skin) reads umami 6.1, salinity 5.7 and funk & ferment 5.6 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Lao sauce/condiment, about 2 hr 32 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.
The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10
- Umami & Savory — 7.6 / 10
- Sweet & Fruity — 5.4 / 10
- Sour & Bright — 4.1 / 10
- Bitter & Earthy — 1.8 / 10
- Rich & Fat — 3.1 / 10
- Aromatic & Spice — 4.8 / 10
The measured notes (of 18)
Umami 6.1 · Salinity 5.7 · Funk & Ferment 5.6 · Sweetness 5.0 · Allium 4.3 · Marine & Briny 3.7 · Sourness 3.5 · Richness 3.0 · Herbaceous 2.3 · Citrus 2.0 · Heat 2.0 · Warm Spice 1.7 · Earthy 1.5 · Fruity 1.5 · Bitterness 1.2 · Floral 0.9 · Smoke 0.6
What's in it (10)
- dried red chillies — 60 g
- dried buffalo skin — 60 g
- galangal root — 40 g
- garlic — 60 g
- shallots — 150 g
- brown sugar — 80 g
- padaek — 44 g
- tamarind juice — 30 g
- vegetable oil — 74 g
- salt — 5 g
Time & effort: about 2 hr 32 min (1 hr 47 min active) · effort: involved
Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 197.8 kcal, 2.6 g protein, 12.9 g fat, 19.4 g carbs
Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.
How it's cooked (6 steps)
- Char the unpeeled garlic and shallots in a dry heavy pan over medium heat for 12 to 15 minutes, turning, until the skins blacken in patches and the flesh inside is soft and sweet. Peel them when cool enough to handle.
- Toast the dried chillies in the same pan for 2 to 3 minutes, pressing them flat, until they darken and smell smoky. Do not let them blacken all over, which turns the relish acrid. Toast the galangal slices for 3 minutes alongside.
- Simmer the soaked buffalo skin in water for 45 minutes until it is soft and gelatinous, then drain and slice it into fine shreds. Dried buffalo skin is sold in Lao and northeastern Thai shops; it contributes almost no flavour of its own and everything in the way of texture, giving jeow bong its distinctive chew. Leave it out for a vegetarian version and accept a smoother, less interesting relish.
- Pound the chillies, galangal, charred garlic, charred shallots and salt in a large mortar until you have a coarse dark paste, about 10 minutes. A blender will do it in 2 minutes but produces a smoother, duller result.
- Heat the oil in a heavy pan over medium-low heat, add the paste and fry it for 15 minutes, stirring often, until it darkens to the colour of used engine oil and stops smelling raw.
- Add the palm sugar, padaek, tamarind water and the shredded buffalo skin and cook 20 minutes more over low heat, stirring regularly, until the mixture is thick, jammy and glossy and a spoon dragged through leaves a channel that fills back slowly. Cool completely; it thickens further. Jeow bong keeps 6 weeks in the fridge under a film of oil and is eaten with sticky rice, dried buffalo meat, or khai paen river weed.
Dishes with a similar flavor shape
- Spicy Beef Salad — Thai
- Sinigang (Tamarind Sour Soup) — Filipino
- Gaeng Som (Sour Orange Curry) — Thai
- Vietnamese Caramelized Salmon and Rice Bowls — Vietnamese
- Banh Mi Meatball Bowls — Vietnamese
Keep reading: what umami, salinity, funk & ferment mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.
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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.