Lao · main

Or Lam (Luang Prabang Stew with Sakhan Pepperwood)

Or Lam (Luang Prabang Stew with Sakhan Pepperwood) reads umami 6.6, funk & ferment 5.6 and salinity 5.5 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Lao main, about 2 hr 19 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 6.6 · Funk & Ferment 5.6 · Salinity 5.5 · Herbaceous 4.3 · Marine & Briny 3.7 · Citrus 3.6 · Allium 3.3 · Richness 2.1 · Heat 1.8 · Sweetness 1.7 · Floral 1.7 · Earthy 1.1 · Bitterness 1.0 · Warm Spice 0.8 · Sourness 0.7 · Fruity 0.5

What's in it (14)

Time & effort: about 2 hr 19 min (1 hr 59 min active) · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 7.9 kcal, 0.4 g protein, 0 g fat, 1.8 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains seafood — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (7 steps)

  1. Char the shallots and dried chillies directly on a hot dry pan or over a flame for 4 to 5 minutes, turning, until blistered and blackened in patches. This smokiness is structural in Luang Prabang cooking and is not optional.
  2. Put the beef, pork rind, water, lemongrass, charred shallots and chillies and the salt into a heavy pot. Bring to a boil, skim the grey foam, then simmer covered for 90 minutes until the meat is tender enough to pull apart with a spoon.
  3. Add the sakhan. This is the woody stem of a wild Piper vine, sold dried in Lao and some Vietnamese shops, and it is the ingredient that makes or lam or lam: it delivers a numbing, resinous, faintly citrus peppery heat quite unlike black pepper or Sichuan pepper. Simmer it in the pot for 20 minutes, then taste the broth. It should tingle at the back of the tongue. Fish the wood out before serving; nobody eats it. If you cannot find sakhan, make a different dish rather than substituting peppercorns.
  4. Add the aubergine and the soaked wood ear and simmer 12 minutes, then the long beans for 6 minutes more, until everything is tender but the beans still snap.
  5. Crush about a quarter of the cooked aubergine against the side of the pot with a spoon and stir it back in. This is how or lam thickens; there is no starch and no coconut milk anywhere in it, which is what most non-Lao versions get wrong.
  6. Stir in the padaek and simmer 3 minutes more. Off the heat, fold through the dill and spring onions, which should stay bright green. Serve in bowls with sticky rice, and expect a stew that is savoury, smoky, herbal and buzzing rather than rich.
  7. Substitutions: water buffalo can stand in for the beef shin; beef skin can stand in for the pork rind.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

Keep reading: what umami, funk & ferment, salinity mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

See how this dish fits your palate — take the short taste test →

Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.