My Lao Kitchen--Tummakhouang Tutorial

Making tummakhoung is second nature to me.  I have been doing it for as long as I can remember it.  I guess it truly dates back to my high school days that I recall truly making tummakhoung almost every single day.  My memory is somewhat hazy when it comes to my childhood years.  I don't recall really making tummakhoung or even eating it as a child, but I am one hundred percent sure I ate tummakhoung even at birth.  LOL!  Forgive my memory... My husband says perhaps the traumatic events leading up to our family's flee out of Laos may have suppressed much of my childhood memories.  I could only move forward with my life, not backward although hypnosis might do me good to bring out all my lost memories.

Selling at a Hmong New Year... geez white
ghost face must be from all that UB Thai cream
I used as a teenager.  LOL!!  What was I thinking?

My family used to sell tummakhouang at Hmong New Year Celebrations in the Central Valley of California.  Every November and December, we'd wake up at five in the morning to prepare for the cold and foggy day of cooking and serving authentic Lao food to eager New Year goers.  Back then, we were the only Lao vendor to sell tummakhoung, laab and bbq so our booth of three lovely daughters was very favored.  There'd be a long line, actually two long lines of customers waiting for our $1 a koke (batch) tummakoung.  Back then, $1 was a lot of money for a batch of papaya salad.  I could churn that salad out so fast and it helped me develop a lot of right arm muscles.  LOL!  After selling all day long, we'd come back home to prepare for the next day.  We'd have to stay up late to marinate bbq meat, chop, dice vegetables, and "phauck" the green papaya.  I remember ever so vividly one night I was so exhausted from the previous days work that while I was "phaucking" or chopping the papaya, I fell asleep in the large heap of shredded papaya.  I recall how Mom and Dad was so tender and felt bad for having their daughters work so hard, but it was our way of life and if we all don't contribute, we would not have food and clothes.

Our family earned enough money after two seasons of doing this and other migrant work to open up a little family Lao grocery store in the town we lived in.  Of course, making papaya salad did not end there.  We had a little table at the rear of the store to sell tummakhouang to our Lao, Hmong, Mien, and Thai customers.  For six years, every day after school, I'd go to the family shop to help out and especially to make tummakhoung for our customers.  I always got excited when people ordered theirs extra spicy cause that's the way I like mine too.  I truly did enjoy my time working at our family store and each time I made tummakoung was a joy for me.  It was a beautiful time I got to spend with my parents and siblings.  If only I could live that moment again....

Elder Minoi was a Hmong speaking missionary who
loved to come by for Lao tummakhoung at our family's grocery store.  

My sister Noi managed our family's grocery store.
Here she takes a picture break to pose with missionaries
from the Mormon Church.

It was also during this time I met my "white" knight in shining armor so to speak who has proclaimed that my tummakhouang had won over his heart... LOL!!   Guess which one would be my future hubby?


My youngest daughter Champa who is now five years old really loves tummakhoung and almost all the Lao food I make.  I am hoping my two older ones will acquire a taste and love for tummakhouang someday.  I know tummakhoung can be made in so many different ways, and there is really no right or wrong way.  In Lao cooking, everything is personal taste.  In making this cooking tutorial, I wanted to show my children and friends how I make my version of our beloved Lao tummakhouang.  I hope one day when my children leaves the family nest, that they too will come to embrace and crave this sour, spicy and sweet treat that has helped our family in times of hardship.

Cooking tutorial video tummakhouang.  Enjoy der!

My Lao Kitchen--Tummakhoung Tutorial Video

My Journey With Jai Lao~~Jai Lao's 5th Humanitarian Mission

Sunday, November 6, 2011 

It's only 6:40 pm but the entire village is dark and quite as the midnight sky except for the humming noise of the electricity generator providing us with light from 6-9 pm. Banh Meuang Ngoi is a village that is considered to be big compared to its neighboring villages. It's a quaint village whose livelihood is thriving due to the backpacking tourists that come to enjoy its remoteness and beauty. It's a 3 hour car ride from Luang Prabang town plus another hour by boat on the Ou River to get to Banh Meuang Ngoi which serves as our base camp for a couple of projects we have in the other villages which are another hour and a half up the river boat ride. Banh Hat Kham or Banh Don Lom does not have any guesthouses or decent accommodations for us to safely stay so we will have to stay at Banh Meuang Ngoi and travel by boat the next few days to get there.

A typical morning in Banh Muang Ngoi and so many other Lao villages.

I feel right at home with my own sheets, pillow, blanket, towel, iPad, and mosquito repellent all set up inside the bungalow's canopy netting. Following a two hour hike to and from a nearby cave, I devoured two sweet green mangoes that left me so full I skipped dinner. After a refreshingly cold shower, I'm ready to go to sleep but fear creeps in. The sheer window curtains exposing the bedroom to people passing by petrifies me as well as all the mere screened windows in the bathroom. I think I sprayed too much mosquito repellent and Febreeze for I can hardly catch my breath from the fumes. For security and comfort, I have a habit of leaving bathroom lights on any place I stay at. I'm so afraid when the lights go completely off in half an hour and all I have is a small flashlight to guide me to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Thank goodness Sis One got my sister Noe and I small flashlights as our mission gift! Tonight, I silently pray for safety, comfort and that I won't have to get up so many times to go to the bathroom at night.

Fear isn't something I want to live in. I shall think of the many sweet smiling children I met in the village today. One toddler child stood out in the midst of the crowd with his features so different from the other village children. His hair was brown with soft curls that framed his dimpled chinned face so adorably. Seeing from his exotic features, this child's father was obviously a"farang" or a foreigner, and I did learn that his dad is from Holland who visits him once a year. His poor young mom was trying to console and nurse her screeching month old daughter while trying to comfort him from a fall he had earlier. She was a beautiful village girl that just seemed overwhelmed at her duties as a young mother. Thinking of her condition only torments my heart but it helps my own fear of the dark subside. Her children are the very reason I'm in Laos. 

Farang noi :-)

I just want to squeeze their cheeks and take them home!

My passion to help these children is what brings me here...So I shall have no fear of anything in life. I once expressed to someone "Once you're passionate about something, your passion consumes you till you have no more fear" and I've truly come to understand my own thought. Perhaps my biggest fears stem from a figment of my own imagination. The knock at a nearby bungalow late at night is probably just someone's lover beckoning to be let in. The voices in the night is perhaps a lovers' quarrel. My fears in life fade in comparison to what some of these village children and mothers must face. I'm here and it's not about my fears but rather it's about being near to those innocent children I hold dear to my heart. 

Monday, November 7, 2011 

Today we visited Banh Don Lom, a village of 39 families totally 207 people. We came with Adopt a Village in Laos, a Canadian charitable organization, to officially have an opening bacci ceremony of a two room school that they funded and built for this remote village. It was an honor to be a part of this lively and happy celebration for the villagers. 46 students will now have a place to spend their weekdays to further their mental capabilities in life. In this village I met quite an amazing young French lady trekking by herself in Laos. I greatly admired her free and adventurous spirit. Marie ate for me the food I couldn't bare to eat and took all the Beer Lao and Lao Lao shots in my place.

Children waiting for our arrival by boat. 

The opening ceremony was long but everyone kept their interest. I loved when the deputy governor spoke about change and development. He said this village like so many villages is the same as it was some 30 years ago and that it's up to us all to be open to changes and welcome changes. He mentioned tourism will be a change that is inevitably coming to the their village because of its remoteness and natural woodsy setting that foreigners love. At lunch after the bacci I talked to the governor about his talk and said I appreciated his words but inquired whether some of these changes can be seen at the meal tables today. My sister Noelle, Daravanh (Jai Lao volunteer) a secretary from the govenor's office, and myself were the only women dining with five tables filled with only men while the women sat around with the children watching us eat. What was even more of interest was way after we finished eating and started to lamvong, which is a traditional Lao dance, a table was cleared and laid with fresh banana leaves and more food and about a dozen ladies sat down to finally eat! Needless to say , it is their culture and the governor couldn't give me an answer to my inquiry and I have to leave it at that for now... 

Luncheon after our baci

This bacci actually reminds me of the last two baccis we had in celebrating Jai Lao's first two schools that opened in the Salavanh province. We, the Jai Lao sisters were the only honorary women at the tables while the women and children stood or sat around waiting to serve us. I was fine with it at the first bacci at Banh Paktapanh but then it happened again at Banh Na Don Keo. There were many elderly ladies at Banh Na Don Keo just smiling and watching us and I have an extremely soft spot for older people. My Jai Lao sisters and I grew up in America and we are not used to this type of treatment of women and especially the elders. We kindly asked the men if we can have the ladies join us to eat to which they surprisingly agreed to our wish. To have them dine with us complemented the meal for it is the company that makes the food taste better.

While the villagers started loosening up with Beer Lao and Lao Lao shots, I started to feel more tense. The village men displayed behaviors caused by intoxication of the brain. Inhibition is lost to the alcohol. Shy men come out of their shells and bold men become even more vocal. Young teenage girls go around serving alcohol to the men folk and they repeatedly try to get me to take a shot as if its a goal they shoot for but are so disappointed when I repeatedly turn them down. I made a personal and religious choice not to drink and I intend to fulfill my covenant. The men folk are quite persistent in trying to get me to drink but I graciously told them I'd lamvong dance with them instead of drinking with them to which they happily obliged. I find myself out of the dance circle several times to find the little children to come lamvong with. I needed to get away from the uncomfortable stares by my men dance partners. 

No matter how many villages I visit, I am always most drawn to the sweet spirit of the children. Their shy smiles and eyes that are so pure and innocent but when you focus a camera on them, their whole face lights up and their fingers poses up peace signs. My sister Noe and Daravanh was sharing their gum with the little children who squealed in sheer delight as they were learning how to blow bubbles from their gums. I showed them my teeth filled with ceramic braces and they had no words to describe what my teeth must have looked like. Remembering I had my iPad with me, I pulled it out and showed them pictures from my album. They're in such awe of the photos especially one of my own five year old daughter. A little girl who was probably just a couple of years older than my Champa said, "Lao pen ta huck nor?" which means she's cute huh? They especially loved it when I took pictures and videos of them and let them see themselves perhaps for the first time In their lives. These special children and their mothers constantly remind me of who I am and where I could still be if my father wasn't courageous enough to flee Laos some thirty years ago.

Perhaps this is the first image these children have of themselves....  

Sweet Khmu girls performing traditional Lao dances for us

Tuesday, November 8, 2011 

Just when I start to think I've seen some of the worst living conditions and am somewhat sensitized to life in the remote villages of Laos, Banh Hat Kham brings my heart to the depths of human despair and sadness. Banh Hat Kham is a village of 59 Khmu families over two hours by boat from dock with accessible road. It's the village that Jai Lao will be building its fourth school. This village was presented to Jai Lao by Daravanh Bills during Jai Lao's Village Search Essay Contest and it won most Facebook votes to have Jai Lao build its next school. Daravanh and her husband Reynold Bills are traveling with Jai Lao as volunteers as their winning package.

Again, we travel with Adopt a Village in Laos (AVL) from Canada to Banh Hat Kham who will act as the project manager of the building of this school. AVL donated clean water systems to each of the 59 families in the village and what joy they felt upon receiving this special gift. How thrilling it is for them not to have to boil their water before they drink of it. in addition, the Reynolds and their friends donated hygiene and dental kits to every family. Its amazing how some things as simple as a bar of soap, toothbrush and toothpaste can create such excitement and gratitude. 

Steve Rutledge of Adopt in Village in Laos,
a Canadian based charity org. donates clean water filters 

The Bills handing out their donated dental
and personal hygiene kits

It is 6 pm and we are traveling on the Ou River in darkness back to our bungalow. I'm already so afraid of the dark but traveling in the dark on a river in a canoe boat without any lights is quite terrifying. I don't know how the driver of the boat can even see where he's headed without any headlights to guide him. I guess these people know their river and their land just as a nearly blind grandma knew exactly how to get back to her home after she received her gifts. I have an extreme oversensitivity to grandmas especially partially blind ones and this particular grandma broke every vein and artery in my heart. There was no one to walk her home so Reynold helped her and I quickly followed. She led us through dozens of stilt homes with her bamboo cane that she used for support. I followed with an overwhelming feeling of sadness as I watched young children prepare for dinner by themselves. Grandma continued to climb further up the slopes passing more homes on the rather steep hillside. Finally, we made it to the top of the hilltop where her bamboo stilt home perched the highest. My heart dropped as tears also dropped from my eyes as she dropped to the ground and clapsed her hands into a prayer to thank Reynold and I for bringing her home. How could this be?! How can she who doesn't even know her age have to trek up a steep rugged mountain to get to a place she calls home?!   And in our Lao culture we are taught to "wai" or pray to our elders; they should not have to "wai" or pray to us who are much younger then them.  

Sweet grandma who won my heart and left me heart broken when she knelt down to offer prayers of gratitude for us

Life is so unfair at best. Traveling back home in total this pitch black night this very moment, I knew I could not complain. My fear of going down this total dark river subsides knowing what I just left behind. My fear is for grandma on the mountain top and another one left in her hut without dinner until I brought her food left over from the bacci that the village chief had in our honor. My thoughts run to the women in the assistant chief's home who weren't allowed to eat with us foreigners or the men of the village. But one very interesting thing about the men of this Khmu village stood out in my mind. After the bacci dinner consisting of boiled chicken, grilled fish, sautéed gizzards, and of course sticky rice, they did not join us on the floor. I'm a rather inquisitive person so I asked why aren't they sitting around the food with us to which the chief replied "Out of respect for you and your timing to go home, we want you eat first and we will eat after you." to which I quickly replied that they must sit down for dinner with us and they happily joined us. 

Baci dinner

I continue to ponder about the faces smeared in dirt wearing tattered clothes and using the soles of their feet as shoes. There are so many puppy eyed faces that capture my heart in every village I've visited but one always seem to stand out more then others. This time it was a unique looking little girl name Nang and she didn't know her age but she couldn't of been older then my own 12 year old daughter. From the first moment I saw her I thought how exotic she looked with features that Gap would have used as their featured ad face. But it was the sweet yet shy way she'd sneak looks at me that warms my heart. She seemed too timid to smile at me but every time I'd look away, I can feel her sneak a peak at me and shyly smile to herself. She reminded me of a young girl in another Khmu village who melted my heart a couple of years ago. Nang was too shy to show it but I think she liked me cause she walked me to the boat to quietly wave goodbye. I promised her I'd return to visit upon completion of the school. I will miss her and wonder how she's doing in Banh Hat Kham. 

Nang, the innocent beauty who melts my heart

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

This morning we set out to leave for Banh Muang Kham in Xieng Khouang Province which will be about a six hour drive by minivan. Banh Muang Kham is a village submitted to Jai Lao during its Village Search Essay Contest. It came in second place so we are visiting the village to access its situation and needs. I'm very excited to visit this province as this will be my first time in that area. So grateful that the essay submitted by Nitda Louangkhouth of Alabama will bring me to new land in Laos. A surprise rain storm greeted us outside the boat dock. When it rains in Laos, it heavily pours. We were not prepared for the pounding rain and the mud that followed after. The one hour boat ride back to catch our minivan was very relaxing as I reflect on the days spent in this part of the world. The scenery was serene as I watched villagers living along the Ou River go about their daily lives. How enchanting to live each day content with life. 

The simplicity of life on the river

The six hour ride to Banh Muang Kham felt more like a sixteen hour ride on the most curvy road I've ever been on. We are so lucky that we stopped by Luang Prabang city for our food and other snacks to occupy our mouths and stomach during the arduous journey to the next province. I have rode on buses and cars from southern Laos to northern Laos, but this ride was by far the most adventurous. Bhet, our essay winner bruised her arm with all the bumps along the way, and I managed to hit my head on the window several times.  That evening we finally got to our destination and our driver Phaeng checks us into a guesthouse for the night before we head out to find Banh Muang Kham. I was delighted our $16 a night room had internet connection and even hot water for our shower!! It was the best shower I had in days!


Thursday, November 10, 2011

Last night I had a really bad sleep. I guess I should have said my prayers before bedtime. I had the worst nightmare sleeping at the guesthouse. It was one of those really weird freaky dreams where it felt so real and no matter what I did I couldn't get out of it. I had dreampt that there was a spirit of sort standing watching me sleep and I felt its presence and tried to get up and scream for my sister Noe who was sleeping next to me. But for the life of me, no words could come out of my mouth as I struggled in my sleep to yell and wake up. In my sleep I was yelling and screaming and trying fiercely to wake up but all my efforts proved futile. Finally, after much panic and struggle I got myself up from my nightmare. In the Lao culture, they call that "pee um" or the ghosts kept your mouth closed. I tell ya Laos is not a place to mess around with when it comes to spirits. I woke up and said my prayers and the feelings of fear subsided. The last time something this creepy happened to me was in Pakse hotel which had been rumored to be haunted. That one was even worse then this feeling! I just can't forget to pray before I lay me down to sleep.

Today's the day that we set out to look for Banh Muang Kham. We stopped by a place near our guesthome for kawpiak (chicken noodle soup) breakfast which was simply delicious but in my humble opinion, southern Laos (Pakse) makes the best kawpiak in all of Laos! Looking for a village you have no idea of its location wasn't easy. We found the city of Muang Kham which was a thriving town with a major hospital and schools but we couldn't find the village by that name with the description written about it. We asked several local residents and local officials the whereabouts of the village. We were told that there was no village with 30 something families nearby. Perhaps, the village of Muang Kham now have developed into a major town? Until further information can be given to us, we can no longer pursue our search to build a school in Banh Muang Kham.

Plain of Jars

On our way back home to Luang Prabang, our driver Phaeng takes us on a detour to the Plain of Jars which is an archaeological landscape of thousands of megalithic jars. It's fascinating what the local Lao believes about how the jars came to be. Our driver Phaeng truly believes in the legend of a race of giants who inhabited the area and that an ancient king had created the jars to brew and store huge amounts of lao lao rice wine to celebrate his victorious battle against his enemy. I just couldn't break Phaeng's heart and tell him the physical, archaeological evidence that this legend wasn't true because he was so sincere and excited to share with me the story of the giants that once roamed Laos. 

Having just arrived back from Xiang Khouang, we came back to Luang Prabang to pick up our Jai Lao shirts we had ordered just the day before.  It's amazing how fast businesses here can produce things for you and they don't charge anything extra for speedy orders.  It's great for people like us pressed on time.  Now we are resting in Luang Prabang anticipating tomorrow's big day.  

Luang Prabang is such a beautiful city. I can't get enough of her charm and beauty so quaint and perfect.  Luang Prabang is the most visited Laos city by foreigners. I can see why. The draw of this ancient city is the slow paced life style and a city that's not progressing into western buildings or ways like Vientiane or Pakse has developed into. It still has the old Laos charm coupled with French colonial architecture. You will find foreigners sitting in front of make shift coffee cafes to fancy upscale restaurants feasting up on Western fare along with Lao cuisine.  The Night Market is a big draw here as well as their many beautiful scenic attractions such as the old Grand palace, Mount Pousi temple, and an amazing waterfall just 20 minutes outside of Luang Prabang.  My personal favorites are just the simple things like the roti or crepe street vendors and the local food dives.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Today was such a perfect and beautiful day for Jai Lao and for me personally.  I woke up with a feeling of jubilation to know that in just a couple of days I will be reunited with my family back at home again and to look forward in seeing the villagers whom the Jai Lao school was built for.  I thought our drive to Xieng Khouang province was treacherous, but our drive to Banh Pou Nong Khouay proved to be even more exciting and adventurous.  It was one hour on the beaten path from Luang Prabang, and after that we entered the "mountain" literally speaking!  For another hour we were riding in the tiniest, pot hole filled dirt road along the mountains' corridors.  We had to get out of the vehicle a couple of times to lighten the load so that we could continue our journey up the mountain, and so many times I had the scariest sensation that our minivan would just fall off the mountain cliff.  

Banh Pou Nong Khouay, a mountain top village

Jai Lao's 3rd school and 32 happy and eager Jai Lao students

11/11/11 is a special date and to be remembered forever.  It is a date that Jai Lao opens up its third school in Laos.  As soon as we made it to the village, we were greeted by eager villagers and the classical Hmong music chants.  It was so heartwarming to have such a cultural reception.  Everyone gathered in the town meeting hall.  It shocked me to see women and children also gathered at the meeting in honor of Jai Lao.  The formal ceremony and introductions were made.  I was so impressed at the district governor's message.  He conveyed to the villagers that unto them a school has been gifted and that they should not take advantage of the gift.  He had encouraged the village parents to send their children to school and that they should all try to attain at least a third grade education level to get a better job in the city.  What a wise man with very progressive thinking!  I said a few words to let them know that it isn't easy for Jai Lao to raise money to build schools and that this gift was from all of their brothers and sisters from America and that it was the sale of Jai Lao padek that got this school's funding to which they squealed in laughter.  I think they were very touched by the fact that we may not be living in Laos but that our hearts are there with them and wanting to help them in whatever ways we can.  

Everyone raised their hand when asked "Who wants to go to school?"

The highlight of our time was giving all 32 students ages 5-6 brand new Jai Lao shirts.  Initially, they were quite confused and didn't know what they should do with the shirts and we Jai Lao volunteers started putting it on for them.  At that point they got the message that these shirts were gifts for them.  The smiles and laughter as they wore their shirts was breathtaking.  The mannerism of these children so sweet and tender is something that just makes me wonder how can I help my own children appreciate even just one simple shirt given to them...  I also really enjoyed handing out blankets and personal hygiene/dental kits to all the families in the village.  Their faces full of gratitude just warms my heart.  I was glad of the few Hmong words I knew to greet each one with but I wish I knew more.  I promised myself to learn more and also to learn a few Khmu words to kindly greet the villagers in that dialect.  

Distributing blankets, personal hygiene and dental kits was such a joy to meet and see the happiness in their faces.

Another special moment during our time in this village was when we handed out the gently used eyewears.  We laid out a couple dozens of eyewear on the table for the villagers young and old to come up and sort out what fit their eyes.  It was so neat to see the elders come up and try on various pairs to see which fit their eyes and just looking at their hands to test them out.  Then once they find a fit, their whole face just lights up with the biggest smile you'll ever see on anybody as they announce to everyone, "I can see.  I can see."  That is a special priceless moment that just can't be found anywhere but here in Laos and I'm so grateful to be a part of that magic.

What a joy to see Grandma be able to see!

I was just made more and more humbled as I walked around the village to see how the families lived.   I guess I thought I had seen some of the poorest conditions in Laos and that it wouldn't effect me that much anymore but I keep seeing things that just brings my heart to my knees.  A blind woman rocking her body back and forth in front of her stilt hut, a little boy with feces around his bottom, a old little lady just knitting her little hands away, were just a few of the things I saw that just lingers in my mind.  Life goes on... I worry on but I am sure life in Laos is fine because Lao people despite their hardship, have the most amazing ability to take care of themselves and each other.  I admire their unwavering support of their own family and village family as well.  Sometimes, I think we have much to learn from their simple ways of community unity and service to one another.  Our life is far too complicated at best and we fail to be mindful of the little things in life that counts, and that's love and understanding towards each other. I am thankful for what I saw, experienced, and felt on this trip.  I learn to be a better person from these warm and wonderful village children.  

Nothing in life should be heavy to us when we think about what this
older brother does every day to care for his younger brother.

The simple joys of life... children!