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