Title: The Lao Kitchen - Lao flavors and stories told through family recipes
By: Saengthong Douangdala
Publisher, Year: Ten Speed Press / Penguin Random House, 2026
ISBN: 9780593836170
Price: CAD$44 / USD$32
A beautiful new Lao cookbook just came out officially today, April 21, 2026. I was able to get an early copy from several days prior.
As I was reading through the book, I couldn't help but feel proud to see such a wonderful book written by a young Lao person. What an accomplishment for Seng! He should be commended for that.
Saeng is a young, Lao-American guy with a deep appreciation of Lao food. With his social media following, especially on Youtube (161k subscribers) and Instagram (212k followers), he's been sharing and spreading the knowledge of Lao food recipes and culture to a wide audience - which he has been doing so for almost a decade now.
The book is sprinkled with personal stories that certainly made this book even more meaningful and extra special, even the family photos are very cute. There were moments where I very much identified with what he was conveying. Certainly, mainly Lao refugee and expats will see themselves in some of his stories.
With almost 100 recipes and 256 pages, there's quite a lot to explore for the home cooks out there. Of course, I had expected to see the usual Lao dishes but I especially enjoyed seeing unexpected recipes or twists on old recipes. A deep fried kow tom dessert recipe anyone? That was new to me (p.214).
The final chapter of the book is a fascinating culinary one, entitled "Lao American Fusion". The chapter starts out as a letter addressed to "Dearest Funky Kid" (p.224). It can be interpreted as a letter to his younger self or truly to all other younger Lao refugees who may have felt under-represented, misunderstood, belittled or embarrassed for the foods that our families enjoyed. As well, he continues with an acknowledgement of the support of the Lao community and many other fans/allies. It was deeply thoughtful.
The book is sumptuously illustrated and the instructions and side tips are particularly helpful.
It's my newest favourite Lao cookbook. Highly recommended! It's available where ever you buy books or from SaengsKitchen.com
Contents:
- Chapter 1 - Dips and other kitchen staples
- Chapter 2 - Small plates
- Chapter 3 - Rice dishes
- Chapter 4 - Fermented foods and salads
- Chapter 5 - Lao and accompaniments
- Chapter 6 - Noodle dishes
- Chapter 7 - Soups and stews
- Chapter 8 - Desserts
- Chapter 9 - Lao American fusion
No comments:
Post a Comment