The secret of making thom khem

These days when I call Laos it is always about food talk. Since I live in a tiny apartment and can’t make Lao food like I would normally at home I can only ask for the recipes but have no way of making most of these dishes. One of my favorite dish as a kid is Thom Khem. I only ate it a few times from first grade to the third grade. Later my parents became strict with our diet and we didn’t eat pork for many years because of a religious reason. As a result I have not eaten thom khem since I left Laos many years ago. I wanted to know how to make it for myself so I asked my aunt Phet in Pakse for the recipe.

She gave me instructions on how to make Thom Khem and I asked her to write down the instructions in Lao for me so I can translate later for my blog. Aunt Phet told me the secret of how to get a nice brown color of Thom Khem for the pork and for the eggs. She said the trick is to cook the pork with a little bit of oil and sugar. As the sugar is turning brown, the meat will have a nice color. Then add the hard boiled eggs to the pan and gently mix them to get a nice color before adding water and seasoning.

Aunt Phet said this is a trend for making thom khem these days in Pakse. I then told her about how my mother used to make thom khem by browing the sugar and then adding water to the pan and cooking the meat and eggs with the seasoning. When I get a chance I will try to make thom khem the way people in Pakse are making it. Now I just have to wait for the recipe in details so I can share with the world.