Laos's most essential condiment: a caramelized roasted chili, shallot, and dried buffalo skin paste with sweet, smoky, and savory depth.
Jeow bong is arguably the most important condiment in Lao cuisine β a sticky, deeply flavored roasted chili and shallot jam with a complexity that belies its simple ingredient list. The base is dried buffalo or pork skin (khep moo), toasted galangal, shallots, and garlic all charred directly over flame or under a broiler, then pounded with dried chilies, fish sauce, and palm sugar into a paste that straddles jam and condiment. The buffalo skin dissolves during pounding into a sticky, collagen-rich matrix that binds the other flavors into something deeply savory and mildly sweet. Jeow bong appears on every Lao table as a dipping sauce for raw vegetables and sticky rice, as a spread for grilled meats, and as a seasoning base for stir-fries. Without jeow bong, a Lao meal feels incomplete β it is as essential as nam pla (fish sauce) to Thai cooking or nuoc cham to Vietnamese.
Serves 10
Place unpeeled shallots, garlic, and galangal directly on a gas flame or under a broiler. Char until the skins are deeply blackened and the insides are soft, turning occasionally, about 10-15 minutes. Let cool then peel.
In a dry pan, toast dried chilies over medium heat, turning frequently, until fragrant and slightly darkened, about 3 minutes. Remove stems and roughly break them up.
In a stone mortar, pound toasted chilies first until a rough powder forms. Add charred shallots, garlic, and galangal. Pound until a rough paste forms.
Jeow bong should have texture β it is a relish, not a smooth sauce.
Add powdered pork skin and pound to incorporate.
Add fish sauce, palm sugar, and padaek. Mix well. Heat oil in a small pan and fry the paste 5-8 minutes, stirring, until it darkens slightly and becomes fragrant and jammy.
Transfer to a sterilized jar. The jeow bong is ready to eat immediately but deepens in flavor after 1-2 days.
Charring the aromatics until deeply blackened is essential β under-charred shallots produce a raw, pungent paste without the characteristic caramelized sweetness.
Khep moo (dried pork skin) adds a unique sticky, collagen-rich quality; commercial pork rinds are a decent substitute.
Frying the finished paste at the end is what transforms it from raw-tasting to deeply savory and jammy.
Vegan jeow bong: replace pork skin with toasted cashews ground to a powder, and replace padaek with miso paste.
Jeow bong het (mushroom version): add dried shiitake mushrooms alongside the chilies for more depth.
Keeps refrigerated in a sealed jar up to 2 weeks. The flavor deepens significantly over the first 48 hours. Can be frozen up to 2 months.
Jeow bong is so fundamental to Lao cuisine that it appears in the earliest descriptions of Lao foodways from European missionaries in the 18th century. It is considered a cornerstone of the Lao concept of 'jeow' β a broad category of thick relishes and dipping condiments that accompany every Lao meal. Making jeow bong from scratch is one of the first kitchen skills taught to young Lao women in traditional households.
Moderately spicy β the charring process mellows the chilies considerably. Traditional versions range from mild-spicy to medium-hot. You can reduce the number of dried chilies for a milder version.
Lao, Thai, and Southeast Asian grocery stores carry dried pork skin. Commercial pork rinds (chicharrones) are a reasonable substitute β grind them to a fine powder before using.
As a dipping condiment alongside raw vegetables (cucumber, long beans, cabbage), with sticky rice for wrapping, alongside grilled meats, or spread on bread. A small bowl always appears on a proper Lao table.
Per serving (25g / 0.9 oz) Β· 10 servings total
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