Are You Fond of Grass or Weed?

We do not eat grass. But grass is one of the most common sources of food for us. For example rice plant is a grass. Rice is the staple food of most Asians. That means we heavily depend on grass for our food. We also eat grass in the form of shoots and sprouts. Bamboo shoot is a common ingredient of some Chinese and Vietnamese dishes. Lemon grass shoots give a distinct flavor and aroma to some Thai dishes like Tom Yum and Tom Kha. Germinated or sprouted cereals like barley and rice are used to produce Beer and Sake.

Some grasses are weeds but not all weeds are grasses. Weed is the slang term used for the marijuana/ganja plant. But this term is commonly used to describe any unwanted plant in a controlled setting like an agricultural field, landscaped garden, manicured lawn etc. In that sense seaweed and river weed are not really weeds because they grow in natural settings. Perhaps Japanese may be growing seaweed (nori) in controlled settings. They need dried and pressed seaweed to wrap some kinds of Sushi. The omnipresent miso soup also contains seaweed.

Although weeds are undesirable for agricultural fields some weeds are useful as edible herbs. When my eldest sister-in-law joined our family, the land behind our house was freshly tilled to replant coconut. A weed called ‘thumba was growing on that loose sandy soil. Though little but bitter thumba is an edible herb. My mother cooked it with Mysore dhal or crushed jack seeds in light coconut milk and served us quite often. After several servings my new sister-in-law has reported to her family that we eat thumba for all three meals. Since then I cannot remember eating thumba in our house.

But I remember very well that my friend Xeng Xiong introduced deep fried river weed to me in Vang Vieng when I first visited Lao in 2001. Since then it was one of my favorites to try when visiting Lao. Watching those beautiful lime stone cliffs from a rudimentary bar located on the bank of Nam Song River while enjoying Beer Lao with deep fried river weed was a magical experience. If "any time is tea time" for Sri Lankans, any time is Beer Lao time for Laotians.

In fact river weed is not really a weed. It is an algae. The variety in Lao is a rock algae found in clear water pools of Mekong River basin. Once deep fried with garlic and sprinkled with sesame seeds, it goes very well with Beer Lao. It has a grainier and crunchier taste compared to Japanese seaweed.

Xeng Xiong accompanied me to Luang Prabang via Vang Vieng. I remember Vang Vieng for its stunning natural beauty and Luang Prabang for its exquisite vernacular architecture. Among many impressive architectural edifices, Wat Xieng Thong is the most magnificent. It is one of the finest examples of Buddhist architecture that I have experienced anywhere. Its graceful, multi-tiered roof and humble earth hugging adobe are surely creations of a genius. It looks masculine and feminine at the same time, a perfect yiing-yang. The 'tree of life' glass mosaic in the read gable wall is also another master piece of the temple. 

A visit to Luang Prabang is not complete without tasting its unique dish, "Luang Prabang Salad". Some variations of this salad are found throughout Lao (called Lao salad) but none of them can beat the signature salad of Luang Prabang. The hero of that dish is also a so-called weed. It belongs to the watercress family and the variety they use is endemic to Lao. It naturally grows on the banks of Mekong River. 

  

Here is how you can miserably imitate the Luang Prabang Salad.

Salad ingredients

4 soft-boiled eggs (yolk should not be runny)
2 cups torn iceberg lettuce or common lettuce
1 handful of tender watercress leaves and stems (tender pea shoots can be a substitute)

½ handful of torn coriander (cilantro) leaves and tender stems

½ handful of Chinese celery leaves and tender stems 

2 scallions (spring onion) thinly sliced (Only green part)
1 tomato thinly sliced
1 cucumber thinly sliced

For dressing

1 tbsp canola oil
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp palm sugar
1 tbsp fish sauce
1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp water
2 cloves garlic – roasted

2 tbsp roasted and crushed peanuts

Method of preparation
Place two soft boiled egg yolks, palm sugar and salt in a bowl and mix well to make a coarse mixture.
Add oil, lemon juice and fish sauce and combine well. Taste and adjust flavors. Thin out with little water if necessary

Quarter the remaining eggs and egg whites

Place lettuce on the serving plate. 
Combine coriander leaves, celery leaves, scallions and mound in the middle of the serving plate.

Arrange cucumber slices, tomato slices and quartered eggs around the mound.

Loosely arrange water cress/pea shoots on top of the mound.

Pour dressing over the salad. Sprinkle with roasted garlic and peanuts