A few weeks ago I attended a masterclass in Lao cuisine hosted by Saiphin Moore, Chef and Co-Owner of Rosa’s Thai Cafe at the School of Wok. Born to a native Lao family in Thailand, Saiphin has a diverse understanding of both Thai and Laotian cuisine. And on the back of her success of her pop-up restaurant Lao Cafe earlier this year, Saiphin will open a new Laotian restaurant called Lao Cafe at 60 Chandos Place in Covent Garden later this year.

I love Laotian food for its freshness, spiciness, herby fragrance, acidity and other things nice such as ginger and garlic. I travelled through Laos last year and therefore had a great chance to taste the best of Laos – you can read about my Laotian eating experiences in Luang Prabang in Laos last year in this blog post here. But more to the subject at hand – on the night of the masterclass Saiphin took us through some of her classic family recipes including free-range chicken soup with black sesame seeds, mixed mushrooms curry with ant’s eggs, and the most classic of Laotian dishes, a salad of laab pork Laos style.

Lao Cafe – Chicken soup

All of the recipes were wonderfully simple to prepare, particularly the chicken soup which took no longer than about 15 minutes and was fragrant with flavour, particularly from the coriander, kefir lime leaves and chilli. I adored the mushrooms curry because it was particularly unique, especially with the ant’s eggs, and meaty in texture from all the delicious mushrooms. And the laab – this was really yummy with all the chilli, mint, coriander and sweet basil.

Lao Cafe – Mushroom curry

Lao Cafe – Laab pork

As you can tell, I really enjoy Laotian food. So to have the opportunity to get an insight into the intricacies of Lao cooking was a wonderful experience. Saiphin is a wonderful cook, and no doubt Lao Café will be a success once it opens.

Websites:
Rosa’s Thai Cafe
School of Wok