TravelEater

Passport & Plate - The LP Sandwich

Laos | Saturday, March 1, 2014 | 5 photos

Ingredients
Part 1: Chicken and marinade

4 15 cm stalks of lemongrass, with hard outer layers peeled off, cut into 2 cm pieces
6-10 cloves garlic (to taste)
Small piece of galangal (if you can find it)
1/4 cup water
juice of 2 limes
2 tbsp olive or other vegetable oil
3 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
2 tbsp sugar
2 skinless chicken thighs (preferable, they're juicer and harder to overcook) or breasts
6 kaffir lime leaves, cut in thick strips

Part 2: Sandwich assembly:

1 baguette
4 triangles Laughing Cow / La vache qui rit cheese
Sweet chilli sauce (your favourite brand, Mae Ploy is the best, but
Maggi is just fine and easier to find)
1 tomato, sliced
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced lengthwise
Chicken thigh or breast, sliced thickly
Salt and pepper to taste
Lettuce
Herbs of your choice (e.g. Thai basil, coriander/cilantro, mint) and, if you can find them, a few betel nut leaves

 

How to prepare this recipe
As for most sandwiches, this is more of a method than a recipe, and you should adjust ingredients to your personal taste. Serves 2.

Part 1: Chicken and marinade:

In a blender, purée the lemongrass pieces, peeled garlic and galangal with the water, lime juice, olive oil, fish sauce and sugar.

Put this mixture into a re-sealable plastic bag with the chicken and lime leaves. Refrigerate overnight.

Remove the lime leaves and then roast or sauté until cooked through. Slice to add to your sandwich.

Part 2: Sandwich assembly:

Cut the baguette into two sandwich sized pieces (depending on how hungry you are, approximately 15 cm in length). For each sandwich, cut through each piece to almost split the baguette in half (this gives your ingredients one less side to spill out of onto your lap).

Spread a triangle of Laughing Cow cheese onto each side of your sandwich. Add a few dollops of sweet chilli sauce.

Then layer in slices of the tomato, cucumber and chicken (warm or cold as your prefer). Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Stuff lettuce and herbs into any remaining empty areas. Squeeze the bread together to help keep everything in there.

An authentic sandwich will be wrapped in paper and secured with an electric band to further minimise spillage.

 

The story behind this recipe
"Now THAT's good chicken!", says my tuktuk driver with his mouth full, as he reaches for another piece.

The old woman running the sandwich stand crinkles her eyes with a smile and continues assembling my sandwich, stuffing in an extra piece of that chicken, fragrant with lemongrass.

I'm sadly leaving Luang Prabang, Laos, and I love these sandwiches so much I've asked the tuktuk driver to stop so I can get a last one to eat while I wait for my flight. I watch the preparation carefully so that I can imitate it when I get home. Over the next two weeks of my trip, I crave the sandwiches, even in Vietnam where bánh mì sandwiches are everywhere but can't compare in deliciousness. I'm actually looking forward to returning home so I can make what I've dubbed "The LP Sandwich" myself.

The LP sandwich evokes Laos and Luang Prabang with the contrast in textures -- chewy baguette, moist chicken, crunchy cucumber -- and with the melange of flavours, highlighted by the herbaceousness which delights both the nose and the tastebuds. Lao food is unique (dried river weed or buffalo skin chili paste, anyone?) and uses many ingredients found nowhere else in the world. Luckily these sandwiches are simpler, with ingredients easy to find, or substitute, in the west.

Back in my kitchen in Canada, I feel like I'm on that Luang Prabang street corner every time I eat The LP Sandwich. And after my first bite, I always mimic the tuktuk driver and mumble "now THAT's good chicken!".