This is a Laotian dish with Tua Nao or fermented soy beans. It's super simple and the portions are up to you, so I will be pretty general in my recipe. This totally brings me back to my childhood. I would be really embarrassed if I had kids from the neighborhood over when my grandma would make this, because the smell is really strong. But when they asked to try it and LOVED it, I felt relieved. They started calling it Lao Pizza and it stuck!
Ingredients:
Sticky Rice
Salt
MSG
Oil for frying
Tua Nao
Instructions:
Take a desired amount of cooked sticky rice and sprinkle lightly with salt and msg.
Massage and knead to form a large thick rice patty. Continue to massage, pressing the rice together to insure it's solid and not falling apart.
Lightly coat a frying pan with oil and fry each side of the rice patty until golden brown.
Spread a desired amount of tua nao on one side of the patty, flip and spread tua nao on the opposite side. Continue to cook each side for about 1-2 minutes, or until the tua nao has darken and stuck to the rice patty.
Transfer to your dish and eat immediately. It's best hot and crispy!
How To Make Tua Nao - Kongkeo Style
I was able to get my grandma to show me how to make her version. She's been a popular guest on my blog, with her cute photos and videos. I hope you enjoy this one too! It's not easy, and a long process, but it's a main ingredient in a lot of Lue dishes. Once you master this, you're golden!
Ingredients:
2 lbs Soy Beans
1/4 cup Salt
1 cup Crushed Red Pepper
1 tbsp MSG
3 tbsp Paprika
Water
Instructions:
In a large skillet, roast the beans on medium high heat for 15 minutes.
Remove and burnt pieces and soak in cold water for about 30 minutes.
Drain, and place into a pressure cooker and fill with clean water, about 2 inches above the beans. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. If you don't have a pressure cooker you'll need to boil for about 4 hours. I highly recommend investing in a pressure cooker.
Let it release naturally, there is a lot of pressure in there and it was a geyser when I tried to manually depressurize it. It took about 30 minutes or so naturally. The beans should be tender and easy for you to squish between your fingers.
Remove any lose bean skin and drain the beans in a rice cooker basket or a strainer. Reserve some of the water to be used for later. Let the beans cool for about 15 minutes.
Using a large basket/container, line it with foil and transfer the beans to the basket. Pack it with foil, cover with a rice sac and towels to keep the beans warm and speed up fermentation.
After 3-5 days (depending on your climate) it should be ready. I recommend leaving it in the garage so you can contain the smell. You can also speed up the process by leaving it outside in the sun during the day. Once it's ready, it will have a white tint on top, sticky film texture to it, and definitely smelling funky.
Transfer to a large bowl and add in salt, pepper, msg and mix well.
Add it to a food processor and blend, keep an eye on it because you don't want it over blend it. You still want some texture to it.
Transfer to a large bowl and add in the paprika and mix by hand. This will add a nice red tint to the bean paste. Taste it and add more pepper, salt and msg if needed. This is all dependent on your preference.
If it starts to get too dry, add some of the reserved bean water to it and continue to hand mix.
Place it in an airtight jar and continue to ferment for a few weeks before you use it. The longer you wait, the better it will be!
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