The Lao gourmet way of water buffalo jerky

By Jon Herskovitz

LUANG PRABANG, Laos, Sept 26 (Reuters Life!) - In the sleepy former home of Lao kings, where stray dogs now roam quiet streets and saffron-robed Buddhist monks seek shade under black parasols, Yannick Upravan has started a culinary revolution.

Born in Vientiane and trained at one of France's best culinary institutes, Upravan has turned rustic and aromatic Lao food into a gourmet experience at his Luang Prabang restaurant called 3 Nagas, arguably the country's most chic Lao eatery.

The cuisine of Laos, like many other things from the sparsely populated country, has been overshadowed by the offerings from its bigger southeast Asian neighbors Vietnam and Thailand.

But Lao food is distinct. In place of Thai curry, Laos has stews thickened with eggplants. Instead of Vietnam's spring rolls, Lao cuisine offers an array of aromatic and spicy sausages made from pork and water buffalo.

And then there is the staple of the Lao diet -- laap. It is a minced meat salad typically made from pork and chicken cooked with mint leaves, lime juice and fermented fish sauce that is eaten with sticky rice pressed into balls with fingers.

"It works well to make Lao food using the techniques I learned in France," Upravan said.

Upravan, along with his French business partner Gilles Vautrin, also run L'Elephant, one of the most successful French restaurants in Laos, located about 100 meters from the Mekong River as it flows through Luang Prabang.

Upravan said techniques he learned in France to tenderize meat helped him add a new twist to Lao dishes such as "or sine fane," which is venison and vegetable stew and "or lam sin krouaille" -- water buffalo stew with light bitter leaves.