Chicken Laap

After initial great strides on the low GI front, my blood sugar has been slowly rising. It's still in the safe range, but at the upper, rather than lower end. Most likely culprits are currently assumed to be dark chocolate or full fat milk, both of which should be alright, but both of which have featured on the days it has risen, so I'm currently cutting them out whilst I establish the problem. I really want to be able to have both, but, obviously not at the expense of my health. I've also been reading that, much like how, in a diet, the weight comes off, then your body goes into fight mode, the metabolism slows down and it becomes harder to get the weight off, something similar happens to liver function regarding sugar levels. I've not quite sussed it yet, but broadly, this might be the reason. I'll keep investigating, and in the meantime, continue with lots of variety of low GI food.

Lao food is generally very low fat, high in veggies and spicy. It is normally eaten with sticky rice which is not a low GI food, but this dish, served in lettuce leaves, and with a small tweak, is great low GI food. The tweak is that this should have dry fried rice powder in, but with rice being a high GI ingredient, I tried this one without. I also substituted the rice powder for almond powder which I dry roasted and this worked out best.

Laap is the national dish of Laos, a spicy chopped meat and mint dish, without which no Lao repertoire is complete. It is traditionally made with chicken, pork or fish, but one of the joys of cooking it is to try alternatives. Tofu and mushrooms both work well for a vegetarian version. Nam pha (Thai fish sauce) is a traditional substitute for baa dek, the fermented fish ubiquitous to Lao cooking, but if this doesn’t work for you, substitute soy sauce which will give you the same saltiness without the fishiness. Add the chillies slowly, tasting as you go to get the perfect balance of spiciness for your palate. Most Lao folks will enjoy it served with far more spice than the average westerner. Of course, if you are making this in the west, it may be difficult to put your hands on a banana flower. In this case, a savoy cabbage will work fine. Laap does normally contain mono-sodium glutamate but you may skip it, if you prefer. I do.
We made chicken laap, (laap gai) the traditional Lao way.
For this, you’ll need:
a whole chicken,
a couple of cloves of garlic,
an optional teaspoon of mono sodium glutamate,
some fermented fish (baa dek) or soy sauce, or nam pa, or Vietnamese fish sauce,
a generous handful of mint leaves, separated from the stems,
ten chillies and a spoonful of dried red chilli powder, though I use a lot less
a small handful of coriander, attached to the stems, and chopped
a banana flower, sliced finely
ten spring onions,5 finely chopped, 5 left uncut
two large limes
a cucumber,
some baby aubergines (eggplants)

Cut open the chicken and slice the kidneys, heart and liver into strips, around 5mm wide. Remove the skin from the chicken and cut this into similar strips. Fry this. You won’t need oil as the chicken fat will provide plenty. Add the garlic and a teaspoon of MSG. Cook for around five minutes until the chicken is cooked and the garlic is soft, then take off the heat.
Put about a litre of drinking water in a bowl and add a dozen mint leaves, the juice of half a lemon (and the squeezed fruit), and the banana flower (preferably the yellow one as this has a delicious nutty flavour whilst the red one is more bitter). Leave this to soak while you prepare the rest of the laap.
Next, put a cup of baa dek (fermented fish) into a saucepan and bring to the boil. Boil for around 3 – 5 minutes to increase the flavour. (If you are using a substitute, you can miss out this step).
Squeeze the banana flower mix, chop and add to the meat, together with the juice of one more lemon
Traditionally you can now add a heaped tablespoon of dry fried rice powder to the mix, but as I've mentioned, I substitute this for dry fried almond powder for a low GI version.
Add a couple of spoons of your chosen fish sauce, the chilli powder, the chopped up birds eye chillis, a handful of unchopped mint, the spring onions and the coriander. Stir this and serve with raw baby aubergine, peeled and sliced cucumber, the rest of the spring onions, the chilli peppers and,eat in little lettuce leaf cups, replacing the more normal, but high GI, sticky rice.