🥗 STARTER
Nam Khao (Lao Crispy Rice Salad)
Balls of rice seasoned with red curry paste, coconut and lime leaf, fried until crackling, then broken up and tossed with sour pork sausage, peanuts, herbs, lime and fish sauce, eaten wrapped in lettuce.
Lao · medium · serves 4
prep 30 min · cook 30 min · plus 30 min hands-off time
~497 cal · 18g protein · 62g carbs · 21g fat · 6g fiber · 8g sugars · 7g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Nam khao, sometimes written naem khao, is a Lao crispy rice salad said to come from Tha Deua, a small port village on the Mekong in Vientiane, and it has since travelled with Lao communities to northeast Thailand and far beyond. It is served as an appetizer at street stalls, in restaurants and on big trays at parties and gatherings.
Cooked rice is mixed with red curry paste, grated coconut, sugar, lime leaves and egg, pressed into balls and deep-fried until the outside is crisp and golden. The balls are then broken into chunks, some crunchy, some soft, and tossed with som moo, the sour pork sausage of Laos, plus shallots, spring onion, peanuts, mint and coriander, and dressed with lime juice and .
Traditionally each person spoons some into a lettuce leaf, adds herbs and a fried dried chilli, folds it up and eats it in one bite.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten- and dairy-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
- 3 cups cooked jasmine rice, cold (from about 1 cup raw)
- 2 tbsp red curry paste
- 1/3 cup freshly grated or coconut
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp sugar
- 3 makrut lime leaves, very finely shredded
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 litre , for deep-frying
- 150 g som moo (Lao sour pork sausage)Hard to find? 150 g Thai naem (sour pork sausage) - the same fermented pork, sold in Thai shops as naem or nham
- 2 shallots, thinly sliced
- 2 spring onions, sliced
- 1/3 cup roasted peanuts
- 1 cup fresh mint and coriander leaves, loosely packed
- 3 tbsp lime juice
- 2 tbsp
- 6 dried red chillies, fried in a little oil
- 1 head soft lettuce leaves, to serve
Instructions
- 1Put the cold rice in a bowl with the curry paste, coconut, egg, sugar, lime leaves and salt and mix gently with your hands until evenly red, without mashing the grains.✎ Chef’s noteDay-old rice works best: fresh warm rice is too soft and the balls fall apart in the oil.
- 2Squeeze the mixture into firm balls about the size of a small orange and let them rest for 30 minutes so they hold together.
- 3Heat the oil in a wok or deep pan to about 180C (350F). Fry the balls two or three at a time for 6 to 8 minutes, turning, until deep golden and crisp all over. Drain on a rack.
- 4When they are cool enough to handle, break the balls into bite-sized chunks with your fingers into a large bowl. Crumble or slice the som moo over them.
- 5Add the shallots, spring onions, peanuts and most of the herbs, then the lime juice and fish sauce. Toss gently, taste, and adjust with more lime or fish sauce.
- 6Pile onto a platter with the fried chillies and the remaining herbs and serve at once with lettuce leaves: spoon some into a leaf, fold it and eat it in one bite.✎ Chef’s noteDress it only when you are ready to eat; the rice loses its crunch within minutes.
Lao street-food and party tradition (Tha Deua, Vientiane).
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Luang Prabang. The town's own dishes are far more particular than Lao food in general: aor lam, a stew given a numbing edge by sakhan pepperwood; jaew bong, a chilli paste made with dried buffalo skin; and khai pen, weed lifted from the Mekong, pressed into sheets with sesame and garlic and dried, gathered only a few weeks a year.
🗺️
Laos. Sticky rice is not boiled, it is soaked overnight and steamed in a conical bamboo basket called a huad, then tipped into a lidded basket, the thip khao, that each person keeps beside them. You pinch off a lump, knead it into a ball with your fingers, and use it to pick up everything else. Laotians sometimes call themselves luk khao niao, children of the sticky rice.
🌍
Asia. A grain line runs across the continent. Rice dominates the wet south and east, wheat the drier north and west, and the tools follow it: the wok and the steamer where rice is milled, the tandoor and the griddle where wheat is ground. Tea travels the other way, drunk green, black, salted, buttered or with milk depending how far it got from China.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Laos
Tam Mak Hoong (Lao Green Papaya Salad)Shredded green papaya pounded in a mortar with padaek, lime, chili, garlic, and tomato, the dark, funky, fiery Lao papaya salad.
Larb (Lao Herb & Meat Salad)Warm minced pork tossed with lime, fish sauce, chili flakes, toasted rice powder, and a garden of herbs.
Or LamA Luang Prabang herb stew of meat and vegetables thickened with sticky rice and buzzed with peppery sakhan vine.
Browse all Laos recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Wok.
Storing it: Best assembled just before serving. Prep the components ahead and dress at the last moment so it stays crisp.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Nam Khao (Lao Crispy Rice Salad)?
Balls of rice seasoned with red curry paste, coconut and lime leaf, fried until crackling, then broken up and tossed with sour pork sausage, peanuts, herbs, lime and fish sauce, eaten wrapped in lettuce.
Where does Nam Khao (Lao Crispy Rice Salad) come from?
Nam Khao (Lao Crispy Rice Salad) is a Lao dish from Luang Prabang, Laos.
Can Nam Khao (Lao Crispy Rice Salad) be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Nam Khao (Lao Crispy Rice Salad) recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions. Treat the substitutions as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Nam Khao (Lao Crispy Rice Salad) safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we still count coconut as a tree nut to be cautious, although the FDA stopped listing it as one in 2025), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Nam Khao (Lao Crispy Rice Salad) take to make?
About 1 h 30 min in all: 30 minutes prep and 30 minutes cooking, plus 30 min of hands-off waiting the method needs, serving 4.
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