Recipe
🍽️ DINNER
Or Lam
A Luang Prabang herb stew of meat and vegetables thickened with sticky rice and buzzed with peppery sakhan vine.
Lao · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 50 min
~545 cal · 51g protein · 23g carbs · 26g fat · 8g fiber · 10g sugars · 10g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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Or lam is a stew of Luang Prabang in northern Laos, meat and vegetables simmered with herbs and thickened with 'sakhan' (a peppery woody vine) and eggplant, giving it a mild, mouth-tingling warmth.
The sakhan vine is the signature, lending a subtle, spicy numbness unlike chili heat, alongside abundant fresh herbs, mushrooms, and dried buffalo meat or pork. Bitter greens and eggplant thicken the stew into something rustic and aromatic.
A specialty of the old royal capital, or lam is foraged, herb-heavy food.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg-, nut- and pork-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
1.5 lb beef or buffalo, cubed (with a little dried meat)
4 Thai eggplant
a handful long beans
1 cup mushrooms
1 piece or 1 tsp sakhan (pepper wood) or black pepper and a pinch of Sichuan pepper
2 stalks
3 tbsp padaek ( ) or
2 chili
a big handful lots of dill
a handful Lao or Thai basil
2 tbsp toasted sticky rice, ground (to thicken)
Instructions
1
Simmer the beef (or mushrooms and tofu) with the lemongrass and sakhan (a peppery Lao wood) in water until tender.
✎ Chef’s note
Sakhan gives or lam its distinctive mild, tingling heat. If you cannot find it, a little black pepper and a pinch of Sichuan peppercorn approximate the effect.
2
Add the eggplant, long beans, and mushrooms and cook until soft, mashing some of the eggplant to help thicken the stew.
3
Stir in the ground toasted sticky rice to lightly thicken the broth, and season with padaek (or fish sauce).
4
Add the chili, dill, and Lao basil right at the end.
5
Serve with more sticky rice on the side.
Luang Prabang tradition.
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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.
Khao Piak SenA comforting Lao chicken noodle soup with soft, chewy hand-cut rice-tapioca noodles.
Browse all Laos recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
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Frequently asked questions
What is Or Lam?
A Luang Prabang herb stew of meat and vegetables thickened with sticky rice and buzzed with peppery sakhan vine.
Where does Or Lam come from?
Or Lam is a Lao dish from Luang Prabang, Laos.
Can Or Lam be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Or Lam recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Or Lam 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 count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), 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 Or Lam take to make?
About 75 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 50 minutes cooking), serving 4.
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