Soop Pak

Soop pak is a Lao vegetable salad made with blanched vegetables tossed with aromatics and a salty slightly funky padek or fermented fish sauce. It’s a great side dish that is vegetable forward. Soop pak is flavor packed and is easy to make. It can be served as part of a daily meal but is popular enough that you’ll often find the dish at gatherings and parties.

Traditional soop pak does not have fish in it. While refining the recipe with my mom she mentioned adding fish to vegetable dish to add depth and heartiness. This version is a slight deviation from the traditional, but the added fish is reminiscent of pon pa, fish salad. Somehow, the synergy makes it a heartier dish.

Notes:

Fish – adding fish to the salad is optional. A mild fish, like cod or tilapia, is preferred. I used catfish for the video and found that the catfish does have a prominent flavor. If adding the fish, I would definitely recommend something milder. Unless you want to eat a pon pa soop pak mash up! Which by the way, was actually quite enjoyable for someone who likes both dishes.
Padek – if you are not adding fish, reduce the amount of water to an amount e qual to the amount of padek. Padek should be boiled before added to the recipe, especially if you are using a homemade padek. This will reduce the funkiness.
Vegetables – I used baby broccoli, green beans, and mushrooms for this recipe. Any vegetable will work. When I went over this recipe with my mom, we used bok choy and enoki mushrooms as well.
Ginger leaves – ginger leaves have a mild ginger flavor. Although, I’ve noted it as optional for this dish. However, in my opinion, it’s the ingredient that makes the dish stand out. The green blends right in with the other garnishes and it will make people wonder what your secret ingredient is. If you have ginger growing in your garden, why not use it.

Soop Pak

Serves: 12 servings
Time: 30 minutes

1.5 lbs. baby broccoli, trimmed and cut into 1.5-2-inch pieces
1 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1.5-2-inch pieces
8 oz. button mushrooms, thinly sliced
2-3 dried wood-ear mushrooms, rehydrated in hot water and thinly sliced
2 medium (75g) shallots, cut in halves
4 garlic cloves
2-inch piece of ginger (30g), cut into thin slices, divided
2-3 red chilies
¼ cup padek
1 ¼ cup water (use only ¼ cup or equal about to padek if not making the fish version)
½ teaspoon MSG
½ lb. (230g) of a mild white fish filets (like cod or tilapia preferred) – Optional
¼ cup (35g) sesame seeds, toasted
1-2 green onion, thinly sliced
4-5 springs cilantro, thinly sliced
1-2 ginger leaves, minced (optional)

1. Gather and prepare ingredients.
2. Under a broiler, roast the shallots, garlic cloves, chilies, and slices of ginger. Save 1 or 2 pieces of ginger if making the dish with fish. If making this dish without fish, roast all of the ginger. Roast for a few minutes until the aromatics are fragrant with some char on them.
3. In a small saucepan, fish filets (if using), padek, water, the remaining slices of ginger, and MSG. Cook over medium heat until the mixture has come to a boil and fish is cooked through. Turn off the heat and let the mixture cool.
4. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanche each vegetable separately for 1.5-2 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to remove the blanched vegetables from the boiling water. Transfer into a large mixing bowl. Repeat until the all of the vegetables are blanched. The vegetables do not have to be shocked after blanching.
5. Peel the roasted shallots and garlic. Remove the stems from the roasted chilies. Using a mortar and pestle, pound the roasted aromatics until you get a paste. Add the pieces of cooked fish and mash until the fish has fallen apart and looks flaky. Transfer the mixture into the bowl with vegetables.
6. Toss the aromatic fish mixture into the vegetables. Adding the padek and fish broth as a dressing. Add only coat and flavor the salad. You may not need to use all of the padek mixture.
7. Garnish with green onion, cilantro, ginger leaves (if using), and toasted sesame seeds.
8. Enjoy!