Taste Laotian dishes at the Asian Heritage Festival !

Des Moines' Asian Heritage Festival always dazzles with its array of entertainment, music and of course, food. This year (the festival's fourth) features cook Penn Hongthong, who brings traditional Laotian dishes from New York City, where she hosts her own local cooking show. She's also the author of "Simple Laotian Cooking." You can taste her recipes Saturday at the Cravin' Asian tent.

by sophia ahmad
juice staff writer

Hongthong will be cooking two meals at the festival Saturday. One includes Tome Jail Pa (mushroom soup with fish), Yum Goung (orange shrimp salad) and Lob Gice (Chicken Gob, a traditional Laotian dish). The other includes Yum Ping Puck (grilled vegetable salad), Ping Louk Seen (leek turkey meatballs) and Num Won Scool (tapioca pudding). She gave us her secret recipes for two of the dishes:

Yum Ping Puck

INGREDIENTS:
Photos special to Juice1 portabella mushroom

5 asparagus spears

œ yellow pepper

œ red pepper

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped scallion

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro

DIRECTIONS: Preheat grill on high and brush or spray with oil. In a large bowl, combine mushroom, asparagus, yellow and red pepper. Add olive oil, black pepper and salt. Mix well and grill on high heat 5 minutes on each side. Let cool and cut œ-inch slice of mushroom, yellow and red pepper, cut asparagus in half. Add soy sauce, lime juice, scallion and cilantro. Mix well and serve room temperature or cold. Serves two.

Ping Louk Seen

INGREDIENTS:

When using lemongrass, remember to slice across the grain before blending, because lemongrass is fibrous.

1/4 cup sliced lemongrass, sliced across the grain (optional)

1 cup coarsely chopped leek

1 pound ground turkey

1/4 teaspoon salt

œ tablespoon soy sauce (optional)

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

œ cup finely chopped cilantro

1 tablespoon olive oil

DIRECTIONS: In a mini chopper add lemongrass and chop 10 seconds. Add leek and chop another 10 seconds. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and add turkey, salt, soy sauce, pepper and cilantro. Mix well with your hands (use gloves if desired). Form a tablespoon of mixture into a ball and place on a baking pan. Brush with olive oil and broil in the oven, 8 minutes each side. Or preheat grill pan on high heat in barbecue grill. Place meatball on grill pan, brush with olive oil and cook for 5 minutes on each side with closed lid.

Serve with rice, steamed vegetables and hot sauce.

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