How to make tum mark dang - Lao spicy cucumber salad recipe - Padaek (2024)

[dropcap]Tum[/dropcap] mark dang (literally ‘pounded cucumber’ in Lao) is another classic Lao spicy salad dish made in a similar way as tum mark hoong – with a Lao mortar and pestle, and a lot of love. Once you’ve mastered the art of making tum mark hoong, you should have no problems with making tum mark dang, although there are a few quirks worth noting when dealing with this particular fruit.

Firstly, cucumbers arevery different to green papayas, and soshould be treated as such. Cucumbers generallycontain more liquid (especially the seed section), and tum mark dangwill naturally have more liquid/sauce than a typical tum mark hoong. This is far from being a bad thing because the spicy sauceis prized and perfect to be mixed with cooked rice vermicelli noodles – which is often the case, making the tum mark dang and noodle blend/concoction a slippery/slurp-worthy dish.

Also, unlike green papayas (or carrots, or other firmer vegetables), when preparing cucumbers to make the salad, the convenience of using a julienne knife, like a kom-kom miracle zig zag knife does not apply. Instead, the simple yet effective old art of ‘f*ck’ (rhymes with luck) and ‘soy’ needs to be applied.

f*ck and soy is the traditional method of using a sharp knife or cleaver (for the more confident/seasoned blade-wielding cooks/chef) to first repetitiously chop (f*ck) the surface of the cucumber (or any tum som fruit or vegetable for that matter), and then thinly and evenly slice (soy) this same surface area into long thin julienne slivers. This method may look dangerous and cumbersome (and it is) – but with some experience, you’ll be chopping and slicing like a tum som pro in no time, and can apply this methodto prepare other fruits and vegetables of your choice to make your very own old-school style,tailor-made tum som.

The secret to successfully chopping and slicing cucumbers with this method is simply experience, confidence, and a very sharp blade. When repetitiously chopping the cucumber, there’s a good chance that some slivers of cucumber will fly everywhere – so, performing this ritualwith the bowl in the kitchen sink is recommended.

Because cucumbers are softer and more ‘watery’ (compared to green papayas), tum mark dang usually doesn’t keep as well as tum mark hoong, although both taste theirbest when freshly made. After saying this though, it’s usually not a problem because most tum som (including tum mark dang) – rain, hail or shine, usually gets polished off by its die-hard fans almost immediately, as they succumb to the somewhat torturous addiction of the trademark fiery tum som flavours. If need be though, keeping tum mark dang covered overnight in the fridge should be ok.

When making tum mark dang, there are several options to consider. Most varieties of cucumbers should work just fine for the dish, provided that it is fresh and firm, and can be chopped and sliced, and not too bitter nor too sweet. My cucumber of choice are Lebanese cucumbers, which are mildly sweet and easy to prepare. Home-grown, heirloom knobbly flavourful ones are also a good variation, and this dish really highlights the natural flavours of the fruit, enhanced with the other ingredients.

I prefer to leave the skin on the cucumber (for the added texture), although you can partially peel it if you like. I chose to not include the seed section in the salad because, as mentioned above, the salad is already watery enough without it. Instead, I like to serve the ‘seed logs’ as a side dish to help temper the fiery taste of the main dish when eating. Other options you can consider include omitting the garlic, adding preserved/salted crabs, msg, padaek sauce, or palm sugar, etc.

The flavours you’re aiming for in tum mark dang is very similar to that of tum mark hoong (and tum som in general), with the main difference being that the natural sweetness of cucumber shines through in tum mark dang. Basically, the distinctive flavours of tum som are spicy, salty, savoury, sour, and a little sweet – depending on the eaters’palate. You can adjust this divine balance to suit your personal taste.

Although similar to tum mark hoong, the character of cucumbers render tum mark dang as distinctlydifferent in both taste and texture. Like most tum som dishes, tum mark dang pairs perfectly with rice (khao neow/sticky rice or steamed/jasmine rice), and also cooked vermicelli. Enjoy it with your favourite meat dish, including grilled/bbq meats, dried beef/fish jerky, Lao sausages, pork crackling, etc. There are a lot of tum som hybrids out there, however, tum mark hoong and tum mark dang are the two original Lao classics. Enjoy your meal!

Related