Cheo bong is a specialty of Luang-Prabang. It is a chilli jam flavored with garlic and galanga.
Ingredients
100 g of small dried chili peppers
50 g of medium size dried chili peppers
½ head of garlic, chopped
300 g of sugar
25 g of salt
50 g galanga, chopped
150 ml of fish sauce
10 g thin strips of cooked buffalo skin (optional)
½ tablespoon of sunflower oil
oil for frying
Method
In a saucepan, fry the garlic in oil at 170°C for 5 minutes or until golden. Drain and set aside.
Chop the chilies very finely with a blender.
Mash the chilies, garlic and galanga in a large mortar until homogenous.
In a large saucepan, dissolve the sugar and salt in 150 ml of water and bring to the boil. Let simmer for 5 minutes and then remove from the heat. Stir in the fish sauce and leave to cool for a few minutes. The aim is to avoid "suffocating" yourself with the hot steam when adding the chilies.
Stir in the crushed mixture to obtain a homogeneous paste.
Add ½ tablespoon of oil and the buffalo skin and mix well.
The cheo bong can be kept for several months in a closed jar in a cool place. I advise you to sterilize the jar before use.
In the traditional version, the chili peppers seeds are no longer visible. You can sieve the peppers after blending them. However, make sure you have 150 g of ground peppers at the end to avoid having a too liquid texture.
