Last summer my daughter and I went to a Laotian restaurant for the first time in Oklahoma City. It’s called Ma Der, which translates to Come Through! Or Come Eat! If you check out the website you’ll see that the chef, Jeff Chanchaleune, was a James Beard finalist in 2023 and 2024, and his restaurant has been on the list of one of the 50 best restaurants by Bon Appetit, NY Times, and the NY Post. Pretty amazing for a Laotian restaurant in Oklahoma City.

From the chef: “Our goal is to educate our diners and shine a little more light on Lao culture and cuisine. We hope to open people’s palates and appreciation for food through our bold, bright, spicy, & funky flavors. It’s a small role we play in helping with the national #LaoFoodMovement.”

Just prior to dining at Ma Der, I had copied a recipe for jeow som from the blog A Dash of Dolly, because I apparently love all Asian sauces and condiments. I’d never heard of jeow som, pronounced JOW like jowl, and SOM like sommelier, and I was also completely unfamiliar with Lao cuisine. This Lao Spicy and Sour Dipping Sauce is from her blog.

About Dolly: “I am first generation American to parents who emigrated from Laos and Thailand. I have made it a goal to continue to share different foods and recipes from both cultures that honor my heritage and ancestors. The recipes I share tell a story that have been passed down from generation to generation, and I’m so excited to share them here.”

The lovely waitress at Ma Der brought me a small bowl of jeow som, shown below left, when I asked; I wanted to taste it by itself. And wow. Spicy and sour is right. The chef creates his own jeow som from a proprietary recipe, but I imagine the ingredients are all fairly same for the most part. We also ordered beef skewers marinated in jeow som, and those were incredible.

To test out my Jeow som, I sliced a beef filet and marinated the slices overnight. Because I knew the beef was incredible with the jeow som, I figured I’d make a beef dish. But jeow som can be used with just about any kind of protein, so I’m excited to continue experimenting!

It was wonderful! Jeow som is pretty amazing. Mine turned out reddish because of the red chile peppers, but the taste is as I remember it from the restaurant.

Jeow Som

4 – 6 garlic cloves (I used 6)
8 – 10 Thai chili peppers (I used 10)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 – 3 tbsp sugar
1/4 to 1/2 cup fish sauce (I used 1/2 cup)
2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Add garlic cloves, Thai chili peppers, and kosher salt to a mortar. Using a pestle, crush the ingredients until a rough paste forms. Next add in ¼ cup of the fish sauce, two tablespoons of sugar, and the lime juice. Mix until well combined.

I didn’t use a mortar and pestle. The jeow som worked perfectly in my magic bullet.

Taste the dipping sauce and adjust it to your liking. Add more fish sauce if you want it saltier, more sugar if you want it sweeter, or more lime juice if you want it more tangy.

Stir in the chopped cilantro and serve. Delicious!

This is my favorite fish sauce, but I also like 3 crabs brand.