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Cereals and bread from Laos

Khao poon (Lao fermented rice noodles)ເຂົ້າປຸ້ນ

Rice is soaked until it sours, ground and left to stand as wet flour, then forced through a perforated mould into boiling water as fresh noodles. It is the Lao member of the fermented rice noodle family; no study has yet measured its fermentation.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Khao poon itself.

Short entryCereals and bread

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedVillage and small-scale process with no published recipe or amounts.
RiceHard, non-glutinous or damaged rice is used for fermented noodles in Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia and Thailand[ikeda2010]
WaterFor soaking, grinding and boiling[ikeda2010]
Start
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SugarsLactic acid

What changes: Rice soaks in water until it sours

Step 1 of 4
Soak the rice until it sours
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: soft, sour rice.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Rice is soaked until it sours, ground and left to stand as wet flour, then forced through a perforated mould into boiling water as fresh noodles. It is the Lao member of the fermented rice noodle family; no study has yet measured its fermentation.

What makes this one different

Khao poon belongs to the same family as Thai khanom chin and Cambodian num banhchok, with a two-stage natural souring of soaked rice and standing flour, then extrusion into boiling water. Unlike those two, its fermentation has not been measured.

Related ferments

Safety

In Thai khanom jeen, a related noodle, noodles kept at pH around 4 or lower did not liquefy, while noodles raised to pH 6 or above were digested by starch-degrading bacteria, so fresh noodles are best kept acidic and eaten within a few days.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

  1. [ikeda2010] Ikeda M., Katoh M., Nagano H., Sawayama S. 2010, Characterization of the composition and bacterial manufacturing process for rice noodles in Cambodia, Journal of Home Economics of Japan 61(2):91–99, doi:10.11428/jhej.61.91 (cites Katoh et al. 2006 on Lao khaw poon)paper
  2. [marui2020] Marui J., Shompoosang S., Panthavee W. 2020, pH-dependent liquefaction of Thai fermented rice noodles (khanom jeen) associated with bacterial amylolytic enzymes, JARQ 54(1):41–45, doi:10.6090/jarq.54.41paper
  3. [wp] Wikipedia, Khao poon (outline only)wiki