Khao Jee
“Lao baguette sandwich — French-colonial bread filled with pâté, pork floss, pickled carrot-daikon, cilantro. The Lao bánh mì cousin.”
Where it comes from
French Indochina, 1893–1953. Lao bakers in Vientiane and Pakse picked up the baguette from French colonists and adapted it to a thinner, crackly-crust loaf better suited to the humidity. The pork-floss-and-pâté filling came in via Vietnamese workers building the Mekong river-front infrastructure.
On the plate
Crackling thin crust shatters at the bite, gives way to airy crumb, then meat. Pâté-coated walls smear over the chewy bread, pork floss carries fluff, pickled carrot-daikon bite, sliced bird's-eye chili if you nod yes. Spicy-sweet-vinegary-savory in 4 bites.
How it works
Lao bakers use a 24-hour cold ferment with low yeast (0.5% by flour weight) — gives the thin shattering crust French colonists demanded but with rice-flour proportion in the dough (about 15%) to keep the crumb light in humid heat. Wheat-only bread sweats and goes leathery within an hour.
Le Banneton bakery in Vientiane (Setthathirat Road, opened 2008 by French baker Jean-Marc Souvignet) sells the closest-to-Paris version; the Lao street version, sharper and lighter, lives at Khao Jee Joke stalls along Hong Kham Road, since the 1970s.
Variations
Khao jee pâté (canonical Vientiane); khao jee sin haeng (with dried-meat strips, hill-province workers' lunch); khao jee kai yang (with grilled chicken, modern Pakse fusion); a sweet morning version exists with sweetened condensed milk and butter only.
On the Palate
Ingredients
Serves 2
How it's made
3 steps · Show ↓6 min active · 5 min waiting
How it's made
3 steps · Show ↓- 14 min
Slice 1 baguette lengthwise; toast briefly to crisp.
- 25 min
Spread pâté inside; layer with pork floss + pickled carrot-daikon + cilantro.
- 32 min
Drizzle with chili sauce; close and slice.
