Sin savanh — air-dried then grilled beef strips with chili-lime dressing. Like Thai neua dad deow but with Lao seasoning.
Savannakhet province (the city whose name the dish carries) — the southern Mekong-floodplain town with a long beef-curing tradition because river-buffalo butchering left more meat than could be sold fresh in a day. The Thai neua dad deow ('one-sun-dried beef') is the close cousin from Isaan.
Savannakhet's Lao Lao Garden in Vientiane Capital (Saysetha district, opened 2010 by Souksavanh family) does the southern-province version with palm sugar and roasted-rice powder; Khambang Lao Food in Bangkok's Sutthisan neighborhood serves the same recipe to Lao migrants.
Beef strips, dark mahogany outside, deep red inside, dense and chewy. Smoke-charred edge, lemongrass-coriander-root marinade pungent through the meat, salty-sweet-spicy depth. Torn by hand, dipped into jeow som (lime-chili-fish-sauce), eaten with sticky rice and raw mint.
Dry meat 6 hours in dry-season sun (30–35°C, low humidity) or 4 hours under a low fan-oven (60°C); the surface should be leather-dry but the centre still pliable. Then high-heat grill 60 seconds per side over coals — any longer turns it to jerky. The window is narrow.
Variations
Sin savanh (Savannakhet original, palm-sugar-marinated); sin haeng (Vientiane northern, drier, less sugar); sin lod (Champasak rolled-strip version with toasted sesame); Hmong-influenced uplands add wild Sichuan peppercorn to the marinade.
On the Palate
Where Lao Beef Salad sits in the Lao flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
3 steps · 10 min active · 1440 min waiting
- 11440 min
Air-dry 500 g sliced beef 1 day until firm.
- 26 min
Grill briefly over charcoal until crisp outside.
- 34 min
Toss with 4 chilies + 4 garlic + lime juice + fish sauce + cilantro + mint.
