The Lao market grill standard: whole butterflied chickens rubbed with lemongrass, garlic, coriander root, and fish sauce, clamped flat in split-bamboo tongs and slow-grilled beside sticky rice and jaew bong dipping paste; 'ping sin' extends the same treatment to skewered beef strips. The bamboo-clamp press is Laos's native answer to the skewer.
Also known as: ping kai, ping gai, ping kai laos, lao grilled chicken, ping sin, ping sin lao, ping moo
Watch it made
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken (1.4 kg), butterflied, or 8 bone-in thighs
- 1 stalk lemongrass, minced
- 6 garlic cloves
- 4 coriander roots (or stems), pounded
- 2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp sticky rice soaked and pounded in (optional Lao touch)
- sticky rice and jeow bong or jeow som, to serve
How to make it
- 1
Pound the lemongrass, garlic, coriander roots and white pepper to a rough paste, mix with fish and oyster sauce, and work it under the skin and over the bird; marinate overnight.
- 2
Clamp the butterflied chicken flat in a split-bamboo grill clamp or between two racks tied with wire.
- 3
Cook far above modest coals, 20-25 minutes per side, sweating the fat out slowly — Lao market birds are patience, not sear.
- 4
Move closer to the heat for a final 5 minutes each side to bronze and crisp the skin.
- 5
Chop through the bone into strips and serve with sticky rice and jeow.
Pro tip: Coriander root, not leaf, is the marinade's engine — leaves burn to nothing while the root's flavor is built for the long grill.
The story of Ping Kai
Ping kai is the Lao market grill standard: whole butterflied chickens rubbed with lemongrass, garlic, coriander root and fish sauce, clamped flat in split-bamboo tongs and slow-grilled beside sticky rice and jaew bong dipping paste. Ping sin extends the same treatment to skewered beef strips.
The bamboo clamp is Laos's native answer to the skewer and it is a genuinely better tool for a flat bird: it holds the whole chicken rigid, lets it be turned as one piece, and keeps it a fixed distance from the coals. It is the sort of solution that only develops where bamboo is abundant and metal is not.
The technique that defines it
Butterflying and clamping flat is what allows a whole bird to cook evenly over coals. Split bamboo tongs hold it under tension so it cannot curl, and the clamp acts as a handle for turning — which happens frequently, because the cook is slow and low rather than fast and hot.
The marinade is a pounded paste of lemongrass, garlic, coriander root, white pepper and fish sauce, worked under the skin as well as over it. The slow grill lets it penetrate and lets the fat render out gradually, and a well-made ping kai has skin that is dry and crisp rather than blackened.
Choosing your ingredients
A whole chicken, butterflied — backbone removed and breastbone flattened. Split bamboo clamps if you can get or make them; otherwise two flat metal grill baskets or simply weighting the bird under a heavy pan.
Lemongrass, garlic, coriander root, white pepper, fish sauce and a little palm sugar, pounded to a paste. Sticky rice, soaked and steamed. Jaew bong — the Lao chilli paste with dried buffalo skin — or a simpler jaew of toasted rice powder, chilli and lime.
Mistakes that ruin it
Not butterflying the bird
A whole unopened chicken cooks unevenly over coals. Remove the backbone and flatten it.
A hot fire
Ping kai is a slow low grill. High heat blackens the skin and leaves the thigh raw at the bone.
Marinade only on the outside
Work it under the skin as well. That is where it reaches the meat.
Turning it rarely
The clamp exists so the bird can be turned frequently as a single piece. Frequent turning is what gives even colour.
How it is served
With sticky rice eaten by hand, jaew bong or another jaew for dipping, and often tam mak hoong (Lao green papaya salad). Beerlao. It is market and roadside food and a whole bird is shared across a table.
Questions about Ping Kai
What is the bamboo clamp for?
It holds a butterflied chicken flat and rigid so it can be turned as a single piece and kept a fixed distance from the coals. It is Laos's native alternative to a skewer.
What is jaew bong?
A Lao chilli paste, often containing dried buffalo skin, sweet and smoky and intensely savoury. It is the classic dip for grilled meat.
Can I make ping kai without bamboo clamps?
Yes — flat metal grill baskets work, or weight the butterflied bird under a heavy pan. The aim is to keep it flat.
What is ping sin?
The same marinade and treatment applied to skewered strips of beef rather than a whole chicken.
