This story was first published as “Community Cookbook: Make spicy beef salad with Simmaly Mahathath of Perryville, Mo.” in the July 2025 issue of The Best Years.
Simmaly Mahathath, her husband Bounliem and their seven children came to Perryville, Mo., in September 1979, through local sponsorship from the Daughters of Charity in Perryville through St. Vincent de Paul Parish. Previously, they had been living in Thailand after fleeing from their home country of Laos during the Vietnam War. The Mahathaths didn’t speak English and had only $2 to their name.
With support from the Daughters of Charity, the Mahathaths rented a two-story home and enrolled their children in parochial school. The children learned English at school and spoke their native language at home.
Bounliem worked as a groundskeeper at The National Shrine of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, and Simmaly worked at Head Start as a cook. They adapted to life in Southeast Missouri, gaining citizenship in the ‘90s, but worked hard to instill and maintain Laotian culture within their family.
“Taking off shoes at the door, washing hands, saying prayers, waiting for Dad to be at the table, having respect for the cook,” Simmaly’s daughter Pattany Nations says of practices that are important in Laotian culture. “There are hardly any disagreements when we gather around food. We came from nothing, so every little bit matters.”
The Mahathaths, like many Laotians, share food from the same bowl. Communal dining represents the shared experience of eating and enjoying a meal together, with bowls of each dish placed at opposite sides of the table so everyone can reach.
Growing up, Nations remembers spreading out a wicker mat lined with newspaper on the living room floor and sitting with legs crossed so their extended family could fit.
One of the authentic dishes the family eats is spicy beef salad, also known as beef larb. It’s a traditional Laotian dish Mahathath likes to make, sometimes substituting chicken for the beef. Mahathath says she learned to cook from her mom and her husband. When asked what she likes about it, Mahathath says, “Everything. All of my kids like it, too.”
Beef larb is prepared with a chuck roast or brisket and seasoned with traditional Asian herbs like lemongrass, ginger, mint, cilantro and lime. Mahathath says fresh herbs are best and grows each of those in her garden. Ingredients are rarely measured out, and almost all cooking is done by taste. When cooking for guests, preferences are always considered. If someone likes more or less spice, the dish will be adjusted.
Nations says the goal is “harmony inside the mouth, which is good for our soul.”
Authentic beef larb represents what a casserole would be in American culture, not in taste or presentation, but in familiarity and hospitality. It’s home-cooked food, made with love and meant to be shared. Sticky rice and hot dipping sauce, staples in Laotian culture, are present at every meal. Cooking at home and cooking for a crowd are the norm.
Before his passing in 2024, Nations says her dad had never been through a drive-thru. And while her mom does bake cookies and make meatloaf, the flavors are not the same as an American meatloaf. Almost all of the siblings continue to live in Perryville, and according to Nations, they migrate to her house or their mom’s house almost nightly to eat dinner together. In Laotian culture, the heart of the family is the mom and dad.
Mahathath says raising seven kids was difficult, along with learning a new language, learning to drive and adjusting to American culture. But when it comes to food and family, she enjoys cooking. And it’s always better when shared.
Ingredients:
2 pounds chuck roast (or brisket)
1 yellow onion, sliced
4 green onions
1/2 red onion, sliced
5-6 Thai chiles, or jalapeños, sliced
1/2 bundle cilantro, diced
10-15 mint leaves, picked off the stem
1/4 cup fresh ginger, diced
6 kaffir lime leaves, diced
1 stalk of lemongrass, diced
1/4 cup squeezed lime
1/4 cup fermented fish sauce
1 Tablespoon MSG
2 Tablespoons crushed rice, roasted
2 Tablespoons crushed Thai pepper, roasted
Directions:
Marinate beef in ½ cup soy sauce, ½ cup hoisin sauce and a few shakes of garlic powder for two to three hours for a good harmony of flavors. Meat can then be grilled (whole), or cooked in the oven for 20 minutes, or sliced raw and dipped in boiling water. Once the meat is cooked and sliced thin, place it in a bowl and add seasonings and herbs to taste. Mix like a salad and serve over romaine lettuce or cabbage, with a side of sticky rice.
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