Laos - What to eat?

Lao cuisine is very similar to its Thai and Vietnamese neighbor’s, and meals of spicy soup, sticky rice and chicken or laab are favorites with locals. Vientiane is serviced by several good French restaurants, a remnant of the country's colonial era, as are the baguettes and croissants are also widely available.

Major cities in Laos offer restaurants to suit almost any palette, the selection dwindles quickly as you embark on roads less traveled. This chance to experience the original taste of the traditional food is not-to-be-missed.

Laap
Lao-styled salad of minced meat; chicken, duck, or pork, is one of the most common Lao dishes. Laap is mixed of dry fried and crushed of rice grains, spices, and of course finely chopped meat. Laap is usually served with a plate of fresh veggies and sticky rice.

Tam Mak Houng
Tam Mak Houng perhaps is the most recognized dish among tourists. The easiest one that can be found even in small town while traditional taste of Tam Mak Houng are recommended to try from vendors on main streets. Ingredients are: green papaya, garlic, chili, peanuts, sugar, lime juice, and a must-have are fermented fish sauce. Although it can be extremely spicy, eat with sticky rice will make it more enjoyable! Tam Mak Houng is also know as ‘somtam’ in Thai, or ‘papaya salad’ in English

Baguettes Sandwich
Baguettes sandwich is the most obvious French influence that can be found in Laotian kitchen. Traditionally, baguettes are often slices and served with pâté and cheese while Lao-styled fill the demi-baguettes with pate, moo yor (a pork lunchmeat), fresh greens, and chile sauce! Alternatively, slices of baguettes are palatable when dunked into a cup of coffee or hot chocolate.

Som Moo
Basically, fermented or soured pork sausage, is very famous to locals —especially favourite with local kids. Som Moo can be found in many forms, it made from raw pork – sometime rump, sometime pork skin. Occasionally, green leafs (usually use ‘bai ma yom’ or star gooseberry leaves) is inserted between the mixture and the wrapper. The sausage may be eaten raw or cooked. A mixture of som moon, tam mak houng and laap make a popular Lao lunchtime meal.

BBQ Som Moo
The name ‘naem muang’ may sound familiar if you have been to Vietnam or Thailand before. The process of making the barbequed som moon is similar to som moon, but grilled and served in Vietnamese style; with transparent rice paper, lot of herbs and vegetables, thin noodles, lettuce and sauce. Build your own spring roll with hands, add all the ingredients and sauce, then, enjoy!

Pho
Pho (or Foe) is a noodle soup originally from Vietnam but can be found everywhere in Laos. A noodle soup (similar in style to the Chinese noodle soup), featuring thin cuts of beef, tripe, meatballs, and check organs (heart, liver, tongue, etc) is also available. Pho can also be found all over Asian cuisine restaurants.

Salad
Vegetarians will feel like they are in heaven when in Lao as Salad can be found all over major cities. A lot of raw green veggies are main part of the traditional Lao diet – but the French left the tossed salad behind. A delicious salad made from watercress is highly recommended.

Vietnam | Laos | Cambodia

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