Laos is famous for fish sauce, padek, has a distinct fragrance. Insects ranging from silk worms to ants and crickets can be found on many menus. Raw and cooked meats from all manner of animals are grilled and served on a stick or sautéed and served with rice. And traditional foods is worth trying once in Laos.
Laap
Whether you call it laap or larb, this traditional dish retains its essential Lao identity despite its popularity in Thai restaurants.
Laap essentially consists of chopped meat and innards, pork, water-buffalo beef, duck, or chicken will do, mixed with fish sauce, coriander, mint, chili, spring onion, and lime juice, along with dry-fried rice grains that impart a subtle nutty flavor, then cooked. Sticky rice and fresh vegetables accompany a hearty serving of laap, wherever you go in Laos.
Lao Noodle Soup (Khao Piak Sen)
This top-notch noodle dish is probably the most common of Lao food and is a staple not so different to Pho which is synonymous with their
Vietnamese neighbours. While common as breakfast Khao Piak Sen also makes good for lunch and pretty much anytime of the day.
This tasty soup bowl generally comes as Beef or Chicken served in like broth over flat rice noodles and flavourings of fresh herbs. Often accompanied by optional garnish of chilli oil, lime juice, bean sprouts, long beans, holy basil and cilantro. Khao Piak Sen costs roughly 10,000 Kip or 40 Baht.
Sticky rice
Sticky rice is a staple throughout the country. It is commonly said that Lao citizens eat more sticky rice than anyone else in the world. It is traditionally steamed in a cone-shaped bamboo basket, and placed in a covered basket where it is eaten alongside many dishes. In
Laos, there should always be sticky rice available to eat at any time of day.
Papaya Salad
Made with young, green papaya this is not your average fruit salad. The fruit is chopped into long thin strips and mixed with padek, lime, chilis, salt and sugar to give it a spicy and savory taste. Shrimp, tomatoes, eggplant and carrots are common additions as well. All of the ingredients are pounded with a mortar and pestle giving rise to the Lao name tam mak hoong, or “pounded papaya.”
Lao Sausage (Sai Oua)
The Lao Sausage is not so different to the famous
Chiang Mai Sausage next door in
Thailand (Lanna Food). A meat treat which fuses the regions signature flavours with sours of lemongrass and kaffir lime and the fiery kicks of chillies and galangal. Fused together with minced pork and pressed into skins.
Lao Sausages can often be seen drying at roadsides or strung up at local markets. Unlike the Sai Oua of Lanna Thai food the Laos Sausage comes served with a tasty dry chilli dip (Nam Cheo) and of course sticky rice. A serving of Sai Oua costs roughly 20,000 Kip or 80 Baht.
Ping Pa
Make your way to a
Vientiane street food stall and you will find plenty of river fish in abundance, stuck on bamboo skewers, seasoned with chopped kaffir lime leaf, galangal, lemongrass, cilantro, and lime juice before roasting with skin on.
See more:
Things you need to avoid when traveling to Laos
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