Photos Tagged: Lao food
Lao food - food - Laos - Luang Prabang -
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A delightful afternoon snack with dips made from roasted eggplant, sweet tomatoes, and cilantro. The dark mixture in the spoon is jaew bawng, a sweet-spicy sauce made from roasted chilis (Audrey calls it the Luang Prabang barbecue sauce). The dark strips are khai paen, pressed river weed (think of it as downscale version of nori) fried with sesame seeds. Roll it with sticky rice and you're set.Sticky (or glutinous) rice is the staple of Laos. With a few tasty varieties on offer and a rich, nutty flavor found nowhere else in the rices of Southeast Asia, we were hooked. We welcomed late afternoons as an excuse for a snack of khai paen, jaew bawng, and sticky rice washed down with a cold Beer Lao.Learn more about Lao cuisine and markets.
It's possible to visit Luang Prabang and be tricked into thinking you're eating Lao food. Most of the restaurants pimp Thai curries as Lao food. Although most don't do it to be deceptive, it's a disservice to real Lao cuisine. We searched around for traditional Laotian dishes and found some at a simple restaurant named, of all things, the Fruit Shake Restaurant. Yes, we know, with a name like that, how authentic could it be. Plenty, it seems.The stew in the foreground is Or Lam - a spicy stew with mushrooms, eggplant, meat, lemongrass and chillies. This particular Or Lam did not have the wood bits that give off a spicy numbing feeling when you chew on it. We tried the wood later on in Nong Khiaw - a truly bizarre taste sensation. Learn more about Lao cuisine and markets.
