Fresh Spring Rolls: Every day we gorge ourselves on fresh spring rolls, which are made from vermicelli noodles, egg, and mint or basil leaves wrapped in rice paper. They are served with a chili-peanut sauce, which is YUM! These are also good fried, but there goes the health factor.
Sandwiches: Not the American kind! The French left their love for baguettes in tow when they left Laos. Now, you can get any kind of sandwich you want (I tend to stick with egg and vegetables while Nolan goes for chicken), served on a baguette with various sauces from Mayo, hot sauce, and soy sauce (my favorite!0. These sandwiches are served from vendors at all hours and cost anywhere from $1.25 to $3.
BBQ: We never got to try the traditional Laos BBQ, but we had several tasty vegetable, tofu, and chicken skewers on the street as well as fresh Mekong fish (guts and organs included).
Fruit: Each morning, I start the day with a bowl of fresh fruit (mango, papaya, banana, apple, dragon fruit, pineapple), yogurt and meusli! It’s the best way to start the day as far as I’m concerned! (Nolan would probably say the egg sandwich is better!). Of course, the fruit shakes, particularly coconut ones, are fresh and tasty!
Laap: This is one of Laos’ national dishes, a spicy salad which consists of minced chicken, beef, pork, duck or fish mixed with mint leaves, lemon/lime juice, fish sauce, and chili. It’s served with rice and deliciously healthy!
Papaya Salad: The original som tam, for those of you familiar with Thailand’s green papaya salad. Apparently, it came from Laos first, but was brought to Thailand because of their close proximity. It’s my personal favorite dish from this region and is made in a mashing bowl with shredded green papaya, garlic, tomatoes, sugar, raw green beans, chili, lime juice, fish sauce, tiny dried shrimp. Sometimes it’s so spicy you can’t eat it! It’s often served with lettuce or sticky rice, which is helpful in cutting the spice.
Foe Soup: As mentioned several times, we’ve had noodle soup that consists of salty, but tasty broth, vermicelli noodles, bean sprouts, morning glory, mystery meatballs, strips of chicken or beef. You can add chili, fish sauce, soy sauce, or sugar to the soup to make it to your tasting.
Dessert: The desserts here are usual made with coconut and something else. Our favorite are the cocount pudding that is cooked so the outside becomes crispy. We’ve also had some gelatinous coconut squares mixed with different flavors, which are interesting.
Now, amidst all of these new and welcome tastes as well as the gorging on street food, I’ve developed my first-ever bout of travel sickness. Not even in India did I have a stomach issue that lasted more than two days, but low and behold, the inevitable has finally caught up with me in Laos. When we boarded the bus to Vietnam, the two backpackers next to us also have an upset stomach. Guess it’s back to restaurants and rice in Vietnam…
Laos Food Junkie,
Dimity
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