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LAOS
Food
& Drink
Fiery and fragrant, with a touch of sour, Lao food owes its distinctive
taste to fermented fish sauces, lemon grass, coriander leaves, chillies
and lime juice and is closely related to Thai cuisine.
Eaten with the hands along with the staple sticky rice, much of
Lao cuisine is roasted over an open fire and served with fresh herbs
and vegetables. Pork, chicken, duck and water buffalo all end up
in the kitchen, but freshwater fish is the main source of protein.
An ingredient in nearly every recipe is nâm pa, or fermented
fish sauce, and its thicker variation, pa dàek, which contains
chunks of fermented fish (and carries the risk of liver flukes,
except in Vientiane and Louang Phabang). Use of monosodium glutamate
(MSG) is also quite common; if you'd prefer to avoid MSG, try saying
baw sai phõng sú lot when ordering your food. Vientiane
and Louang Phabang are the country's culinary centres, boasting
excellent Lao food and international cuisine, but in many places
outside the Mekong corridor, you'll be lucky to find anything more
than a bowl of noodles.
Very few people in Laos are vegetarian , but it's fairly easy to
ask for a vegetable-only rice or vegetable dish - in many places
that may be your only option unless you eat fish. Most Lao cooking
calls for fish sauce so you may want to add " baw sai nâm
pa " ("without fish sauce").
Hygiene is an important consideration when eating anywhere in Laos.
As a rule, noodle stalls and restaurants that do a brisk business
are safe bets, though this is not much of a guide in smaller towns
and villages, as so few people eat out. Dishes containing raw meat
or fish are considered a delicacy, but people who eat them risk
ingesting worms and other parasites. Cooked food that has been left
standing should also be treated with suspicion. While the communal
nature of Lao dining makes it difficult to do so, you should avoid
sharing glasses and utensils. |
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