Since our stomachs are still supporting our recent streak of street food (knock on wood), we decided to take on the Laotian street vendors. Laos doesn't have as many traditional dishes as some of the other countries we've visited, but the food that we have tried has been really tasty!!
- Luang Prabang Salad: The dressing of this salad is to die for.. though not always consistent. The place we preferred for this dish was Khmu Restaurant on the main street.
- Luang Prabang Sausage: They have a few different types of sausages with different levels of spiciness. We found some at the night market that was really good, particularly the Lemon Grass Pork and Buffalo sausages.
- Khanom Khrok: These mini coconut pancakes are amazingly addictive when eaten fresh from the night market. You get a cute little banana-leaf-bowl of these delicious pancakes for less than $1 (5,000kip).
- Fruit Shake: Pick your flavour - you can choose any assortment of fresh fruit shakes at the night market for a meagre 10,000kip ($1.25usd).
At the west end of the night market, you can also find a bunch of food kiosks where you can eat for really cheap… 1 plate of vegetarian dishes (piled as high as you can handle) for 10,000kip ($1.25usd)… can't really get cheaper than that!!
Tamarind Cooking Class
Our ever-growing excitement for different foods and flavours led us to join a class given by Tamarind, a local restaurant reputed for serving traditional Lao food. We started with a tour of the local market before heading to the cooking school.
We learned that most Laos families still have and use 1 or 2 traditional briquette "stoves" for preparing all of their meals. Here are the dish we learned to prepare using Laotian traditional tools and recipes:
- Sticky Rice: The Lao staple food
- Jeow Mak Keua: Eggplant Dip (for the Sticky Rice)
- Jeow Mak Len: Lao Tomato Salsa (for the Sticky Rice)
- Oua Si Khai: Lemongrass stuffed with Chicken
- Mok Pa: Fish Steamed in Banana Leaves
- Khao Gam: Purple Sticky Rice with Coconut Sauce and assorted fruits (Dessert)
The best thing about the school was its beautiful location - just outside town in a secluded area. We finished off the day dining on the fruits of our labour on the patio next to a peaceful lotus pond.
