BASICS - The Rough Guide to Laos - page 56

Another quintessentially Lao dish is tam màk hung , a spicy papayasalad made with shred-
ded green papaya, garlic, chillies, lime juice, pa dàek and, sometimes, dried shrimp and crab
juice. One of the most common street-vendor foods, tam màk hung , is known as tam sòm
in Vientiane; stalls producing this treat are identifiable by the vendor pounding away with a
mortar and pestle. Each vendor also has their own particular recipe, but it's also completely
acceptable to pick out which ingredients - and how many chillies - you'd like when you
order. One of several variants on tam màk hung is tam kûay tani , which replaces shredded
papaya with green banana and eggplant.
Usually not far away from any tam màk hung vendor, you'll find someone selling pîng kai ,
basted grilled chicken . Fish, pîng pa , is another grilled favourite, with whole fish skewered,
stuffed with herbs and lemongrass, and thrown on the barbecue.
Soup is a common component of Lao meals and is served along with the other main courses
during a meal. Fish soups, kaeng pa (or tôm yám paw when lemongrass and mushrooms are
included), frequently appear on menus, as does kaeng jèut , a clear, mild soup with vegetables
and pork, which can also be ordered with bean curd ( kaeng jèut tâo hû ).
A speciality of southern Laos and Luang Prabang, well worth ordering if you can find it,
is mók pa or fish steamed in banana leaves. Other variations, including mók kheuang nai kai
(chicken giblets grilled in banana leaves) and mók pa fa lai (with freshwater stingray), are
also worth sampling, though they appear less frequently on restaurant menus.
Restaurants catering to travellers can whip up a variety of stir-fried dishes , which tend to
be a mix of Thai, Lao and Chinese food, and are usually eaten with steamed rice. Fried rice
is a reliable standby throughout the country, as are Chinese and Thai dishes such as pork with
basil over rice ( mũ phát bai holapha ), chicken with ginger ( khùa khing kai ) and mixed veget-
ables ( khùa phák ).
Very popular with both locals and tourists are DIY sin dad (“Lao barbecue”) restaurants,
where you grill slithers of meat or fish on a Korean-style table-top wood or charcoal stove,
which is covered over with a thin metal plate; vegetables and eggs are boiled in a broth
poured into the channel around the rim of the plate. It's a fun and sociable way to eat in a
group.
Noodles
When the Lao aren't filling up on glutinous rice, they're busy eating fõe , the ubiquitous
noodle soup that takes its name from the Vietnamese soup pho . Although primarily eaten in
the morning for breakfast, fõe can be enjoyed at any time of day, and in more remote towns
you may find that it's your only option.
The basic bowl of fõe consists of a light broth to which is added thin rice noodles and
slices of meat (usually beef, water buffalo or grilled chicken). It's served with a plate of fresh