Lao food is distinct from other Southeast Asian cuisines. The staple food of Lao is sticky rice. Rural Lao enjoys a very wide variety of foods and ingredients, including plants and animals collected from the wild.
Galangal and fish sauce are important ingredients. The Lao national dish is larb, a spicy mixture of marinated meat or fish that is sometimes raw (prepared like ceviche) with a variable combination of greens, herbs, and spices.
Grilling, boiling, stewing, steaming, searing and mixing are all traditional cooking methods. Stirfrying is now common, but considered to be a Chinese influence. Stews are often green in color, because of the large proportion of vegetables used as well as ya nang leaf. Soups are categorized as follows, tom, tom cheut, keng, and keng soua. Keng is soup that contains ginger and padek, and keng soua is keng that contains both galanga and ginger. In effect it is similar to the Siamese tom yum. Tom cheut is mild soup that isn't flavored with strong spices. |
