Food & culture
Sticky rice is the soul of Lao food.
Laos eats more sticky rice per capita than anywhere on earth. Here is why, how to eat it properly with your hands, and the four dishes you would never order in a restaurant.
If you've eaten in Thailand or Vietnam, you've eaten jasmine rice. In Laos, the staple is different: khao niao, sticky rice, eaten with your hands.
It is not a side dish. It is the meal. Everything else — the grilled river fish, the laap, the jeow chili dip — is a way of using up the rice.
How to eat it
Take a small handful from the woven bamboo basket. Roll it between your fingers into a soft, tight ball. Use it to scoop, to dip, to mop up sauce. Sticky rice is the cutlery.
Four household dishes you won't find in a restaurant
- Or lam — a Luang Prabang stew with buffalo skin and sa kaan vine. Bitter, smoky, very local.
- Mok pa — banana-leaf parcels of river fish steamed with coconut, dill, and chilli.
- Sai oua — a coiled Lao sausage with lemongrass and lime leaf. Sold in markets, eaten at home.
- Sin haeng — sun-dried beef strips. You'll meet them as bar snacks; you'll find them properly only in someone's kitchen.
If you want to try these, book a meal in a home through your guide. That's the door that opens them.
Planning a trip to Laos?
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