Laos Food and Laos Drinks: What To Eat in Laos

Lao’s Food and Drink are great reasons to visit this country of hill tribes, French colonial architecture, and the mighty Mekong. Laos cuisine is similar to those in neighboring countries and combines fresh Laos fruit, vegetables, and glorious spices. There’s a Western influence too, as Laos was a French colony from 1893 until 1953.  It’s not uncommon to find great French-style baguettes and superb Lao coffee in roadside stalls. Laos recipes may draw on influences from Northern Thailand and Vietnam, but regional specialties make it worthwhile to draw up a checklist of what to eat and drink in Laos.

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Food in Laos – What to Eat in Laos

This overview of the food of Laos includes Laos food names and Laos popular food.   We hope you’ll use this as a list of Laos food to try when you travel, and even cook when you get home. We’ve also included Lao drinks – as they’re just as important to try!   We have tried to include the main ingredients of these Lao food dishes and where there are regional Laos specialty foods, we have included where you can try that particular Laos food in Laos.

Your Laos Food List – the Best Food to Eat in Laos

Laos Sticky Rice Baskets – A traditional Laos staple

Laos sticky rice is a staple of traditional Laos food.  Laos Food without sticky rice feels as though it’s missing a major item.  Sticky rice from Laos, is, for me, the most popular food in Laos.  In Laotian, sticky rice is “Khao Niew”.  It’s much preferred to standard steamed rice and is usually served in a small woven basket.  The stickiness of the rice allows you to roll the sticky rice into small balls, mop up sauces and eat with your hands.   A customary Lao meal usually includes sticky rice, vegetables, and a spicy sauce that you dip the rice into.

 

Laos Laab – Laos meat salad

Laab translates as luck or good fortune, although you can find variations in Northern Thailand, Laab originates here in Laos.   Laab consists of chopped meat mixed with shallots, roasted rice, lime juice, fish sauce, mint, coriander, and chili.  Laab is essentially a meat salad – usually pork, chicken, or beef and is served at room temperature.

Laab is also known as Laap or Larb and you’ll see it on a Laos Food menu followed by the Laos for which meat it contains.   Meat-based Laab is cooked by stirfrying, however, if fish is the main ingredient, then it’s usually “cooked” in lime juice, like ceviche.  Laab is usually eaten with a plate of raw vegetables and either ordinary or sticky rice.  Laab combined with a Green Papaya Salad is my all-time favorite Laos Food.

• Laab Moo = Pork Laab
• Laab Neua = Beef Laab
• Laab Gai = chicken Laab
• Laab Pa = Fish Laab (you may also find the fish species in the name)

Tam Mak Hoong – Green Papaya Salad

Papaya salad is a salad made from sliced raw papaya, garlic, chili, peanuts, sugar, fermented fish sauce, and lime juice.  In Laotian, Green Papaya Salad translates as Tam Mak Hoong.  It’s a combination of spicy, sweet, sour and salty and it’s incredibly tasty, and with fruit being the primary ingredient it makes you feel good.  Ignore the copious amounts of sugar in the recipe.  I’m sure it’s good for you.

If you’re venturing into Laos from Northern Thailand then you’ll recognize this dish, although here in Laos, the fish sauce – padek gives Laos Green Papaya Salad a slightly more salty taste.   Fish sauce is used in both Thailand and Laos, but here in Laos, it’s made from mudfish, which seems to be a stronger, grittier flavor.

Or Lam – Laos Pork Stew

This is a Laos Pork Stew, but Or Lam sounds much better than stew doesn’t it?  Or Lam is a speciality of Luang Prabang as it’s native to the Hmong people of this area and despite being called pork stew is mainly made with vegetables – the meat being optional.   Or Lam is made with beans, eggplant, lemongrass, basil, coriander, chilies, mushrooms, cilantro, and green onion.   Sticky rice then thickens the stew.

As the English name suggests, this is a stew, and Or Lam takes a long time to cook.  “Or” – or “oh” translates as “to put in” – so you put in whatever is to hand.  The local vine or root herb, “sa kan” is added to give a bitter taste, but while it can be chewed, you shouldn’t eat it.

Sai Oua – Laos Sour Pork Sausage

Sai Oua is made from chopped, fermented raw pork. It’s seasoned with lemongrass, sometimes ginger, kaffir lime leaves, shallots, cilantro (coriander), and galangal and then flavored with fish sauce.

Fresh chilies are usually also inserted into the meat.  It’s really tasty.   Sai Oua originated in Luang Prabang and is usually served with a dry chili dip and sticky rice.

Yam Salat – Luang Prabang Salad

Now, a Laos dish that doesn’t have fermented fish sauce or copious amounts of chili.  It seems almost sacrilegious to be eating it, yet Yam Salat does have the key staples of Lao ingredients.  Fresh vegetables.

Yam Salat combines lettuce, cucumber, tomato, watercress, mint, coriander, and spring onions.  Chopped peanuts, sliced boiled egg, crispy shallots, and a sweet, but slightly sour egg-based dressing are used to top the salad.  It’s seriously good.

Pizza from Phan Luang, Luang Prabang

You have to give me a pass.  It’s been nearly 18 months in South East Asia.  And I needed a pizza.  Really.  And I know it’s not really Laos food, but this deserves a shout-out.  That it came from Luang Prabang wasn’t really relevant.  But.  When you’re in Luang Prabang and the pizza craving gets you, head along to Phan Luang. You won’t regret it.   Wood-fired oven, fabulously friendly Lao-Canadian owners, and a pizza base to die for.

Kaipen – Laos Fried Seaweed

Kaipen isn’t really seaweed. It’s more like river weed, or freshwater green algae.  It’s studded with sesame seeds and sundried in the thinnest of sheets.   When you place your order, the sheets are quickly fried in a pan and served with chili paste – Jaew Bong.  If you want to try Laos snacks, then this is a good place to start.

You won’t find Kaipen everywhere, so be sure to order it when you spot it.  It’s an interesting snack, that I’m glad to say we tried it, but we won’t rush back for more.

Sundried Almonds from the Bolaven Plateau

Some of the best and freshest food you will eat in Laos is that which you buy on the side of the road.  The almonds that we bought as we wandered down to the Tad Phasouam waterfall while motorbiking around the Bolaven Plateau were amazing.

So here’s a shout-out to the folks who sell the produce from their fields and gardens at the side of the road.  Just try it.

Sindad – Laos Barbecue

Barbecuing in Laos is the same as everywhere else in the world.   Find a round metal dish, put it on top of a cooking platform, then add some oil or fat to the grill.  Add chicken, pork, and vegetables.  Serve by the pool.

Khao Jee Laos Baguettes

You’ll find French-style baguettes on every street corner in Luang Prabang – with every type of filling including tomatoes, carrots, cheese, pork, avocado, chicken, and bacon.  The Laos touch adds a squirt of chili sauce.  Be sure to stock up before any bus or Mekong River trip.

You’ll also find baguettes for breakfast with fried eggs or omelets wherever you stay, at the halfway point on the river trip between Luang Prabang and Huay Xai and in Huay Xai to take across the border.  Be sure to stock up before you head into Thailand as you’ll sorely miss them.

The BEST baguettes that we had in Laos were in Vientiane – while we waited for a bus to the Buddha Park. No. Wait. Those great baguettes in Viantiene were beaten by a roadside vendor on the Bolaven Plateau when we grabbed a couple for a picnic at the Tad Fan waterfall.  The most popular filling in Laos is fabulously reminiscent of Vietnam’s Banh Mi –  pork liver pate, pork, shredded radish and carrot, and cucumber with a seasoning of mayonnaise and chili sauce. In fact, the baguettes were great just about everywhere – just try them!

Khao Piak Sen  – Laos Noodle Soup

Noodle soup is one of the most common dishes in Laos.  It’s very similar to Vietnamese Pho and is traditionally a breakfast dish, but you can enjoy Khao Piak Sen at any time of the day.  Khao Piak Sen begins with flat rice noodles, over which you pour beef or chicken broth and add fresh herbs.  Khao Piak Sen, or “wet rice strands” – but don’t let that put you off, the noodles are thick, round, and chewy.  The noodles are made from a mix of rice and tapioca flour.

It’s also possible to have this as a dry dish – without broth.  Chicken or Pork can be added as a topping and then garnish.  A separate plate of garnishes with chili oil, lime juice, bean sprouts, long beans, basil, and cilantro (coriander) allows you to tailor an individual taste.

Laos Pho

Another noodle soup made famous for the soup of the same name from Vietnam, Pho is pronounced “Fer”.  Pho is everywhere in Laos.  First, you choose your noodles – flat or thin rice noodles.  Secondly, you pick your ingredients from fish balls, pork balls, sausage, and sliced pork.

The broth is flavored with herbs and spices.  A separate plate of raw vegetables and herbs allows you to season to your individual taste.   Adding part of a chopped chili gives added zing.

More on different Laos Noodle Dishes from Serious Eats here.

Steamed Laos Fish in Banana Leaf

I’ll admit it.  I was noodled out.  So when we were the only customers all evening in what felt like a Lao front room we were easily upsold to the steamed fish in banana leaf.  I don’t know what type of fish it was, but steamed in coconut milk inside a banana leaf, it was wonderful.  A cold BeerLao and a serving of sticky rice and we were in heaven.

Yall Dib – Fresh Laos Spring Rolls

Fresh spring rolls, also known as summer rolls will be familiar to you if you like the Vietnamese snack of the same name.  Rice noodles, fresh herbs, and a choice of meat are wrapped tightly in thin rice paper.

My favorite way of eating them is to dip them in a spicy chili peanut sauce.    The same rolls are also available as a fried option, which you’ll find on menus as Cheun Yaw.

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Laos Drinks

Is the Water Safe to Drink in Laos?

Locals do drink tap water in Laos, but there’s no guarantee that it’s safe to drink.  Bottled water, however, is cheap and easy to buy throughout the country.   We always use bottled water, both for drinking and cleaning our teeth in SE Asia.  The only time when we drank tap water was on a visit to the Gibbon Experience, which provides safe drinking water in their treehouses.  Since we traveled to Laos we’ve invested in filter water bottles – which allow you to drink tap water, they’re great and they save a fortune AND the environment.

Laos Beer

BeerLao – the main beer of Laos

The main beer of Laos is easily recognizable, in that its name is BeerLao.  Beerlao is the name of a range of beers that the Vientiane-based, Lao Brewery Company (LBC) produces.  While the hops and yeast that help produce this beer are imported from Germany, the beer is actually based on locally grown jasmine rice.  Most bars and restaurants sell Beerlao Original at 5% alcohol by volume (ABV) – the original lager beer.

Dig a little further and you’ll find Beerlao Gold (which claims to have a good scent and non-sticky texture (?!) and Beerlao Dark, a somewhat stronger beer at 6.5% ABV.

Namkhong Beer

The second brewing company that holds a license from the government of Laos is the Laos Asia Pacific Brewery  – a joint venture between the Government of Laos, Heineken, and SBK consultants.  From this company comes Namkhong Beer at 5% ABV.  Namkhong Special – also 5% ABV – is brewed with black rice – a premium, nutritious rice in Laos, it’s often known as Beer Khao Khum (Black Rice Beer).

Lao Lao Drink

Despite what you might think, this isn’t actually the same word repeated twice.  This is Lao alcohol.  In the Lao pronunciation the first Lao translates as “alcohol” and the second means Laotian.  It’s one of the drinks in Laos that you should try once, at least.  We tried this in the 4000 islands.  Read about how to get to 4000 islands from Pakse here.

However you say it, it’s Lao rice whiskey.  It’s strong, cheap, and somewhat raw, and drinking it, was for me, a one-time affair.

Laos Fruit Shakes – the best way to consume Laos Fruit

The fruit in Laos is fresh and delicious.  While it’s great to eat Laos fruits by themselves, it’s also seriously easy to consume it as a fruit shake.

Go to any restaurant or roadside food stall in Laos and look for plastic drinks containers full of fruit and vegetable.

These are the ingredients of the fresh fruit shake.  And once you try them you’ll be returning on a regular basis.  My personal favorite is watermelon, although avocado and lemon come a close second.

Laos Coffee

Since French colonists began planting coffee beans on the higher altitudes of the Bolaven plateau, Laos has had its own supply of coffee.

And it’s good stuff.  Find yourself a small roadside shack on the Bolaven plateau and indulge for a few kips.

Travel Tips for Exploring Laos

• Considering travel insurance for your trip? World Nomads offers coverage for more than 150 adventure activities as well as emergency medical, lost luggage, trip cancellation and more.
• Get online immediately with an eSIM in Laos
• Book the best Laos tours and guides on Klook
• Here’s our guide to ATM fees in Laos
• Save money in Laos with a Wise debit card
• Read our Laos Transport guide here
• Here’s our guide to food and drink in Laos
• Book Buses in Laos with 12goAsia
• Book accommodation in Laos with Agoda

Final Words on What to Eat and Drink in Laos

Eating and drinking in Laos isn’t expensive. There’s a Western influence in most tourist areas, so even if you don’t enjoy the sweet and sour, spicy, and hot flavors that characterize Laos food then you’ll never be short of choices.  If however, Laos cuisine is your thing, you’ll be in foodie heaven.  Let us know what your favorite food to try in Laos was in the comments.

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