Food and drink

Fiery and fragrant, with a touch of sour, Lao food owes its distinctive taste to fermented fish sauces, lemon grass, coriander leaves, chillies and lime juice and is closely related to Thai cuisine. Eaten with the hands along with the staple sticky rice, much of Lao cuisine is roasted over an open fire and served with fresh herbs and vegetables. Pork, chicken, duck and water buffalo all end up in the kitchen, but freshwater fish is the main source of protein. An ingredient in nearly every recipe is nam pa, or fermented fish sauce, and its thicker variation, pa daek, which contains chunks of fermented fish (and carries the risk of liver flukes, except in Vientiane and Louang Phabang). Use of monosodium glutamate (MSG) is also quite common; if you'd prefer to avoid MSG, try saying baw sai phong su lot when ordering your food. Vientiane and Louang Phabang are the country's culinary centres, boasting excellent Lao food and international cuisine, but in many places outside the Mekong corridor, you'll be lucky to find anything more than a bowl of noodles.

Very few people in Laos are vegetarian , but it's fairly easy to ask for a vegetable-only rice or vegetable dish - in many places that may be your only option unless you eat fish. Most Lao cooking calls for fish sauce so you may want to add " baw sai nam pa " ("without fish sauce").

Hygiene is an important consideration when eating anywhere in Laos. As a rule, noodle stalls and restaurants that do a brisk business are safe bets, though this is not much of a guide in smaller towns and villages, as so few people eat out. Dishes containing raw meat or fish are considered a delicacy, but people who eat them risk ingesting worms and other parasites. Cooked food that has been left standing should also be treated with suspicion. While the communal nature of Lao dining makes it difficult to do so, you should avoid sharing glasses and utensils.

Other useful information for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections):