Next Stop: Laos

Lao cuisine (that of the Lao ethnic group of Laos and Northeast Thailand(Isan)) is distinct from other Southeast Asian cuisines in several ways:

1) The Lao meal almost always includes a large quantity of fresh raw greens,vegetables and herbs served undressed on the side.
2) Savory dishes are never sweet. "Sweet and sour" is generally considered bizarre and foreign in Laos.
3) Some dishes are bitter. There is a saying in Lao cuisine, "van pen lom;khom pen ya," which can be translated as, "sweet makes you dizzy; bitter makes you healthy."
4) Mint, dill and galangal are herbs favored in Lao cuisine but are generally ignored by their neighbours.
5) Lao food is frequently eaten at room temperature. This may be attributable to the fact that Lao food, served with sticky rice, is traditionally handled by hand.

The Lao national dish is laap (sometimes also spelled larb), a spicy mixtureof marinated meat and/or fish that is sometimes raw (prepared like ceviche)with a variable combination of greens, herbs, and spices. Another dish characteristic of Lao cooking is tam mak houng (som tam in Thai), green papaya salad.

Lao meals typically consist of a soup dish, a grilled dish, a sauce, greens, and a stew or mixed dish (koy or laap). The greens are usually fresh raw greens, herbs and other vegetables, though depending on the dish they accompany, they could be steamed or, more typically, parboiled. Dishes are not eaten in sequence; the soup is sipped throughout the meal. Beverages, including water, are not typically a part of the meal. When guests are present, the meal is always a feast, with food made in quantities sufficient for twice the number of diners. For a host, not having enough food for guests would be humiliating.

Lao cuisine has many regional variations, according in part to the fresh foods local to each region. In Laos, a French influence is also apparent in the capital city, Vientiane, such that baguettes are sold on the street, and French restaurants (often with a naturally Lao, Asian-fusion touch) are common and popular. Vietnamese cuisine is also popular in Laos.

Representative Lao Dishes:

laap — a spicy meat salad
tam mak hung — green papaya salad
soup noh may — green bamboo stew
soup phak — vegetable salad
keng noh mai som — sour bamboo shoot soup
ping sin — dry grilled beef
ping kai — grilled chicken
sai oua — sausage
nem — Lao "fried rice"
sin savane — sweet crisp fried beef
som moo — pickled pork ("ham")
som pa — pickled fish
som khai pa — pickled fish roe
som phak kad — pickled greens
mok pa — fish steamed in banana leaf
mok kai — chicken steamed in banana leaf
or — green vegetable stew
or lam — Luang Prabang style green vegetable stew
tom padek — fish stewed in padek
tom tin moo — pig's trotter soup
keng som kai — sour chicken soup
khao poon nam jaew — rice vermicelli soup
khai khuam — stuffed eggs "upside down"
pon — spicy puree of cooked fish
khao nom maw keng — coconut custard cake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuisine_of_Laos