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FLAVORS
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hungry TUK TUK
SAFARI
One portion Lao cuisine mixed with one portion tuk tuk creates a recipe for culinary adventure. TEXT BY CLAIRE BOOBBYER PHOTOGRAPHS BY PHOONSAB THEVONGSA
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ou have heard that Lao food is varied and delicious – spicy hot, sometimes steaming, and eaten with basketfuls of sticky rice – but where to track down the stuff not cooked for farang taste buds? I chose Lao foodie Ere, and his Hungry Tuk Tuk tour of Vientiane, to guide me on a taste adventure via some of the best eats in the city. I would also get a backstage pass to witness some food preparation in the city’s private homes, something I couldn’t do on my own. Ere was born in Vientiane, and has lived in Australia, so straddles the linguistic divide which is essential once off the tourist trail.
MORE INFO Tuk Tuk Safari operates a number of tours in and around Vientiane by tuk tuk. Visit tuktuksafari.com for a full list of their offerings and to make reservations.
We were joined by two voracious American foodies and, eager to get over the start line, we were at our first stop just past 9 am. Right away, I knew this would be my favourite stop. A local family grilled bamboo tubes over coals stuffed with sticky rice, coconut milk, and taro. Khao lam, traditionally served with barbecued chicken, has been made by this family on the banks of the Mekong River for the last 23 years. Warned not to eat breakfast before the tuk tuk safari by Ere this was a warm, fragrant start to the day and a fascinating window on to this home industry with the family machete-ing and stuffing the bamboo, turning over 80–90 tubes a day on the coals. Our second breakfast was not strictly Lao but we had no complaints. Ere took us to his favourite banh cuon stall. Vietnam’s banh cuon are tiny parcels of culinary heaven – rice paper wrapped around minced pork, wood-ear mushroom, and topped by fried shallots. We perched on street stalls while being served by a Vietnamese-Thai cook who’d been selling in downtown for more than 30 years. I would happily have stayed there all day but we had more to see and more to eat.
