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Cooked sous vide and lightly braised, succulent strips of pork rib slide off the bone and swim in a peppery slaw of kaffir lime, scallions and roasted rice. Though Manda de Laos has been opened for less than a year, they’ve already mastered this dish; the snappy tomato coulis spiked with galangal, lemongrass and a drop of honey rounds this bold rendition of a Lao classic. mandadelaos.com; dish LAK88,000.
food
Luang Prabang by the Plate The city’s best dishes keep getting better as new restaurants whip up rocking renditions of the classics. From buffalo larb to dried-bael duck, Rachna Sachasinh savors the most creative and mouth-watering bites. Lao cuisine is often lumped in with Thai or Vietnamese, but this landlocked country boasts its own distinct culinary creds. At its core, Lao food is foraged in the forest—it’s rustic, earthy, bitter, astringent, racy. Game and fowl give it heft; oddities like insects and bats keep it exotic. Luang Prabang’s royal chefs elevated Lao cuisine, refining techniques and ingredients, while French colonials sparked intriguing fusion. New restaurants and revived menus are pushing the boundaries further, but in spite of the finesse and tinkering, Lao food remains homespun, best enjoyed with good friends and an icy Beerlao.
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CLOCKWISE FROM top LEFT: Lao ceviche, at Tangor; the buffalo tasting platter, Governor’s Grill; magret de canard rôti au mak toum, L’Elefant Restaurant.
s e p te m b er 2 0 1 6 / tr a v el a n d le i s u re a s i a . c o m
The dish: Black Ant eggs in coconut Soup The restaurant: Blue Lagoon
Wrangling a bug or two is a must for gastronomes looking for authentic Lao bites. Chef Somsack Sengta’s daring insect fusion charms intrepid and meek epicureans alike, and his bisque is a perfect gateway dish for the critter-curious. Toasted for texture and crunch, buttery black ant eggs skim the superbly aromatic soup. The tamarind’s sweet tanginess lingers pleasantly, while the deep-fried ant egg bouquets are surprisingly toothsome. bluelagoon-cafe.com; dish LAK70,000. The dish: magret de canard rÔti au Mak Toum The restaurant: L’Elefant Restaurant
Dried bael fruit, a type of quince called mak tum in Lao, is the >>
c l o c k w i s e f r o m l e f t: c o u r t e s y o f Ta n g o r ; c o u r t e s y o f G o v e r n o r ’ s G r i l l ; c o u r t e s y o f L’ E l e fa n t R e s ta u r a n t
The dish: Ping Dook Moo The restaurant: Manda de Laos
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