You want something as a light meal to recharge your energy for next hours exploring Laos? Let’s visit the local markets or street food stall to enjoy a lot of Lao snacks.

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Sien Savanh (Sundried beef strips)

Made from beef flank steak or sometimes water buffalo meat, sien savanh is also called as the Laotian beef jerky, which is less salty but thinner and flatter than beef strips you can find elsewhere. Before being left to be dried in sunlight and then being deep fried, these flank steaks are well marinated in a mixture of fish sauce, oyster sauce, palm sugar, salt, ginger, garlic and black pepper. After all the cooking process, they are sprinkled on top with sesame seeds. The crispy strips are then served as a snack going well with Beer Lao. Every street you go in Laos, you can find a chewy, sticky, nibble tactic beef snack with a smoky flavor added at a roadside street food stand. These small bites of dried beef come hand in hand with khao niew or jaew maak len. Big steaming balls of sticky rice with the chewy and savory snack is a go-to snack for many Laotians as well as foreign travelers. What can be better than having a party with Sien Savanh and Beer Lao with your friends while admiring the impressive scenery on the Mekong River? It is one-of-a-kind experience in this beautiful country!

Sakhoo Yat Sai – stuffed tapioca balls

Easily found at street food stalls in Laos, sakhoo yat sai, which a walnut-sized dumpling of pretty nibble crystal-like steamed tapioca ball stuffed with savory relished ground meat, is what everyone loves for a starter. Typically, pork is seasoned with a mixture of all common spices and herbs in Lao cuisine such as: fish sauce, sugar, lime, onions and cilantro to give the savory filling a bright flavor blast. After all these semi full stuffed sweet, sticky tapioca balls are well steamed, they will be topped with fried garlic, cilantro and peanuts and served with coriander, red chili peppers and fresh leafy green lettuce as well as other vegetables. Crunchy stuffing inside and slightly chewy in texture on the outside due to the steamed tapioca, these tapioca balls will definitely impress you and make you want more and more. The wonderful contrast of the flavorful stuffing and the tapioca shell is great as a snack or starter. Laos tour packages

Som moo – Sour pork

Considered as the cousin of Thai naem and nem chua or Vietnamese nem, Som moo is a type of nem pork or fermented Laotian pork sausage. Typically made from raw ground pork – sometime lean and thin pork skin strips, sour pork is a very popular staple favored by all Laotians. You can enjoy this sausage raw or cook it with grilling method. However, eating raw is what more people are interested in. How to enjoy som moo? Wrap a small lump of raw ground pork and skin with a thin layer of guava leaves, star gooseberry leaves – bai ma yom or fig leaves to create your own healthy rolls and finally, enjoy the awesome flavor at its best. Can you feel the saliva excess in your mouth?

Som moo itself is a perfect snack, but it can also be served with nam khao – Laotian rice ball salad. Making a stunning Lao lunchtime meal may be a menu of som moo, laap (Lao nation dish) and tam mak koung. If you want something like Vietnamese bún thịt nướng (Vietnamese grilled pork and rice noodles) in Laos, let’s combine barbequed som moo, called as Naem Nuang, with transparent thin rice noodles and various greens and of course a dipping sauce.

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