Laos

Menu: Pork Laab (Larb) | Recipe Source: http://www.thewoksoflife.com

I’ve seen larb infinite times on menus at Thai restaurants, so when I looked up the national dish of Laos, I was temporarily confused. Isn’t larb from Thailand? A quick peek at the map made it all make sense, though. Laos and Thailand share a border, and apparently that boundary is highly porous when it comes to recipes, flavors, and culinary favorites.

As for Laos itself, I can’t say I knew very much about this country (I’m pretty sure I’ve typed this sentence out for every blog post I’ve made so far lol) aside from it being located in Southeast Asia. Disturbingly enough though, I learned today that if you Google “facts about Laos,” the first items that pop up are several articles discussing the fact that the country is the most bombed nation in the entire world. That horrible superlative is thanks to the Vietnam War, which saw the US spend nine years dumping over 2 million tons of explosive ordnance on Laos- more than the total amount of bombs dropped on Germany and Japan by Allied forces during WWII.

Though the Vietnam War is half a century in the rearview for Americans, it remains painfully present for the people of Laos. 30% of the two million tons of ordnance failed to detonate upon being dropped, which means that to this very day, untriggered explosives are still nestled in the ground, quietly posing a gigantic threat to the population and the environment. It’s a sad mantle for such a small country to carry, but the people of Laos have persevered: in recent years, their country has seen an uptick in tourism, success in exporting coffee, and exciting archaeologic studies including the 2023 discovery of fossilized humanoid bones estimated to be up to 86,000 years old.

Thoughts: This is one of those rare cooking-around-the-world dishes that can 100% be classed as an Easy Weeknight Dinner; in fact, back when I did HelloFresh, I’m pretty sure a riff on laab/larb (under a very Americanized name that was NOT meat salad lol) was one of the ordering options. The ingredients are simple, affordable (thank you as always, H Mart!), and healthy, and you could theoretically make it even healthier by swapping out the white rice for ice berg lettuce and making yourself little wraps.

Ready to cook?

Laab: www.thewoksoflife.com/pork-larb/

Alterations: I’m a freak about sauces/dressings/marinades and NEVER think the recommended amount is enough- especially if the only side is plain white rice- so I made 4x the amount and doubled cilantro and mint!