Classroom lesson · Food · 🇱🇦 Laos

Vegetable laap - Laos's national salad

Finely chopped vegetables, herbs and toasted rice powder - fresh, bright and packed with flavour

A bowl of fresh vegetable laap with herbs, chopped vegetables and toasted rice flakes

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Laap (sometimes written 'larb') is considered Laos's national dish. The basic idea is a salad of finely chopped ingredients mixed with fresh herbs, lime juice, fish sauce, chilli and a special ingredient - toasted rice powder - that gives it a nutty, slightly crunchy texture. A vegetable version uses mushrooms, tofu or mixed vegetables at the centre.

Tell me more

The secret ingredient in laap is toasted rice powder. Plain uncooked rice is dry-fried in a pan until golden and nutty-smelling, then ground into a rough powder. Just a spoonful of this mixed into the salad adds a toasty, almost popcorn-like flavour and a slight crunch to every bite.

Fresh herbs are very important. Lemongrass, mint, coriander, and shallots are chopped finely and mixed through. Lime juice is squeezed over the top. The result is a dish that is sour, fresh, herby, a little spicy and slightly nutty all at once - many different flavours balanced in one bowl.

Laap is eaten warm or at room temperature, never hot from the stove. It is served alongside sticky rice, and a ball of rice pressed into a little scoop is the traditional way to pick up a mouthful. The combination of warm rice and fresh herby salad is considered the perfect Lao meal.

Every region of Laos makes laap slightly differently. In the north, the mixture tends to be drier and more herb-heavy. In the south, it is often saucier. Families take great pride in their own version, and recipes are passed between generations.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

01Toasted rice powder - just plain rice cooked until golden - transforms the taste of a salad. What other simple ingredients change a dish completely? (Think of what salt, lemon, or vinegar does.)
02Laap uses lime juice instead of vinegar and fish sauce instead of salt. What do these swaps tell us about which ingredients are local and easy to find in Laos?
03If your class invented a national salad, what five ingredients would absolutely have to be in it?

Try this

Classroom activity

Toast 2 tablespoons of plain rice in a dry pan (or ask the teacher to do it) until it turns golden - about 5 minutes. Smell it and taste a grain. Then grind it roughly in a bag using a rolling pin. Sprinkle a little on plain yoghurt or apple slices. Does it change the taste? Write three words to describe it.

Vegetable laap - Laos's national salad

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Discussion prompts

Classroom activity

Other things that make Laos special

Want your class to meet Laos?