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Luang Prabang, Laos – If there’s one thing I learned here it’s that the markets are where it’s at in Southeast Asia. In Luang Prabang, the morning market gets going early with locals shoppng for all sorts of produce, butchered meats, rice and dry, packaged goods, or sitting down for a breakfast of stew and sticky rice or noodle soup. At the evening market tourists and some locals gather to dip into prepared foods, such as grilled and roasted meats, sticky rice, spring rolls, sauteed greens, vegetarian stews and coconut desserts.

Sometimes though, as extensive as they seem, the markets don’t have everything. For just a few hours in the late afternoon, a lifetime after the morning market has closed and just as evening market stalls are starting to set up, one vendor is selling something I didn’t see on menus or in any of the markets – nem khiaw or rice noodle sheets rolled around a mixture of minced pork, mushroom and scallion topped with fried garlic slices and served with a sweet spicy sauce of fish sauce, soy sauce, simple syrup and lime juice. Not too heavy, but filling enough to stave off dinner for a few hours, this snack is perfect for that in between time when neither market is in full force.

Morning Market

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