The Real Deal - Vientiane style

A few days ago, you may recall our first so-called Real Deal, a culinary treat that may be giving some of you nightmares to this day! Last night, after we arrived in Vientiane, our guide promised us another "real Laos" experience, and she did not fail to astonish us! OMG. We were braced for one "something awful" but instead we got an array of surprises, one after another. First up was Fried Buffalo Skin, served on a bundle of bamboo bracelets. It was crispy and salty, like pork rind, but thin and red instead of white.



Our second dish gave us all the creeps, fried frog skin. Ugh. It too was crunchy and salty, and again, we tasted it. Still ugh!


Next up was a glistening plate full of mixed fried bugs: crickets, silk worms, grasshoppers, water bugs. Everything was crispy and salty, thank goodness, and we had some beer to wash it down.









We finally had a big plate of just fried grasshoppers - large and small. Now there were people who tasted none of these things and were totally grossed out by the thought of it. Then there were those of us who tasted everything and were occasionally pleasantly surprised. Crickets, for example, are quite delicious. Grasshoppers not too bad. Fried buffalo skin pretty OK too. Nix on the frog skin and special nix on the grubs! But what a fun start to our evening, after which we went out for a fantastic Lao dinner. Food here is really good, and these little digressions do not represent the reality of what we eat every day.








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Location:Vientiane, Laos