Lao Papaya Salad | Thum Mak Hoong ຕຳໝາກຫຸ່ງ

I consider Lao papaya salad thum mak hoong papaya salad as an essential dish on all Lao food tables. The perfect bite is fresh sticky rice used to grab some papaya salad and bing gai grilled chicken. Thum mak hoong is usually funky, spicy, and aggressive in flavor. The pool of papaya salad juice is dark due to the crab paste, shrimp paste, and padaek. If you are lucky, there will be a Lao plum and salted whole crab pieces.