Laos Hangover Cures: Khao Piak Sen
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After a long night drinking, I was desperately in need of something to cure my hangover.
My friend Thuan wanted to show me some real Lao breakfast, which we tried to use to cure our hangovers. Close to his house, in Savannakhet Laos, there was an excellent restaurant who just had the thing to fix our hangovers.
A soup called Khao Piak Sen. Literally translated as: “wet rice strands”. Popularly it’s thick glutinous rice noodles in chicken broth with mixed pieces of meat and fresh herbs. We went for the extra special hangover cure limited edition though.
The broth consisted of pla ra. That is fermented (rotten) fish which gives a real funkiness to the soup. As if that’s not enough, it could be even funkier. The soup was filled not only pork meat but also with pork innards, pork stomach, pork liver and pork intestine.
I have to say that it’s not my all time favorite breakfast in the morning. I don’t mind eating pork innards and I think I even like it from time to time. One, because every part of the animal is used. Second, it’s chewy and rubbery and has a distinct flavor which I seem to like.
And about the Hangover. It didn’t cure my hangover instantly. After a few hours, my hangover was gone though. Could this be due to this special Kao Piak Sen soup? Or is it because I’ve had a full meal including fresh vegetables and did time heal all wounds?