A woman selling Pa Katao at Khon Phapheng

"Pa Katao" is a type of small fish which can only be found in the very south part of Laos. Pa Katao are usually dried unsalted on the flat rocks right after local fishermen caught them using a net. Sometimes, dried Pa Katao are stuffed in bamboo trunks so they can preserved for a long time. Pa Katao, despite its strong smell, can be transformed into a delicious "jeo Pa Katao" or chilly paste. Jeo Pa Katao is an exclusively authentic Southern Lao cuisine and no one can make jeo Pa Katao the way Lao Tai people do. However, jeo Pa Katao is not famous just among Lao Tai people. You ask anybody who has tasted it, they'll tell you: "despite the pungeant smell it is seriously deliiiicious". Photo by Pauline