Khao Piak Sen

Vientiane street kitchens; the noodle (sen) is hand-cut from a rice-flour-and-tapioca-starch dough, giving the chewier-than-pho texture that defines it. It belongs to the same Southeast Asian rice-tapioca noodle family as Vietnamese bánh canh — both thick and chewy, with bánh canh often described as a variation of khao piak — though which came first is unsettled.

Vientiane's Nazim's Restaurant near Nampu fountain has sold khao piak sen since 1995; the noodle is rolled and cut on a wooden board in the front window between 4am and 7am. After 10am they switch to dry noodles — fresh sen don't keep.

Thick chewy noodles, faintly translucent, bedded in a clear amber broth slick with chicken fat. Crispy fried garlic and shallot scattered on top, blood-coagulate cubes (optional), shredded chicken. Squeeze of lime at the table; the broth turns slightly cloudy.

Noodle dough is roughly 2 parts rice flour to 1 part tapioca; the tapioca delivers the bouncy chew that pure rice flour can't. The cut sen are traditionally boiled directly in the broth, and the starch they release thickens it to a faintly creamy, spoon-coating body — that gentle cloudiness is the dish's signature, not a flaw.