Dry Me Some River Weed in Laos

These racks hold drying river weed from the River Ou. All throughout Laos, women and children collect the weed from the Mekong, its tributaries and other rivers, sort it, shape, press and dry it with sesame seeds and thin slices of tomato.  The dried squares are broken into sections and eaten as a snack or used with traditional Laotian fish or vegetable pastes or dips.

The texture is much like the dried seaweed snack sheets and that product would make a good substitute.

Here is a local Nong Khiew woman preparing the weed for drying.