The cuisine of Laos is similar to, but also distinct from its Southeast Asian neighbors. And there's French influence in many popular dishes, a vestige from the days when Laos was part of the French colony of Indochine.
The Lao have always eaten lots of greens and a wide variety are farmed in the countryside surrounding Luang Prabang. But probably the most popular leafy green in these parts is watercress. We saw watercress growing outside of the hillside village of Ban Long Lao about 25km from Luang Prabang.