Lao cuisine is the cuisine of Laos, which is distinct from other Southeast Asian cuisines. Like their cousins, the Thai, the Lao originally came from the north in a region that is now part of China. As they moved southward, they brought their traditions with them.[1] Due to historical Lao migrations into countries that share borders with them, Lao cuisine is almost the same as that [2][3][4][5] of the mainly Lao-populated region of Northeastern Thailand (Isan),[6] and some Lao culinary influences have even reached Cambodia[7][8] and Northern Thailand (Lanna)[9][10] where the Lao have migrated. The staple food of the Lao is steamed sticky rice, which is eaten by hand. In fact, the Lao eat more sticky rice than any other people in the world.[11] Sticky rice is considered the essence of what it means to be "Lao" — sometimes the Lao even referred to themselves as "Luk Khao Niaow", which can be translated as "children/descendants of sticky rice". Galangal, lemongrass and padaek (Lao fish sauce) are important ingredients.