What to Eat in Chiang Mai and the North

Northern Thai food is a cuisine of the hills. Chiang Mai sits in a valley surrounded by mountains, and for centuries it was the capital of Lanna, an independent kingdom with its own language, script and cooking. The region was only fully joined to Siam in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and its food still feels distinct from the cooking of Bangkok.

Sticky rice is the staple, eaten by hand. Coconut milk and sugar are used sparingly. Instead, northern cooks rely on dried spices, fresh herbs, pork, river fish, wild greens and a whole family of chilli dips eaten with vegetables. The influence of Myanmar, the Shan people and Chinese Muslim traders from Yunnan shows up in many dishes.

Khao soi: the dish of the city

If Chiang Mai has a signature dish, it is khao soi. Soft egg noodles sit in a curried broth enriched with coconut milk, usually with a chicken drumstick or braised beef, and a nest of deep-fried crispy noodles goes on top. It is served with a small plate of pickled mustard greens, sliced shallots and a wedge of lime, plus a dark roasted chilli paste fried in oil.

The dish is usually linked to the Chinese Muslim (Hui) traders who travelled the caravan routes through the northern hills, which is why many of the best-known khao soi shops in Chiang Mai are run by Muslim families and serve beef or chicken rather than pork. Add the pickles, shallots and lime a little at a time: they cut the richness and change the bowl as you eat.

Sai ua, kaep moo and the chilli dips

Sai ua is the northern grilled sausage, and it is impossible to miss in any Chiang Mai market. Coarsely chopped pork is mixed with a paste of lemongrass, galangal, makrut lime leaf, turmeric, garlic, shallots and dried chilli, packed into casings and coiled before grilling slowly over charcoal. The result is herbal, fragrant and only mildly spicy, best eaten in thick slices with sticky rice.

Kaep moo is pork crackling, sold in big bags in every market. It is eaten as a snack, but its real job is to be dipped into nam prik, the chilli dips at the centre of northern meals. Two are especially common:

• Nam prik noom: long green chillies, shallots and garlic, roasted until charred and soft, then pounded with salt and a little fish sauce. It is smoky and moderately hot.
• Nam prik ong: a milder, reddish dip of minced pork and tomatoes cooked with dried chilli paste and fermented soybean. It is often compared to a meat sauce.

Both come with a platter of steamed and raw vegetables such as cucumber, cabbage, long beans and pumpkin, alongside the crackling and sticky rice.

Curries and noodle soups of the North

Gaeng hang lay is the region's great slow-cooked curry, made with fatty pork belly and often pork ribs. It uses no coconut milk. Instead the pork is simmered with a curry paste and hang lay powder, a dry spice blend of Burmese origin, along with ginger, garlic, tamarind and palm sugar until the sauce is thick, dark and gently sweet and sour. It is a festive dish, and it tastes even better the next day.

Khanom jeen nam ngiao is one of the North's best-loved noodle dishes. Fermented rice noodles are served in a pork and tomato broth with pork ribs and cubes of set pork blood. The broth gets its colour and a gentle tang from tomatoes and its depth from dried fermented soybean (tua nao), and it is traditionally seasoned with dried red cotton tree flowers. The name refers to the Ngiao, the Thai name for the Shan people, whose cooking influenced the dish. It comes with lime, bean sprouts, shredded cabbage and crisp fried garlic.

Gaeng khae is worth looking for too: a thin, herbal jungle curry without coconut milk, full of leafy greens, vegetables and often chicken or frog.

Larb Lanna: a different kind of larb

Most visitors know larb as the Isaan salad of minced meat with lime, chilli and toasted rice. Northern larb, sometimes called larb Lanna or larb mueang, is a different dish. It contains no lime. Its flavour comes from a dried spice mix (prik larb) that can include long pepper, cumin, coriander seed, star anise, cinnamon and makhwaen, a citrusy, numbing seed related to Sichuan pepper.

The meat, usually pork, beef or buffalo, is chopped very finely by hand, often with offal, and cooked with the spice mix and fresh herbs. Traditional raw versions exist as well, but cooked larb (larb suk) is the usual choice for visitors. It is aromatic and warming rather than sharp, and it comes with a pile of bitter and fragrant leaves on the side.

The khantoke dinner

Khantoke is the northern way of sharing a meal. A khantoke is a low, round tray on a short pedestal, made of lacquered wood or woven rattan, around which diners sit on mats on the floor. It holds several small bowls: typically a curry such as gaeng hang lay, a chilli dip with vegetables, crackling, a stir-fry or a soup, and plenty of sticky rice.

The tradition was used for ceremonies, temple festivals and welcoming guests. Today many visitors meet it at khantoke dinners in Chiang Mai, where the meal is paired with performances of northern music and dance. These evenings are aimed at tourists, but they offer a gentle introduction to the flavours of the region in one sitting.

Warorot Market and eating around Chiang Mai

Warorot Market, known locally as Kad Luang (the big market), sits close to the Ping River on the edge of Chiang Mai's Chinatown. It is one of the best places in the city to buy northern specialities to eat or take home. Look for:

• Sai ua and naem, the sour fermented pork sausage, sold fresh and grilled.
• Bags of kaep moo, still warm from the fryer.
• Tubs of nam prik noom and nam prik ong, with packed vegetables to go with them.
• Dried spice mixes for larb and curries, along with tea, dried fruit and snacks.

Beyond Warorot, the weekend walking street markets around the old city are good for snacks and sweets, and the evening stalls near Chang Phueak Gate are popular for simple dinners. Further afield, the mountain towns of the North have their own versions of these dishes, and travelling through them is a good reason to keep trying khao soi wherever you go.

Northern food can seem quiet next to the fireworks of Bangkok and the south. Spend a few days eating it, though, and its smoky dips, herbal sausages and slow curries start to feel like some of the most satisfying cooking in the country.