Isaan (Northeastern Thailand)
อีสาน
The northeast: fiery salads, grilled meats, fermented fish and sticky rice. The food Thailand eats when it eats out.
Isaan is Thailand’s largest region, a dry plateau bordering Laos and Cambodia, and its cooking shares a great deal with Lao food. It is direct and intense: very hot, very sour, deeply savoury, and rarely sweet.
Isaan workers carried their food to Bangkok, and today som tam, larb and grilled chicken are eaten all over the country.
Flavours
Heat from fresh and roasted dried chillies, sourness from lime, savouriness from pla ra (fermented fish sauce), and fragrance from mint, sawtooth coriander and toasted ground rice (khao khua). Grilling is the main cooking method.
Signature dishes
- Som tam: pounded green papaya salad, in many styles
- Larb: minced meat salad with lime, chilli, herbs and toasted rice
- Gai yang: grilled marinated chicken
- Nam tok: grilled beef or pork salad
- Jaew: a dark dipping sauce of dried chilli, tamarind and toasted rice
How people eat
With sticky rice, by hand, from shared plates, often with a pile of raw vegetables and herbs on the side to cool the heat.
Where to eat in Isaan (Northeastern Thailand)
Restaurants
Som Tum Jae Kai
Udon Thani's long-running som tam house, where homemade pla ra gives the papaya salads their punch.
Udon Thani · ฿
Restaurants
Kai Yang Wan Na
A Khao Suan Kwang institution since 1973, grilling butterflied chickens over charcoal on the highway north of Khon Kaen.
Khon Kaen · ฿
Restaurants
SP Chicken
A small Isaan shop near Wat Phra Singh whose whole gai yang, roasted on a vertical charcoal rotisserie, earned it a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
Chiang Mai · ฿
Restaurants
Somtum Der (Sala Daeng)
The Sala Daeng shophouse that launched a global papaya salad brand, serving pounded-to-order som tam and grilled Isaan meats.
Bangkok · ฿฿
Recipes from Isaan (Northeastern Thailand)
Soups
Tom Saep (Isaan Hot & Sour Pork Rib Soup)
A clear, fiery, sour soup of tender pork ribs with lemongrass, galangal, roasted chilli and lots of fresh herbs.
75 min · Easy
Dips & Relishes
Nam Jim Jaew (Isaan Dipping Sauce)
The smoky, sour, salty dipping sauce served with grilled meats across Isaan, thickened with toasted rice.
10 min · Easy
Salads
Som Tam Thai (Green Papaya Salad)
Shredded green papaya bruised in a clay mortar with garlic, chilli, lime, palm sugar, tomatoes, green beans, dried shrimp and peanuts.
20 min · Easy
Salads
Nam Tok Neua (Isaan Grilled Beef Salad)
Charred, juicy beef sliced and tossed warm with lime, fish sauce, roasted chilli, toasted rice, shallots and herbs.
25 min · Easy
Grilled & Fried
Gai Yang (Isaan Grilled Chicken)
Chicken marinated in garlic, coriander root, pepper and lemongrass, grilled slowly over charcoal and served with jaew and sticky rice.
65 min · Easy
Salads
Larb Moo (Isaan Minced Pork Salad)
Warm minced pork tossed with lime, fish sauce, chilli flakes, toasted rice powder, shallots and fresh mint.
30 min · Easy