A bowl of khao soi kai, with pickled cabbage and lime to add to taste, in Chiang Rai
Northern Thai food is somewhat different to that eaten in the rest of the country. Northerners prefer sticky rice over steamed, bitter flavours to hot ones, and avoid using coconut milk. The favoured meat is pork, which finds it way into a variety of sausages (cooked or fermented) and whose skin is fried as the ubiquitous snack khaep muu. The traditional way of sampling Northern food is a low round table known as a khan tok, laden with dishes. Some favorites include:
kaeng hang le - a Burmese-style pork curry
kaeng khae - a soupy curry flavored with bitter herbs
khao soi - a curry noodle soup reputedly of Burmese origin much favored in Chiang Mai, served with shallots, lime and pickles to add as you like
khanom jiin naam ngiew - rice noodles with pork ribs and a complex tomatoes and black bean sauce
nam phrik - covering a variety of spicy dips for rice and vegetables
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Northern Thailand
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Northern Thailand - updated Apr 2024
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Northern Thailand Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.
