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The Lanna Kitchen: A Recipe Index
The Lanna kitchen is the kitchen of the Khon Mueang, who call it the tao fai (เตัาไฟ, Kham Mueang reading tao fai), "the fire hearth", which the dictionary glosses as the kitchen building, and who call food khong kin (ขอฯงกินฯ, khong kin). This page is the index of our Lanna kitchen series: every food post that is already live, grouped by how the dish is made, the way northerners name their food, not alphabetically.
The kitchen, grouped by method
Northern dish names often carry the method inside the name. Tam nam phik is pounded chilli dip, chi phrik num is green chillies grilled on coals, sa phak is vegetables tossed with a chilli paste. Learn a handful of kitchen verbs and many unfamiliar menu names start to read themselves. So this index is built in method groups, and these verbs are its backbone.
| Verb | Kham Mueang | Dictionary meaning |
|---|---|---|
| tam | ตำ | to pound with a pestle, as in tam nam phik (pound chilli dip) |
| sa | ส้า | a dish of sliced meat or vegetables tossed with chilli paste; with meat sa chin, with vegetables sa phak |
| chi | จี่ | to cook on red-hot coals, turning, as in chi phrik num and chi hom |
| ping | ปิ้งฯ | to cook over a fire, faster than yang (roasting) |
| mok | ห฿มฯก | to keep food somewhere hot until it is cooked, as in ho mok |
| lam | หลฯามฯ | to put rice in a bamboo tube and cook it in the fire, as in khao lam |
| chiao | จยฯว | to simmer in very little water with finely pounded seasonings, cook until fragrant, then add the vegetables |
| khua | ขั้฿วฯ | to dry-roast in a pan without water or oil, turning until cooked |
| pam | ป่ามฯ | to cook with little or no oil, as in khai pam (eggs) |
| nueng | หึ้นฯง | to steam |
| dong | ดอฯง | to soak or cure in brine or vinegar so it keeps |
| tak | ตากฯ | to dry in the sun or wind |
The Lanna kitchen map
Tap "Show what is coming" in a group to see topics not yet published. Topics that are not online appear as grey items with no link and turn into links when they are published. A group with no post yet has a dashed outline.
Group by group
Basics: words, rice and tools
Before you cook, learn the everyday verbs in Everyday Kham Mueang Verbs, the rice and paddy vocabulary in Rice and Paddy Words in Kham Mueang, and the names of pots, jars, stoves and the sticky-rice basket in Lanna Kitchen Words. The banana leaf used for wrapping, lining and krathong is in Bai Tong.
Nam phik and kaeng
Nam phik (นาฯระฯพิกฯ, nam phik) is, in the dictionary, food in which chilli is the main ingredient, pounded together with seasonings, in many kinds. The one open now is Nam Phrik Ong, which uses the verbs tam and chiao and the vegetables eaten with it.
Kaeng (แกงฯ, kaeng) is food in which liquid is a main part. The one open now is Kaeng Hang Le, pork belly simmered down until thick. The post tells its history and also mentions kaeng ho, the curry made from leftover hang le.
Noodles, one-plate dishes and ferments
Khao Soi Gai is the noodle dish in coconut-milk curry, with the post teaching you to pound the paste, simmer the coconut milk and fry crisp noodles. A list of twenty must-try dishes, ferments such as chin som included, is in What to Eat in Chiang Mai.
Lam, chi, wrapping and grilling
Grilled and bamboo-cooked rice belongs to the cold season. Tan Khao Mai describes khao chi (sticky rice moulded and grilled over fire) and khao lam (sticky rice in a bamboo tube cooked in the fire), offered on the full moon of the fourth northern month. For leaf-wrapped food such as ho nueng, ho aep and chin som mok, and where banana leaf comes from, read Bai Tong.
Khao nom: sweets for merit-making
Khao nom (เขั้าห฿นฯม, khao nom) means sweets, food that is not eaten with rice and is usually sweet. Read about khao tom mat, khao nom chok and what goes into the salak basket in Lanna Temple Offerings.
Vegetables, mushrooms, fish and fruit
Know the ingredients first. The word lists are all there: Vegetable Names, Garden Greens, Wild Greens, Mushrooms, Fish Names, Insects, Fruit Names and Wild Fruits.
Eating, markets, songs and manners
Once it is cooked, you eat it. Table manners are in Eat Like a Local in Chiang Mai; shopping the Khon Mueang way is in Going to the Kad and Bargaining in Chiang Mai. Songs about food include Kin Lam Kin Lam, with the answers to all 99 dishes, Khong Kin Khon Mueang and Phak Kat Cho. If you wonder why som, khaep and thuai do not mean what central Thai says, see Food False Friends.
By season and festival
Many northern dishes belong to a time of year. This table uses only what our posts already say.
| Occasion | Food | Read on |
|---|---|---|
| Tan khao mai, full moon of the fourth northern month | khao chi, khao lam and the rice heaped in the doi ngoen | Tan Khao Mai |
| Tan kuay salak | khao tom mat, sweets, fruit and betel-chew leaves, according to each household's faith | Tan Kuay Salak · Lanna Temple Offerings |
| Buddhist holy days and Pi Mai Mueang | hang le curry, which the research cited in the post says is made for important occasions and often offered to monks | Kaeng Hang Le |
| Poy Luang and big feasts | large quantities of food cooked by relatives together | Poy Luang · Khantoke |
Cook along, scale for your table
The recipe posts in this series have a servings scaler: enter the number of people and the amounts change with it. Try it in the three recipes that are open now: Nam Phrik Ong, Khao Soi Gai and Kaeng Hang Le. The amounts are ranges you can adjust to taste, since every household cooks differently.
How to use this series
- Start with the verbs. Read the table above, then pick a group of dishes you want to cook.
- Check the Kham Mueang first. Every post has dictionary word cards; search more in the Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai).
- Cook it through. Every recipe in the series is written in cooked form.
- Wait for new posts. This page gains a link each time a new post goes live.
Summary
- The tao fai is the kitchen and khong kin is food, according to the dictionary.
- Northern dish names often carry the method: tam, sa, chi, ping, mok, lam, chiao, khua, pam, nueng.
- The series is grouped by method. Open now: basics, nam phik, kaeng, noodles and one-plate dishes, sweets and ingredients.
- Khao chi and khao lam belong to tan khao mai, khao tom mat is a temple offering, and hang le is food for important occasions.
Read on with Nam Phrik Ong, the first post of the series, or What to Eat in Chiang Mai, and look up any word at the Moradok Lanna dictionary (in Thai).
Sources
Practise the words from this article
Flip through 18 flashcards of the Lanna words used in this article.
