Chef Angus An and his wife Kate are currently traveling in Thailand doing research for Maenam, their popular Thai restaurant in the People’s Republic of Kitsilano. They have been keeping a journal of their tasty adventures, and will be keeping Scout readers abreast of them with guest blog dispatches and photos as they go…

In Chiang Mai

We wanted to kick start our trip to Thailand with a small trip up north, to Chiang Mai. Often considered to be the second most important city in Thailand, Chiang Mai is rich in history and culture. To us food seekers, the area is known as the culinary capital of Northern Thailand. More than 700 years of Lanna-style cuisine, the combination of 6 different hill tribes and neighbouring influences (eg. Burma), all contribute to diverse and tasty treats.

Some of the well-known Chiang Mai-style dishes are my main focus on this trip. I have been working on a Chiang Mai smoked sausage (sai orok) and wanted to try as many different styles as possible. My other focuses were grilled chicken (gai yang); curry beef noodles (khao soy); curry noodles with fermented rice noodles (kanom jin); Burmese style pork curry (Hin Leh); and grilled chili relish (nahm prik num). While in search of these dishes, I consumed large amounts of pork crackling fries (standard accompaniment to nahm prik num), and also found a number of new dishes that I’d neverf had before: North Eastern Style curry (geng om); grilled fish curry mousse (gnob plah); and new renderings of old favourites like Fried papaya salad (som tom tort).

Northern style food is perhaps my favourite of all Thai food, mostly because there are more grilled, smoked, fermented, fried, and quite often “all of the above” types of dishes. One thing that is noted is the use of the whole animal. The Chiang Mai minced pork salad (larp kwa muu), for example, has chopped intestines, liver, heart, and crispy crackling in it. This particular style of larp is seasoned with MacQuem (known to the locals as Ma Kwaen). Similar to Szechuan pepper, MacQuem is more earthy and floral (I bought lots from the market to bring back, as I have been wanting to put a larp on the menu at Maenam).

The traditions of the Lanna Kingdoms are still observed in Chiang Mai and the rest of the northern regions. Under King Mengrai (13th century), Chiang Mai became a major base for Theravada Buddhism, in which Chiang Mai has some of the most beautiful temples (Wat) in the country. Some of the dining traditions are still available, like Khantoke, a traditional northern way of dining that is very popular with locals and tourists alike.

We spent three nights at Chiang Mai, and I ate smoked sausage every chance I had. We will be heading back to Bangkok (suitcases full of nahm prik num, sai orok, and a few wooden sculptures) where we will spend only a night in our townhouse and then drive 2.5 hours northeast to Kate’s hometown of Lamnairai, where we will be feasting on giant wild river prawns!

More soon…

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