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   icon1.gif Aep Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Chio Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Cho Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Kaeng (Curry) Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Khio Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Khua Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Lap/Lu Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Mop Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Namphrik Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Nueng Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Ok Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Pickling and Fermenting Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Ping/Yang/Thot Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Sa Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Tam/Yam Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Uk/Hum Show/Hide content
   icon1.gif Desserts/Snacks Show/Hide content
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The Lanna Eating Culture
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Acknowledgements
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Links
Chiang Mai University Library in collaboration with Information Technology Service Center
 
 
 
  • Aep
                This is a method of mixing meat in chili paste before wrapping it in banana leaves and roasting or steaming it, such as aep pla, aep kung, aep i-huak (tadpoles). (Rattana Promphichai, 1999, p. 8111; Amphon Moliphan, personal communication, June 26, 2007)

  • Chio
                Also pronounced with a rising tone, Chio is a cooking method with a moderate amount of water. Water is brought to a boil and shrimp paste, a little salt or fish sauce, fermented fish, garlic, shallots and fresh chilies can be added to taste before adding vegetables or eggs. Season with chopped spring onions, coriander leaves and ground pepper. For a hotter taste, 3-5 whole chilies and roasted and pealed ones can be added or eaten as side vegetables. The cooking method and ingredients are more or less the same as a Cho but without the sour taste and a smaller amount of liquid. Variety depends on the ingredients such as spinach or red ant eggs which are called chio phak khom, chio khai mot-daeng. (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 1367; Siwan Chamrat, personal communication, June 20, 2007)

  • Cho
                This is a method for cooking vegetables by boiling water in a pot and adding salt, shrimp paste, fermented fish, and then add fresh tamarind or extract of tamarind juice (lime, tomatoes, or kaffir lime are not recommended). Pork and bone can be used for a richer flavor and finally vegetables such as mustard greens, fern tops, swamp morning glories. Sometimes roasted soybean chips and a little brown sugar can be added. (Amphon Moliphan, personal communication, June 26, 2007)

  • Desserts/Snacks
                Khanom (khao-nom in the Lanna dialect) refers to all kinds of sweets made from flour, coconut milk and sugar or brown sugar. Khanom are made for certain festivals or special events or rituals, especially for merit making or Buddhist Sabbath, religious holidays, Thai New Year's Day or Songkran, etc. Popular desserts are khanom chok, steamed sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves (khao tom), khanom linma, khao witu, khanom kluai, khanom sila-on or sala-on, khanom wong and khao taen (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 820). Snacks are miang (fermented tea leaves), krabong (deep-fried pumpkin or banana flowers). The Lanna people's favorite after-meal snack is miang, referred to as om-miang. (chewing miang).

  • Kaeng (Curry)
                Kaeng (pronounced with a rising tone) is a dish with a moderate water or liquid content. The cooking method is by heating water to boiling then adding the basic chili paste or spices followed by other required ingredients in the order according to the length of cooking time required for each. Some recipes call for frying the chili paste with a little oil followed by the meat part until a pungent smell emerges before adding water and then vegetables or herbs and boil until tender. The main ingredients for the chili paste are chili, garlic, fermented fish and shrimp paste. If meat is used like in Kaeng-om , such herbs like lemon grass and turmeric are recommended to improve the smell or taste. (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 472; Sirawit Chamrat, personal communication, April 20, 2007; Prathum Unsi, personal communication, June 25, 2007); Dekit Kanthakalang, personal communication, June 20, 2007; Thianchai Suthanin, personal communication, June 16, 2007)

  • Khio
                A cooking method used by Lanna people of slow cooking until most of the liquid is evaporated. �Khio nampu (with a rising tone) is done by finely pounding some crabs and straining them to get the liquid part and then boiling it down until only 2/3 of the liquid is left. Then it is cooked longer on a low fire and salt and ground chili is added to taste. (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 3246; Sumali Thabun, personal communication, June 27, 2007)
    Khio nam-miang can be done by boiling the liquid obtained from steaming miang or tea leaves using the same method as making nampu to get the concentrated part for making nam miang. (Uthit Pengmon, personal communication, July 10, 2007)

  • Khua
               Khua refers to stir-frying with a small amount of oil.Cooking oil is heated and garlic saut้ed before adding other ingredients and the food is cooked on a low fire. Another method uses only water and no oil.The ingredients are stir fried in water until they are done then enhances with seasoning agents. Some of these are khua makhuea and thua fakyao (khua bakhuea bathua), khua lap, khua or roasting seeds like sesame seeds and peanuts can be done without using either oil or water. (Rattana Promphichai, 1999, p. 646; Sirawit Chamrat, personal communication, April 20, 2007)

  • Lap/Lu
                This is a method of cooking by finely chopping or grinding the selected meat to be mixed with spicy chili paste known as phrik lap and some other optional ingredients (Prathan Nanchaisil, personal communication, July 3, 2007) The term� "lap" is followed by the name of the kind of meat used such as lap kai, lap mu, lap ngua, lap khwai, lap fan (deer), lap pla. The dish is also referred to by the method like lap dip (raw or uncooked kind) and lap khua for the cooked kind. There are also lap nio (with finely minced meat, lap nam tom, lap lo (has two kinds of meat), lap khamoi (with coarsely chopped meat), lap khao and lap mae (to be eaten with rice only without drinking any kind of alcohol). Lanna people have been familiar with lap since the ancient times.? It is considered a popular and special dish for special occasions or groups of people especially with whisky drinking. (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 5937-5944).

  • Mop
                This is a method of cooking crabs by finely pounding and straining them to get the liquid part out to be slowly cooked on a low fire until it smells good and mix in some chili paste with assorted vegetables like that put in kaeng khae and flavored with some ground roasted rice and some eggs. (Somlak Nimsakun et al., 2003, p. 20; Sirawit Chamrat, personal communication, April 20, 2007) Some call it mok pu (Bupha Khunyotying, 1999, p. 5077)

  • Namphrik
                Lanna people often drop the cluster "r" sound when pronouncing "nam phrik ", so the word becomes "nam phik". The main ingredients for this chili sauce or dip are chilies, salt, shallots, garlic and other additional things such as shrimp paste, dried soybean slabs, fermented fish, tomatoes, galangal, lemon grass. The ingredients are pounded together in a mortar like namphrik num, namphrik kop, namphrik pla. (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 3247; Sirawit Chamrat, personal communication, April 20, 2007; Siriphon Prongkham, personal communication, June 20, 2007)

  • Nueng
                Nueng refers to steaming, which is two kinds: steaming food without any kind of wrapping, namely rice steaming, fish steaming, dried banana steaming and dried beef steaming. The other kind is steaming food wrapped in banana leaves such as khanom chok, khanom kluea and ho nueng, the word "nueng" is merely added after the kind of food like kai nueng (steamed chicken), pla nueang (steamed fish) and kluai nueng (steamed bananas). (Rattana Phromphichai and Rangsan Chanta, 1999, p. 7339). Ho nueng is a method of cooking by steaming food wrapped in banana leaves, using meat like chicken or fish or vegetables like banana flowers and bamboo shoots (Somlak Nimsakun, et al., 2003, p. 14; Wimonphan Likhit-ekarat and Niphaphon Pinmat, 2003, p. 21; Amphon Moliphan, personal communication, June 26, 2007)

  • Ok
                Ok is a cooking method in which mixed ingredients are wrapped in banana leaves and then steamed in a pot or a pan. Another quicker method is to put all of the ingredients in a pot with a little water and let them boil on the stove. It is recommended for ingredients that are cooked in a short time like eggs, fish and eggplants. The name varies according to the ingredients used, for example ok pla, ok kai, ok khai (khai pam or pam khai) and ok bakhuea (ok makhuea), (Rattana Promphichai, 1999, p. 7832-7833); Sirawit Chamrat, personal communication, April 20, 2007)

  • Pickling and Fermenting
                Lanna people also preserve food by pickling or fermenting to enhance their cooking for extra flavor. Fermented soybeans is called thua nao moe and the dried kind that comes in a thin sheet is called thua nao khaep or thua nao phaen. It is used to add flavor and thickening to the texture for such dishes as nam ngeo or a cho dish like cho phak kat, or to make chili sauces called namphrik thua nao; namphrik thua nao khaep. Sometimes thua nao moe is wrapped in banana leaves and roasted to be eaten with hot sticky rice together with green chilies. Bamboo shoots can be pickled and then boiled and eaten with namphrik Kha (galangal). (Sumali Thabun, personal communication, June 27, 2007)

  • Ping/Yang/Thot
                Ping refers to the method of cooking by grilling over a medium fire until done with a crispy surface such as Ping pla (fish), ping kai (chicken), ping mu (pork) (Wimonphan Likhit-ekarat, 2002, p. 39). Yang is a method of grilling over a slow fire until thoroughly cooked, which takes a longer time. (Wimonphan Likhit-ekarat, 2002, p. 39) such as that of khaep mu (crispy fried pork skin), khaep khai (beef skin) and sai-ua (spicy sausage)

  • Sa
                This is a kind of dish in which the ingredients (such as fish, chilies, shallots and garlic) are roasted first, then pounded together in a mortar and mixed with a little liquid from boiling fermented fish and assorted fresh vegetables cleanly washed and coarsely chopped or shredded by hand. The kind of greens used are young mango leaves and local vegetables known as phak phrae with a little bit of wild hog plums or lime juice for a tangy taste. (Siwan Chamrat, personal communication, June 20, 2007; Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 6807)

  • Tam/Yam
               

    Tam is a method similar to yam by mixing all the ingredients in a mortar and lightly pounding with a pestle. Tam khanun (banun), tam makham (bakham or tamarind) uses such basic ingredients as salt, garlic, shallots, fresh or dried chilies, shrimp paste, dried soybeans, cooked fermented fish. (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 2406; Prathum Unsi, personal communication, June 25, 2007)�

    Yam is usually made with cooked meat or vegetables like yam chinkai is made from boiled chicken, yam phak hueat (from steamed tender top of a plant by that name), yam chin haeng (boiled dried beef) mixed well with spicy sauce with a little boiled water. (Rattana Phromphichai, 1999, p. 5515; Sirawit Chamrat, personal communication, April 20, 2007)


  • Uk/Hum
               

    Hum is a method used to cook meat by cutting the meat into big chunks and mixing them with curry paste, then cooking on a low fire until tender and a very small amount of liquid is left. It is called chin hum when beef is used. (Inthon Wongkut, personal communication, June 25, 2007)

    Uk is another method used by Lanna people. It is similar to hum and is good with tough meat like beef, chicken or dried salted beef (chin haeng). The name varies depending on the kind of meat used, such as "uk kai" for chicken, and "chin hum" for fresh or dried salted beef. The meat becomes tender with only a little liquid left. (Sunthon Bunmi, 2006, p. 58; Nongyao Wiriya, personal communication, July 4, 2007)



 

Bunyang Chumsi and Charin Chaemchit.  (1999).  “Yam”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham
           Thai Phak Nuea
(Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 11.
            p. 5517). Bangkok: The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial
            Bank.
 
Bupha Khunyotying.  (1999).  “Mok”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 10. p. 5077).  Bangkok:
            The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank.
 
Chaladchai Ramitanon. (2002). Namphrik Lanna (Lanna chili sauce).  Bangkok: Khrua bann
            lae suan. 

Rattana Promphichai and Ransan Chanta.  (1999).  “Nueng” In Saranukrom Watthanatham
            Thai Phak Nuea
(Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 14, p.
            7339).  Bangkok: The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial
            Bank. 

Rattana Promphichai. (1999).  “Kaeng”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 1,  pp. 472-91).
             Bangkok: The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank.
 
Rattana Promphichai. (1999).  “Khanom”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 2, p. 820).  Bangkok: The
            Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank. 

Rattana Promphichai. (1999).  “Nampu”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 6, pp. 3246-47).
             Bangkok: The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank. 
 
Rattana Promphichai. (1999). “Aep”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 15, pp. 8111-12).
             Bangkok: The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank.
 
Rattana Promphichai. (1999). “Chio”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 4, pp. 1713-14).
             Bangkok: The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank.
 
Rattana Promphichai. (1999). “Khua”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 2, pp. 646-50).Bangkok:
            The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank.
 
Rattana Promphichai. (1999). “Namphrik”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 4, pp. 3247-58).
             Bangkok: The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank. 

Rattana Promphichai. (1999). “Ok”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 15, p. 7832).  Bangkok:
            The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank.
 
Rattana Promphichai. (1999). “Saphak”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 13, p. 6807).  Bangkok:
            The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank.
 
Rattana Promphichai. (1999). “Tam”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 5, p. 2406).  Bangkok:
            The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank.
 
Rattana Promphichai. (1999). “Yam”.  In Saranukrom Watthanatham Thai Phak Nuea
            (Encyclopedia of Thai Culture, Northern Region).  (Volume 1, pp. 5515-21).
             Bangkok: The Foundation for Thai Culture Encyclopedia, Siam Commercial Bank.
 
Somlak Nimsakun, et al.  (2003).  Khumue dulae taksa sukhaphap doi phumpanya dan ahan
            kan kin
) (A Handbook on Healthcare and Lanna Wisdom Concerning Food
            Consumption).  Bangkok: Office of Research Foundation.
 
Sunthon Bunmi.  (2006).  Khongkin banhao, Uk kai (A Local Food, “Uk kai”).  Romphayom
            8(4), 58-59.
 
Wimonphan Likhit-ekarat.  (2002).  Tamnan namphrik Lanna (Legend of Lanna Chili Sauce)
            in Chaladchai Ramitanon, Nam Phrik Lanna (pp. 33-39).  Bangkok, Khruaban Lae
            Suan.