The Lanna people prefer naturally grown plants and vegetables, the kind harvested from the wild or along the house fence. Sticky rice is more common to the northerners. Sugar is hardly called for in any recipes. The flavor generally inclines towards a little salty and spicy hot taste. Coconut milk is also rarely used. A small amount of water is required in Lanna curry. Their chili sauces or namphrik are almost paste-like since it suits well when dipping into the food with a small ball of sticky rice at a time.
Wild vegetables are those picked straight from the woods or forests, especially those available in abundance in the hot season such as banana flowers, tender leaves of tamarind, and mango trees, infectoria or orchid trees (bauhinia). In the rainy season much of nature’s gifts such as bamboo shoots, mushrooms of all kinds, elegans (phak wan) and mimosoides (phak pu-ya) spring up. From the paddy fields one can harvest swamp morning glories, water clover and herniarioides (phak kat na).
Foods are usually put in small bowls and arranged on a raised tray made from teak wood or woven rattan, referred to as khan tok. |
In some Buddhist festivals, namely big or small celebrations, ordination, house warming or even a funeral, people will use enameled trays of colorful floral design for putting food bowls on instead of the raised tray or khan tok. The practice can still be found in the suburbs or rural areas. |