Isan Food
While Thai cuisine and restaurants are increasingly common outside of Thailand, the kingdom’s own residents can often be found lunching and dining on what is known as Isan food. Isan* is the name given to the large bulge which constitutes the northeastern part of the country, bordered by the Mekong and Laos to the east and north and the Dandrek Ranges and Cambodia to the south. (Some debate still occurs but the provinces of Loei, Chaiyaphum and Nakhon Ratchasima are generally considered to represent Isan’s western limits.)
Hugely popular Isan food can be found in markets, food halls and eateries the length and breadth of Thailand.
To be fair to their cousins across the Mekong, the majority of the population of the Isan region is ethnic Lao (there are famously more Lao people living in Thailand than there are in Laos), so, broadly speaking, for Isan food, you could read Lao food. However, there are differences and adaptations in Thai versions, in addition to their notable attention to culinary detail. Yes, the dishes are relatively simple, so the importance is in the details. (With apologies to our Lao friends, we’d also be tempted to say that product quality and hygiene levels don’t always meet the same standards, even if their accompanying beer is a definite improvement over Chang or Singha.)
Typical Isan fare: bamboo shoot salad (sup nor mai) and gai yang Why is Isan Food so popular?
While you may well find a fancy version of a papaya salad on the menu of a 5-star hotel, Isan food is usually simple, no-frills fare; cheap and quick to prepare while offering strong flavours. The ubiquitous, accompanying sticky rice is also filling. Many dishes are typically spicy, while grilled chicken, sun-dried beef or pork or laap tord are perfect beer food. If you’re looking for a cheap night out with some friends, then your local Isan cafe fits the bill and remains within the budget of most Thais. As many dishes are eaten with your fingers, it also makes for good picnic grub, so place your order of chicken and sticky rice at the carpark food stand, crack open a few cold cans of Chang from the eskie and you’ve got a fine waterfall, beach or lakeside picnic.
A few typical Isan dishes
As we said, most Isan food is uncomplicated with chillies, lime and plenty of fresh herbs creating strong and distinctive flavours. Of course, dishes can be toned down for the uninitiated, but the hot, salty and sour combination is key to many recipes. Below are just a few of the most commonly seen menu options. With the exception of the papaya and bamboo shoot salads, the following Isan classics are meat-oriented, but vegetarians don’t despair, there are other excellent and original salads such as green mango or banana flower as well as a range of vegetable dishes which, while perhaps not iconic, are certainly tasty.
Sticky Rice
Isan and Lao food are synonymous with sticky rice. It’s not just prepared differently – it’s a different variety of rice – and is generally soaked overnight before being steamed in bamboo containers rather than boiled, as with regular varieties. The sticky, or glutinous, rice – (khao niaw) – is then rolled into small balls (with your right hand) and dipped into sauces. Remarkably, the grains do stick to each other but not your fingers. Sticky rice and sticky rice flour are also the basis for numerous local desserts – but that’s another story.
Som Tam
The famous som tam, or papaya salad, is a staple of Lao and Isan fare. Not surprisingly, it comes in many varieties but basic ingredients include grated green papaya, tomatoes, peanuts, chillies and limes. Isan som tam usually features pla ra – fermented fish paste similar to the Khmer prahok. (It may also include the pickled, small freshwater crabs, which, even after 30 years, we’ve never come to grips with, but it’s simple to ask for no crab.) You can request som tam Isan or Thai, with the latter coming without the rather pungent pla ra. Locals will also specify the number of chillies when ordering so; som tam Isan with 2 chillies, som tam Thai with 1 chilli and so on.
Laap moo; minced pork salad Laap
The best-known Isan dish – and indeed a strong candidate for the Lao national dish – is the famous laap. (Also written larp, larb etc.) This is a minced meat salad, usually pork, although duck and catfish versions are frequently seen, featuring fresh herbs such as mint and coriander, lime juice, fish sauce, onions or shallots and of course chillies, with a sprinkling of ground, toasted rice providing a crunchy, nutty aspect. As we said – simple – but a well-prepared laap is a wonder to behold.
Lao versions tend to include more offal, while a northern Thai adaptation incorporates pig’s blood into the sauce. Another Thai variant is the wonderful laap tord where the minced mixture is pressed into balls and deep fried.
Kai Yang
Another absolute classic is the equally ubiquitous grilled/barbequed chicken, gai yang. Every village and every Isan grandmother will have their own recipe for the marinade and certain northeastern villages have become famous across Thailand for their closely guarded recipes. Smaller kebabs or chicken wings and drumsticks but often you simply split a whole or half a chicken with your fellow diners.
Gai yang – barbequed chicken Nam Tok
Nam tok moo, or waterfall pork, has similar ingredients and flavours to laap but offers a different texture as it’s prepared with sliced and marinated pork rather than minced meat. Beef and chicken alternatives are sometimes available but pork is the default version.
Sun dried pork; moo det diaow Moo or Nuea Det Deow
Sun-dried pork or beef is another firm favourite and makes the perfect beer snack, even if you’re not planning a whole meal. The meat is dried for just 24 hours so it remains soft rather than chewy, jerky-style and is then deep fried and served with a chilli dip.
Sup Nor Mai (Gaeng Nor Mai)
Boiled, young bamboo shoots are grated and mixed with chillies and a local herb known as yanang. Highly popular among Thais, but one that few visitors would ever sample and certainly one rarely found outside Thailand. Not really a salad as it’s usually eaten warm, but it combines very well with the meatier, spicier Isan dishes.
Phanom Rung, one of the fabulous, albeit little-visited sites Isan has to offer Isan Travel
There are, of course, plenty of opportunities to sample traditional Lao fare on any of our Laos, Laos and Vietnam or Laos and Cambodia tours. We do offer a specific Thai, Isan tour – Thailand World Heritage – but in so far as Isan food is found pretty much everywhere in the kingdom, you ought to be able to sample it on any Thai tour. (If it doesn’t feature as one of the inclusive meals, then just ask your tour leader to point you in the right direction.)
Like Isan food, the region is also little-known outside of Thailand and despite comprising around a third of both the land mass and population, few foreign visitors make it up that way. Rather a shame as Isan features one of the country’s best national parks – Khao Yai – in Phimai and Phanom Rung some of the most spectacular and best-preserved Angkor period temples to be seen anywhere, some of the country’s friendliest locals and – as you may have gathered – some of its best food.
*There’s no set transliteration of Thai into English, so various spellings may be encountered, including I-san, Issan, Isaan, Isarn and so-on.
