Painting with Spice: Our Top Ten Isan Dishes
Isan food is increasingly being recognized as not just the best of Thailand but one of the world's greatest cuisines. What distinguishes Isan food from others is the enticingly complex flavours of the dishes. Yet most of the dishes are simple and easy to prepare — they were, after all, designed to be prepared in corners of rice fields using only the ingredients at hand and cooked over an open fire.
So what's the secret? Firstly, buy fresh and cook fresh — most of the ingredients will have come straight from the farm and been picked that morning. Secondly, it's about how to layer and blend the spices and ingredients together. A great artist can take simple colours and make a masterpiece; in the same way, when we cook Isan we are literally painting with spices. There is no recipe, just a traditional instinct on how to use what is in front of you to create amazing food sensations.
Nakara Specialty: Chicken Massaman Curry
This is one of our most loved dishes by all our guests. Massaman originated in 17th century Central Thailand (so not strictly Isan) at the cosmopolitan court of Ayutthaya. Do make our Massaman one of your first dishes when you stay with us — it's absolutely delicious, especially served with our own freshly made flat breads. Read more on our Massaman Curry page.
Isan Top Ten Dishes
1) Papaya Salad / Som Tam Korat
The Isan region's most iconic dish, this salad is made of shredded green papaya, tomatoes, long beans, garlic and other in-season vegetables in a lime-juice dressing. It's traditionally pounded in a large stone mortar and pestle — the resulting sound, "pok pok", has become a colloquial saying among foreigners. Som tam is now found throughout Thailand, with many regional variations.
2) Minced Pork Salad / Laab Moo
Originating from Laos, this fiery minced pork salad is a big favourite in Isan food. While there are variations, the most popular Laab comes as a stir-fried minced pork dish with shallots, coriander and mint leaves, seasoned with the salt of fish sauce and the sour of lime juice.
3) Isan Sausages / Sai Krok Isan
Sausages are popular in both Northern and Northeastern Thailand, but this Isan version made with pork and glutinous rice is now popular all over Thailand and South East Asia. Minced pork is typically mixed with garlic, salt and steamed sticky rice, piped into pig's intestines, and left to ferment until slightly sour while drying — giving the meat a rich, funky flavour. The finished product is often grilled and served with vegetables and herbs.
4) Grilled Fish / Pla Plo
In Isan, the fish are gutted, stuffed with pandanus leaves and lemongrass, then coated with flour and rock salt before grilling over charcoal barbecues. Served with a fish sauce, lime and chilli dip. Three common freshwater fish found at evening Isan food barbecues are Tilapia (Pla Nin), catfish (Pla Duk Dam) and snakehead fish (Pla Duk Yan) — certainly some of the best fish we have ever eaten.
5) Sticky Rice / Kow Neuw
Most rice grown in the North East is sticky rice rather than jasmine rice, and it is served with almost every meal. This super-starchy staple is often presented in small, individual baskets. Eaters typically grab a lump of sticky rice with their fingers and use it in lieu of silverware — particularly indispensable with laab. At Nakara Villa we grow both our own jasmine and sticky rice, and generally both are served with every meal.
6) Grilled Pork Neck / Kor Moo Yang
A standard at roadside BBQs, this dish uses perfect slices of pork neck, coated in a rich, sticky marinade, barbecued over charcoal and served with a sour, spicy side of chilli sauce (Nam Jim Jaew). Combined with a sweet, sour, salty and hot salad, this is many people's absolute favourite.
7) Spicy Soup / Tom Saep
Soups are served with most meals in Thailand. Most familiar to tourists are chicken coconut soup (Tom Kha Kai) and spicy fish soup (Tom Yum) — characterised by distinct hot and sour flavours, with fragrant spices and herbs generously used in the broth, including lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce and crushed red chili peppers.
8) Grilled Chicken / Gai Yang
You can't talk about the foods of Northeastern Thailand without mentioning Gai Yang (grilled/roasted chicken). This charcoal-fired grilled dish is a staple of even the simplest Isan kitchen. No two recipes are exactly alike, but lemongrass and garlic are almost always involved, and the secret is to use only lean, flavourful, truly free-range chickens — deceptively simple but satisfyingly nuanced.
9) Noodle Soup / Khao Soi
Originally from Burma, this is a soup-like dish made with a mix of deep-fried crispy egg noodles and boiled egg noodles, pickled cabbage, shallots, lime, ground chilies fried in oil, and chicken or beef in a curry-like sauce containing coconut milk. Eaten daily in the North East but rarely found in Thai restaurants abroad.
9) Thai Hot Pot / Jim Jum
A spiced up Thai interpretation of the famous Chinese hot pot. Jim Jum, originating from Isan, uses a signature Thai infused broth of shallot, lemongrass, chilli, garlic and sweet basil. Eaters then "cook" their own meat, fish, tofu, vegetables and noodles, before serving in small soup bowls mixed with a hot, sour, tangy chilli sauce (Nam Jim).
10) Marinated Pork / Moo Dad Diew
The Thai equivalent to delectable pork jerky. Small bites of pork are marinated in dark soy, oyster sauce, garlic, pepper and palm sugar, occasionally sprinkled with sesame seeds, then left to dry in the sun. Before serving, the pork is grilled to re-warm it and served with a sour and spicy chilli dip (Nam Jim Jaew) — a street side favourite, though the home cooked version is just as delightful.
