Isaan Thai

Isaan is Thailand's northeastern region — bordering Laos, sharing language and culture with the Lao kingdom, and the source of the dishes most often called 'Thai' globally. Som tum (green papaya salad) is the Isaan masterpiece: shredded raw green papaya pounded in a clay mortar with chili, lime, fish sauce, palm sugar, peanuts, tomatoes, dried shrimp — sour, sweet, salty, spicy in one bite. Larb is the minced-meat salad with toasted rice powder (kao kua), mint, chili, lime, fish sauce — eaten with sticky rice. Gai yang is butterflied grilled chicken marinated in lemongrass, garlic, coriander root — sold by every street vendor. Sticky rice (khao niao) is the staple, served in small woven baskets, eaten with hands. Nam tok is the Isaan beef salad. The cuisine is fierier, more fermented-fish-driven, and more rustic than Bangkok Thai — and arguably more authentically Thai-Lao than what tourists think of as Thai food.