Gai yang
Photo: Nissy-KITAQ · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Grilled chicken is shared across northern and northeastern Thailand, carried into Chiang Mai kitchens by Isan cooks and northern grill houses alike. The bird is marinated in garlic, coriander root, white pepper, fish sauce and often a little turmeric, then butterflied and grilled slowly over charcoal so the skin lacquers without burning. It is eaten as part of a wider spread with sticky rice, green papaya salad and a fiery jaew dipping sauce, torn and shared by hand. In Chiang Mai it anchors cheap, smoky lunch counters like SP Chicken near Wat Phra Singh.

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Common allergens: Fish

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 4 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, butterflied
  • 6 garlic cloves
  • 3 coriander roots
  • 1 tbsp white peppercorns
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 tbsp palm sugar
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • Sticky rice and jaew dipping sauce, to serve

Method

  1. Pound the garlic, coriander root and pepper into a paste.
  2. Mix with fish sauce, palm sugar and turmeric and rub all over the butterflied chicken.
  3. Marinate at least 3 hours or overnight in the fridge.
  4. Grill slowly over medium charcoal, skin side up first, turning often, 30 to 40 minutes until cooked and lacquered.
  5. Rest, then chop or tear and serve with sticky rice and jaew.

Tip from the editors. Grill low and slow away from direct flame; the sugar in the marinade burns fast over high heat.

Where to eat gai yang

Gai yang in Chiang Mai

SP Chicken ★ 4.2

฿ ThaiOld City

Charcoal gai yang, papaya salad and sticky rice near Wat Phra Singh make SP Chicken one of the Old City's best-value Isan-style lunches under 150 baht.

TryGrilled chicken and som tam

Directions

Cherng Doi Roast Chicken ★ 4.2

฿ Northern ThaiNimman

Herb-roasted chicken and Isan grills at student prices off Nimman, where a smoky half-chicken with sticky rice and som tam lands well under 200 baht.

TryRoast chicken and larb

Directions

Aroon Rai ★ 3.9

฿ Northern ThaiOld City

One of the oldest northern kitchens in the Old City keeps most plates under 100 baht, a no-frills, decades-deep option for hang lay and larb on a budget.

TryNorthern curries and rice

Directions

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