Gai Yang (Isaan Grilled Chicken)
Photo: Nissy-KITAQ · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Gai yang is the Isaan northeastern Thai grill tradition, brought to Bangkok with the great Isaan labour migration of the mid-20th century. The roadside gai yang stall, with butterflied chickens splayed between bamboo skewers over charcoal, became a Bangkok fixture by the 1980s. Soi Polo Fried Chicken in Lumphini and Som Tam Jay So pair it with som tam and sticky rice as the canonical Bangkok lunch trio.

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Common allergens: Soy, Fish sauce, Oyster sauce

Make it at home

Yield 4Hands-on 30 minTotal 12 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, 1.6kg, butterflied (spatchcocked)
  • 8 garlic cloves
  • 30g coriander roots and stems, scrubbed
  • 3 stalks lemongrass, white part only, sliced
  • 2 tsp whole white peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp ground white pepper
  • 3 tbsp fish sauce
  • 2 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 2 tbsp light soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp palm sugar
  • 2 tbsp neutral oil
  • 2 tbsp honey (for glazing)
  • Sticky rice and nam jim jaew sauce, to serve
  • For nam jim jaew: 3 tbsp lime juice, 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp palm sugar, 1 tbsp toasted rice powder (khao khua), 1 tbsp chilli flakes, chopped shallot and coriander

Method

  1. Pound the garlic, coriander roots, lemongrass and whole white peppercorns in a mortar to a rough paste.
  2. Stir in the fish sauce, oyster sauce, both soy sauces, palm sugar, ground white pepper and oil.
  3. Slash the chicken's thighs and breasts 4 to 5 times each. Massage the marinade into and under the skin.
  4. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours, ideally overnight. Bring to room temperature 1 hour before grilling.
  5. Heat charcoal until ashed over and at medium heat (you can hold your hand 12cm above the coals for 4 seconds).
  6. Grill the chicken skin-side down first for 6 minutes to set the skin. Flip and continue grilling indirect, lid on if possible, for 35 to 45 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.
  7. In the last 10 minutes, brush both sides with honey to lacquer the skin.
  8. Internal temperature at the thigh should be 75C. Rest 10 minutes tented in foil.
  9. Meanwhile, make nam jim jaew: stir all the sauce ingredients together; the toasted rice powder is the signature.
  10. Cut the chicken into pieces. Serve with sticky rice in baskets, the nam jim jaew alongside, and som tam if you can manage it.

Tip from the editors. Toasted rice powder (khao khua) is non-negotiable in nam jim jaew: toast raw sticky rice in a dry pan until golden, then grind. Without it the sauce is flat.

Where to eat gai yang (isaan grilled chicken)

Gai Yang (Isaan Grilled Chicken) in Bangkok

Soi Polo Fried Chicken ★ 4.2

฿฿ Fried chickenUntil 21:00Cash only

Polo Fried Chicken in Bangkok's Soi Polo is the Bib Gourmand garlic-fried-chicken room, open until 21:00 daily with half birds blanketed in crispy fried.

TryGarlic fried chicken (gai tod)

TipCash only. Last orders 20:30. Half a fried chicken with som tam Thai and sticky rice is the canonical late-dinner order.

Directions

Som Tam Jay So ★ 4.5

฿ Isan Papaya SaladSilom Sathorn

Som Tam Jay So in Bangkok's Sathorn is the Bib Gourmand papaya-salad room from a sai-mok northeastern Thai recipe lineage. Located in Silom Sathorn.

OrderSom tam Thai with grilled chicken and a basket of sticky rice; ask for medium spice.

TipCash and PromptPay only. Lunch and early dinner 10:30-19:30; closed Sundays.

Directions

Krua Apsorn Dinso ★ 4.6

฿฿ Thai

Krua Apsorn Dinso is royal-influenced thai room from 2003 in the old town with bib gourmand stir-fries, the local lunch room missed by tour groups.

Why locals goRoyal-influenced Thai room from 2003 in the Old Town with Bib Gourmand stir-fries, the local lunch room missed by tour groups.

TipClosed Sundays. The Dinso original is better than the newer branches. Lunch through 19:30 only, last seating 19:00.

Directions

Supanniga Eating Room Thonglor ★ 4.2

฿฿฿ Trat and Khon Kaen Heritage ThaiThonglor Ekkamai

Supanniga Eating Room Thonglor in Bangkok serves Trat and Khon Kaen heritage Thai recipes on Sukhumvit 55, with the same grandmother-recipe approach.

OrderMoo cha muang (pork in cha muang leaf), yum tomato pomelo and the coconut sticky rice.

TipThree Bangkok branches; Thonglor is the Sukhumvit option for the BTS crowd. Reservations recommended for dinner.

Directions

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