A rich Burmese-influenced pork-belly curry, slow-cooked with ginger, tamarind, garlic and a dry-spice hang lay powder until sweet, sour and meltingly tender.
Gaeng hang lay is the clearest culinary trace of the two centuries Chiang Mai spent under Burmese rule. Unlike coconut-based Thai curries, it is a dry, spice-driven braise of fatty pork belly cooked long with ginger, garlic, tamarind, palm sugar and a dedicated hang lay curry powder heavy on turmeric and dried spice. The result is sweet, sour and deeply savoury, mellowing over a day or two, which is why it appears at temple merit-making and festivals cooked in vast pots. It remains a signature of the Lanna feast and a staple of the north's Bib Gourmand kitchens.
3 editor picks for Gaeng hang lay in Chiang Mai, ranked by editorial score. All Chiang Mai signature dishes · Gaeng hang lay across every city.
Huen Muan Jai ★ 4.6
chang-phueak · 24 Ratchaphuek Alley, Chang Phueak, Mueang Chiang Mai 50300
A garden Lanna house and longtime Michelin Bib Gourmand, plating northern curries, herb sausage and smoky chili dips under its wooden garden pavilions.
Krua Phech Doi Ngam ★ 4.1
hang-dong · Route 1141, Nong Phueng, Saraphi, Chiang Mai 50140
A Michelin-listed Lanna kitchen a short drive east of town where locals far outnumber tourists, cooking classic northern curries and chili dips.
Aroon Rai ★ 3.9
old-city · 45 Kotchasan Road, Chang Khlan, Mueang Chiang Mai 50100
One of the city's oldest northern kitchens on Kotchasan, an unfussy tin-roof room turning out cheap plates of hang lay and larb since the 1950s.