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

฿฿Northern ThaiChang Phueak

A garden Lanna house and longtime Michelin Bib Gourmand, plating northern curries, herb sausage and smoky chili dips under its wooden garden pavilions.

OrderGaeng hang lay, Sai ua, Nam prik noom

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Krua Phech Doi Ngam ★ 4.1

฿฿Northern ThaiHang Dong

A Michelin-listed Lanna kitchen a short drive east of town where locals far outnumber tourists, cooking classic northern curries and chili dips.

OrderGaeng hang lay, Nam prik, Larb

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Aroon Rai ★ 3.9

฿Northern ThaiOld City

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.

OrderGaeng hang lay, Larb khua, Fried frog

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Learn to cook it, or eat it with a guide

Gaeng hang lay makes more sense with someone from Chiang Mai explaining it. These are the classes and tours we have checked, with booking links.

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