Fresh rice vermicelli under a tangy tomato-and-pork-rib broth flavoured with fermented soybean and dried kapok flowers, the north's everyday noodle bowl.

Khanom jeen nam ngiao is the northern Thai and Shan answer to a quick, sour, savoury noodle lunch. Fresh fermented rice vermicelli (khanom jeen) is topped with nam ngiao, a rust-red broth built from tomato, pork rib or blood cake, fermented soybean (tua nao) and, distinctively, dried kapok or silk-cotton flowers that give body and a gentle tang. It arrived with Tai Yai (Shan) communities and became a market and morning-canteen staple across Chiang Mai. Served with bean sprouts, pickled greens, lime and crisp pork rind, it is cheap, sour and unmistakably of the north.

2 editor picks for Khanom jeen nam ngiao in Chiang Mai, ranked by editorial score. All Chiang Mai signature dishes · Khanom jeen nam ngiao across every city.