Madame Thong Thip making Kanom Rang Ping or coconut waffles

MANILA, Philippines — One of our favorite getaways when we are in Thailand is Chiang Mai. The very interesting Lanna or tribal culture, the cool mountain air and the diverse culinary offerings make it a gateway to other Northern areas. It is a destination that is filled with gastronomic secrets and discoveries. In my previous articles, I’ve chronicled the Sunday night market and the creative and unique items the stall owners sell that never land on the boutique and department stores.

One need not have dinner but just go through the whole street sampling the different delicacies being offered as one warms up from the chill of the evening air with food. I got around with my son Chef Gino and foodie friends, Wolfgang and Woon Hieronimi who also took us to some interesting restaurants that were being patronized by the locals with just a small sprinkling of tourists. Such restaurants are gems and keep their authenticity. It’s great also to have friends who are residents of the area and have a distinct affinity with food and their culture. Here is the first of the two places they took us to.

KHAO SOI LAMDUAN FA HARM – This open air restaurant is near the famous flower market on Ton Lamyai.

It is one of the oldest eating places in Chiang Mai with its old pictures and write-ups showing a very youthful Lady owner named Thong Thip (in sepia photos) who is now in her 80s. Madame Thong Thip still oversees the preparation of her famous curried noodles, the rice cakes and crackers and she does her coconut waffles on one corner of the restaurant by herself.

Anyway, Khao Soy or curried soup noodles is a fascinating Chiang Mai or Northern specialty as it starts with a base of rich thick curry made from pounded or stone ground fresh herbs and roots such as turmeric, galangal, young ginger, etc. As compared to a curry made with wood and seed spices, the Khao Soy base is fresher as it also is softer in flavors, having some secret addition to round out the heat with coconut, peanut or caramelized onion, etc. Then, this is topped with fried crispy egg noodles whereby one enjoys the first texture of crunchy fried noodles and flavors. But as the noodles soften on the broth, one enjoys an al dente, or to the bite second experience. A large chicken leg completes the dish. In this establishment the Khao Soy is served with chopped up pickled or salted mustard leaves.

The restaurant seems to also be a takeout center as it has several variants of rice cracker, called Khao Tang which is similar to our ampao. This is used as a vehicle for savory dips such as spiced pork with chilis or sweet coconut based syrups. What is very interesting is the Salay, which is a fresh water weed much like nori and sold packed. This is a crispy snack much like nori and it makes for a delicious starter.

Other items on the simple menu that we tried was the Khao Kun Chin or northern style glutinous rice topped with pork that is either stewed or air dried like tapa. This, together with the Khao Soy is either washed down with sweetened tamarind juice, cold red and tart hibiscus tea or in Gino’s case his favorite manaw (Thai lime) soda.

To cap our meal, we had Khao Mak, a sweet fermented rice, quite mildly alcoholic that gives it its distinct flavors. I suppose if one had enough of these, one can get a good buzz because the rice does have some potency from the fermentation. The best part of ending the meal was getting some freshly cooked crisp waffles made from a coconut milk base and cooked over charcoal on a very old 1930s designed waffle maker made personally by Madame Thong Thip. This is called Khanom Rang Ping and named after the beehive because of its corrugated shape. The crisp texture and the rich, creamy, coconut aromas just got us on the right anticipating mood as this was our first meal in Chiang Mai. (More Northern Thai food next week.)

You can e-mail me at

chefgenegonzalez@yahoo.com