The sacred Isan trio is gai yang, som tam and khao niao, and none makes sense without the others. The chicken is flattened and marinated with garlic, coriander root and pepper, then grilled over charcoal; the nam jim jaew dip — toasted chili, toasted rice, lime and fish sauce — cuts through the fat. Along the roads of Khon Kaen and Nong Khai, stalls grill it at dusk for the evening snack and dinner.
Ingredients
1 chicken of about 1.2 kg, butterflied and flattened
6 garlic cloves
4 coriander roots (or a handful of stems)
1 tsp white peppercorns
3 tbsp fish sauce and 1 tbsp light soy sauce
for the dip: 2 tbsp toasted chili powder and 2 tbsp ground toasted rice
for the dip: 3 tbsp lime juice and 2 tbsp fish sauce
1 pinch of palm sugar for the dip
380–550 kcal per typical serving.
one quarter chicken, no rice; the dip adds ~50 kcal (estimated from the typical recipe)
