Khao Soi

“Khao Soi” ( ข้าวซอย ) refers to various soups from northern Thailand. The best known is probably the one prepared with coconut milk and a paste base. It is usually served with meat and cooked wheat noodles, which are often fried as well.

This creamy soup probably originated in Yunnan and was brought to northern Thailand by traders and refugees belonging to the Muslim Chin Haw tribe . In neighboring Myanmar, there is a very similar soup called “Ohn no khao swè” (အုန်းနို့ခေါက်ဆွဲ). To distinguish it from other soups with the same name, it is sometimes also called “Khao Soi Chiang Mai” ( ข้าวซอยเชียงใหม่ ), “Khao Soi Islam” ( ข้าวซอยอิสลาม ) or “Khao Soi Kati” ( ข้าวซอยกะทิ ).

There are also other Khao Soi variations without coconut milk. For example, “Khao Soi Mae Sai” ( ข้าวซอยแม่สาย ) from the border town of the same name is more similar to Guai Tiao Nam Ngiau and is served with rice noodles. As with Nam Ngiau soup, the origin of this variant is probably the Shan.

“Khao Soi Nam Naa” ( ข้าวซอยน้ำหน้า ) from the Chiang Khong area, on the other hand, is a clear broth with rice noodles served with a topping of minced meat and tomatoes, not unlike Nam Prik Ong. This variant is a typical dish of the Tai Leu, an ethnic group that also lives in areas of southern China’s Yunnan province, Shan State in Myanmar, and Laos.

One explanation for this great variation lies in the origin of the name “Khao Soi.” In the Lao language, it can be literally translated as “cut rice,” but this probably refers to cut noodles, which made their way from Yunnan in China to the southern neighboring regions. Thus, Khao Soi could also simply be regarded as an umbrella term for “noodle soup.”

Sources

The assumptions mentioned here regarding the origin of the various soups called “Khao Soi” come from the following sources:

• en.wikipedia.org
• Pok Pok Noodles
• The Food of Northern Thailand

Recommended The Food of Northern Thailand at amazon.de¹