Sticky rice, khao nieow, is commonly eaten with northern dishes. It is first soaked for several hours and then steamed, together with some herbs, in a conical basket of woven bamboo. This reduces the stickiness as well as the sweetness of the rice. It keeps well after cooking and may be kept in baskets for a long time. It is usually eaten by taking a small lump and pressing it with the fingers to form a hard ball. Then the ball is dipped (by hand) into some spicy flavoring and eaten. The ingredients used to flavor rice were originally those that came from hunting, foraging and fishing.
Older Northern Thais may wistfully tell you about the flavor of venison in their youth, but most wild meat has been hunted to extinction. The more adventurous visitor may, perhaps, like to sample the various dishes that use innards and the seasonal dishes that feature insects.
The herbs and spices for flavoring are those commonly used in all Thai cooking, but northern Thai dishes have been bly influenced by Burmese and Shan cooking and use less coconut than those of central Thai cuisine.
Dishes served with sticky rice are of several kinds: nam phrik - hot dips served in small bowls along with fresh or lightly steamed vegetables and crispy pork skin: kaeng - curries (dry or watery); yam - vegetables and meat mixed with a variety of herbs and spices.
A Khantoke Dinner usually consists of a whole range of northern Thai dishes
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