In the mountainous region of Northern Thailand, the people share a profound connection with the spirits inhabiting the land, trees and rivers. This bond extends to ancestral spirits residing within their homes, providing protection and guidance to the family. It is believed that food is not only shared among the living but also with those who preceded us, bridging the gap between the natural world and the ethereal realm of the spirits.
It is in this context that yam jin gai (ยำจิ้นไก่) holds a special significance. Once a delicacy served only on special occasions, this soup-like salad has come to symbolize the enduring bond between the people of Northern Thailand and their ancestral spirits. Families pay homage to their ancestors with offerings of food, fostering a sense of unity and connection that transcends mortality and even the present; although the dish is included on the menus of many restaurants, its roots remain grounded in the spiritual landscape of the northern forests.
Yam jin gai is a dish that features shredded chicken meat and offal, braised in a deep, dark hazel-gold broth. The broth is thickened with smoky, roasted chilies and the earthy nuttiness of ash-colored, toasted perilla seeds (งาขี้ม้อน). The dish is seasoned with numerous dry spices, including a makwen-rich (มะแขว่น) phrik laab seasoning mix that imparts a fiery, prickling and numbing sensation. Savory, earthy and aromatic, the dish lacks any sweetness – but is finished by mixing into it the savory and scented broth fresh herbs, giving it a distinctive soft-honeyed, spicy, slightly minty and peppery herbal aromatic profile.
The fundamental life force, the energy that allows life itself to exist, and the essence of it all surround us. It can be heard when a dog barks or seen when a flower blossom stands tall; if we discern these voices as whispered through the aromas and flavors of our food, the connection to the past and the power of tradition are detectable. It is thus our duty as makers of Thai food to render this connection palpable in our modern-day creations of traditional dishes.
We must also strive to source ‘spiritually intact’ ingredients. A whole chicken, for example, intact from beak to tail and including the liver and heart, is more likely to carry life energies in sufficient abundance to impart a delectable impression of the meeting with our ancestral spirits. Conversely, the fridge-chilled, butchered and separated parts of the hormone-fed birds found on supermarket shelves are silent and still.
This is not simply fanciful culinary poetry. In the Lanna culture, these spirits come in various forms and can even be acquired. The Lua people (คนลัว), for instance, are an ethnic group that practice Buddhism and animism; they search for spirits in the forest, capture them in bags, and carry them back to the cities and villages to sell. Once a spirit is purchased, the Lua merchant instructs the new owner on properly welcoming the spirit to its new home and ensuring that it remains safely contained in a vessel. The spirit’s container is adorned with beautiful flowers, and the initial purchase price of the spirit is later used to determine fines imposed by society when social boundaries or relationships are violated. [1]สำนักศิลปะและวัฒนธรรม. “กลุ่มชาติพันธุ์ลัวะ/เลอเวือะ/ละเวือะ,” January 25, 2021.[2]อาหารผี วิถีคน: หมุดหมายการเลี้ยงผีในสังคมล้านนา มิวเซียมสยาม (Museum Siam).” … Continue reading
There are, of course, various spirits, with each offering a unique set of powers. For example, Grandfather and Grandmother Spirits (ผีปู่ย่า; phee bpuu yaa) can bestow happiness and unity upon the family, drawing children, relatives and descendants closer together in warmth and harmony; thus, these spirits are typically placed in the largest room of the house. Other spirits encourage the family to work tirelessly, leading to wealth and prosperity through their unyielding diligence; and yet other spirits deliver joy and laughter to a household, culminating in festive ceremonies held annually in their honor.
To prepare yam jin gai , I select a whole chicken with all its internal organs intact. Using a sharp knife, I separate the chicken into parts and sear them on a hot plancha until the skin is slightly charred. This imparts a smoky flavor that echoes the heat of the phrik laap seasoning mix.
Once the chicken is charred to my liking, I transfer it to simmer in a pot with boiling water, lemongrass, fresh turmeric and white northern fermented shrimp paste (kapi). As the chicken cooks, the turmeric tints its skin and meat with a golden, earthy hue. While the chicken is braising, I prepare the curry paste by roasting dried chilies until they are about 40% charred, then lightly roasting perilla seeds and pounding them together with Thai garlic, salt and makwen (มะแขว่น) (Zanthozylum limonella Alston).
Once the paste is ready and the chicken is tender, I remove the chicken from the pot but continue cooking the liquids with the paste, allowing the stock to reduce. I am aiming for a rich, dark and murky transparency formed by the essence of the chicken, including its proteins, fats and memories. I season the dish with rock salt, as well as the phrik laap seasoning mix for spiciness and the laap spice mix for the aromatic intensity, before finishing the dish with roughly chopped herbs that dress the savory and earthy chicken with rich and varied herbaceous notes. These notes are a complex blend of sweetness, mint and pepper – slightly spicy and soapy, an interplay that mirrors the unity and harmony sought within families and communities as they connect with their spiritual roots.
Yam Jin Gai: A Symbol of Tradition and Family Unity (ยำจิ๊นไก่; yam jin gai)
Yam jin gai is a dish with shredded chicken & offal in hazel-gold broth, thickened by roasted chilies & toasted perilla seeds. Seasoned with dry spices, it has a spicy, minty, & peppery aroma.
In the village environment, free-range chicken laap is made from a whole bird butchered and cooked on the spot. All the parts of the chicken are used, with nothing wasted or discarded. First, the meat is minced. Gradually, the still-warm chicken blood is added until the meat is saturated and becomes gooey and moist.
Laap mee is a laap that uses a generous amount of crispy ingredients. Called khreuuang mee (เครื่องหมี่), these crispy elements are often used in Northern […]
This laap dish offers a slightly different way to use the phrik laap seasoning mix. It is added to an aromatic paste made from roasted chilies, galangal, roasted shallots, and roasted garlic. The paste is enriched with coriander seeds, makwen and laap spices mix, which introduces the desired smoke and umami intensifying elements to the dish.
Khanohm jeen yee poon is an appetizer consisting of a small roll of fermented rice noodles laid on a green lettuce leaf and topped with a slice of cucumber and cooked shrimp and pork belly, dressed with sour-sweet and salty fried chili jam, sprinkled with roasted peanuts and decorated with coriander leaf and a thin julienne of fresh red chili pepper. A squeeze of fresh lime juice is applied just before eating the dish.
Duck laap, like other laap dishes, uses the whole duck, head to tail – including its meat, skin, internal organs, and bones. The recipe I provide below is modified for home-style cooking and uses duck parts; in the village environment, the duck is butchered and the bird is allowed to bleed completely, the blood is collected, and the bird is then cleaned and plucked.
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