Roadside Grill · Charcoal Chicken

Kai Yang (Isaan Grilled Chicken)

Photo: Takeaway / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

Vendors butterfly and pound the whole bird flat before it ever touches the grill, so it cooks evenly over slow charcoal instead of the fast high heat used for skewered street meats.

A whole chicken is butterflied, pounded flat and marinated in fish sauce, garlic, coriander root and white pepper, then grilled slowly over charcoal until the skin turns deep golden without charring. It's chopped into pieces and sold alongside som tam and sticky rice as the classic Isaan combo.

Why it's made this way: The dish is shared across the Thai-Lao border, and several towns are known for their own styles, such as Khao Suan Kwang in Khon Kaen and Wichian Buri in Phetchabun in Thailand, and Seno in Laos's Savannakhet province.