Border Curry · Slow-Stewed Pork Belly

Kaeng Hang Le (Burmese-Style Pork Curry)

Photo: Chainwit / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Its name is a direct loan from the Burmese 'hin lay,' meaning 'heavy curry' — many Chiang Mai menus still just call it Burmese curry rather than translate it.

Pork belly is marinated in a curry paste of lemongrass, galangal and shrimp paste, then simmered for hours with ginger, garlic, peanuts and a spice blend of long pepper, nutmeg and clove until the fat turns glossy and the meat falls apart. Unlike most northern curries, it's eaten with plain rice rather than sticky rice.

Why it's made this way: The Lan Na kingdom spent nearly two centuries under Burmese rule, and the curry is widely credited to Burmese and Shan traders who settled in the north and brought their cooking with them.