This Sweet and Sour Curry Is Iconic in Northern Thailand

I grew up in the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. Family vacations to Chiang Mai, the cultural and historical capital of the north, were a special treat my family got to enjoy every few years. Visiting Chiang Mai felt—and still feels—almost like going to another country or stepping into a different time: The city is surrounded by mountains and lush greenery, with a 700-year-old moat enclosing a tightly woven tapestry of bustling streets. My family and I would pack ourselves into the car, and my dad would drive 500 miles to our destination. These road trips were the ultimate exercise in delayed gratification—my patience was always rewarded with a spread of northern Thai dishes, including sai ua (grilled spiced sausages), nam prik ong (tomato and pork relish), and gaeng hunglae.   

Gaeng hunglae (แกงฮังเล) is one of northern Thailand’s most iconic dishes. Chunks of tender pork are gently braised in a sweet and sour curry seasoned with palm sugar, tamarind paste, and hunglae powder, a regional variation on garam masala. The dish is a labor of love: Gaeng hunglae takes about five hours to make, and because it features pork, a luxury in this part of Thailand, hunglae is considered a special occasion dish. It’s most commonly prepared during Songkran (Thai new year celebrations) and Buddhist festivals; it’s also served to monks during religious ceremonies as a symbol of devotion, and to honored guests and visitors as a symbol of northern hospitality. 

While most Thais now consider gaeng hunglae a quintessentially northern Thai dish, hunglae reportedly originated in Myanmar, formerly Burma. Burma conquered the region from the Kingdom of Lan Na in 1558 and, though the Kingdom of Siam (now Thailand) wrested power in 1774, the Burmese influence can still be felt in Chiang Mai’s architecture, culture, and food. In fact, gaeng hunglae bears a closer resemblance to Burmese stews than it does to any central Thai curry: It doesn’t contain coconut milk, a common central Thai ingredient, and it relies more heavily on dried spices—rather than fresh—for flavor. The term “hunglae” is derived from the Burmese words ဟင်း (hainn) for curry and လေး (lay) for meat. 

There are two main regional variations of hunglae in Thailand: The Chiangsaen version (named after its region of origin, a town in Chiang Rai province bordering Myanmar and Laos), which contains seasonal vegetables like eggplant, long beans, and bamboo shoots, and the Maan version (“Maan” is an old northern Thai term for Burmese), which is the most commonly eaten version in Chiang Mai and the recipe that I am sharing below.

Decent gaeng hunglae can be difficult to locate outside of northern Thailand. Even now, with the proliferation of Thai restaurants serving up regional specialties around the world, gaeng hunglae is often eclipsed by its more popular compatriot khao soi, a northern Thai coconut curry noodle soup. Though gaeng hunglae is more subdued, it is no less compelling than its noodle cousin—and it’s my favorite dish to cook for friends, especially those who’ve had limited experiences with Thai food beyond the usual takeout classics like pad Thai and green curry.

The Building Blocks of Great Gaeng Hunglae

The Curry Paste and Garam Masala

The foundation for hunglae is its curry paste, which is made by pounding together chiles and aromatics like fresh galangal, lemongrass, and garlic. The kind of curry paste used will depend on the dish you’re preparing; the variation used in hunglae is made with dried chiles, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, galangal, and shrimp paste (kapi กะปิ), resulting in an herbaceous, spicy, salty paste that mellows out beautifully with the application of heat.

For the most flavorful paste, I recommend using a mortar and pestle. As former Serious Eats editor Kenji has written, the grinding motion of the mortar and pestle breaks down cell walls, releasing more flavor compounds than the simple chopping action of a food processor or blender. To make the pounding easier, be sure to slice the lemongrass, galangal, and shallots as thinly as you can before grinding them. The order in which you add the ingredients to the mortar and pestle also matters: You want to add the ingredients from hardest to softest, starting with the dried chiles and salt, followed by the galangal and lemongrass, and finally, the alliums and shrimp paste. This process allows each ingredient to be broken down properly, yielding a smooth, aromatic paste. When I’m short on time, I use Kenji’s hybrid mortar and pestle and food processor method. Simply begin the process of breaking down the ingredients in your mortar and pestle, then finish it in the food processor to get it completely smooth.

In addition to the curry paste, the dish also relies on hunglae powder or masala powder for its spiced notes. This ingredient is rarely found in central Thai cooking, and is what gives gaeng hunglae its signature warmth and complexity. The spice mix varies from brand to brand, but most versions containa combination of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, cumin, and coriander seeds. I recommend using hunglae powder if you can find it, but you can also use your favorite store-bought or homemade garam masala for this recipe.

The Pork

My favorite way to make this curry is with a mix of skin-on pork belly and pork shoulder. The belly is, in many ways, the star of the show: After four hours of braising, the fat practically melts into the sauce, giving it a velvety texture. While the dish is good when made with a skinless belly, the collagen from the skin makes for a significantly richer curry with a satiny finish. The pork shoulder, on the other hand, ups the meat to fat ratio and provides the dish with more substance. Other braising cuts such as country-style ribs or shanks can also be used.

The Pickled Garlic

Pickled garlic (kratiem dong; กระเทียมดอง) adds little pops of sweet and sour flavor throughout the dish, and cuts through the richness of the sauce and the pork. Most grocery stores selling Southeast Asian products will have the Thai version, but any garlic pickled in vinegar can be substituted. 

How to Serve Gaeng Hunglae

Once the pork is tender and the sauce has reduced to a thick gravy-like consistency, the dish is ready for the table. Garnish it with toasted and crushed peanuts and extra julienned ginger, or enjoy as is. If you are good at delaying gratification, put it away in the refrigerator overnight and enjoy it the next day: The extra time gives the flavors a chance to meld and develop even further, and excess fat can be skimmed off more easily when the curry is cold, should you choose to do so. 

Hunglae is best enjoyed with steamed rice or sticky rice (khao niao). While hunglae and rice make for a great meal as a duo, a Northern Thai table is rarely ever set with just two things. The khantoke, a small pedestal filled with a number of small dishes, is a Northern tradition that continues to this day: The idea is for diners to enjoy a balance of different flavors, textures, and nutrients from a selection of foods during the course of the meal. For a more authentic Northern Thai experience, serve hunglae alongside other Chiang Mai favorites, such as nam prik noom (roasted green chili dip), nam prik ong (tomato and pork dip), and larb muang (herby chopped meat salad). 

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