History & Where Did Khao Soi of Chiang Mai Really Come From? Links with Khao Swe & Khausa ข้าวซอย

Khao soi, a form of curry noodle, is an icon of Chiang Mai which is rarely found outside of northern Thailand.

It is blanched yellow noodles submerged in a creamy curry of coconut milk and spices (black cardamon, coriander seed, turmeric, etc), usually served with chicken, beef and sometimes pork, garnished with crisps such as fried yellow noodles on top.

Khao soi is on almost every Chiang Mai tourist's bucket list.

Synonymous with the city of Chiang Mai, the origin of khao soi is an enigma. Where did khao soi come from?

Most commentators attribute the origin of khao soi to the Hui people 回族 of Yunnan province of China. The Muslim Hui people are descended from caravan traders who plied the ancient overland Silk Road between the Middle East and Far East (from 200BC till the 1400s when the sea route to Asia was discovered by the Portuguese).

How did khao soi travel from Yunnan to Chiang Mai?

It was actually rather recent, according to the Yunnan theory.

Following the failed rebellion of Hui people against the Qing dynasty in the 1850s, Manchu reprisals forced many Hui to flee south to Laos and Myanmar. And, from Laos and Myanmar, the refugees entered northern Thailand, in particular, the city of Chiang Mai.

The Hui people brought khao soi to Chiang Mai during this migration, according to the Yunnan theory.

But, there is a problem with this popular Yunnan origin theory.

Today, there isn't a noodle dish in Yunnan that resembles khao soi, at least not in the sense of using yellow noodle, crisp topping and spiced coconut milk.

Cross bridge noodle

There are iconic noodle dishes from Yunnan, namely the small pot rice noodle 云南小锅米线 and cross bridge noodle 云南過橋米线, both use rice noodles, have no crisp toppings and are not curries.

Over in Laos, they have khao soi Lao which is basically blanched rice noodles in clear pork or chicken soup garnished with ground pork or chicken, and vegetable toppings. Not a curry dish and has greater resemblance with their Yunnan cousins than Chiang Mai khao soi.

Even in Chiang Rai (which was the first capital city of the old Lanna kingdom before they shifted the capital to Chiang Mai), the khao soi there has broad rice noodles, clear soup and spicy pork topping.

According to the Yunnan theory, khao soi in Chiang Mai was originally a rice noodle dish like their Yunnan, Lao and Chiang Rai cousins. Khao soi literally and simply means "cut rice" i.e. a cut rice dough.

So, how did the iconic curry noodle type khao soi of Chiang Mai came about? Here's where things get a lot murkier due to lack of records and evidence.

Commentators cite the memories of khao soi stall owners to rationalise the claim that khao soi in Chiang Mai changed from rice noodles to yellow noodles (just two generations ago). Both blanched and fried yellow noodles became part of the dish we see today in Chiang Mai.

Also citing the memories / anecdotes of old khao soi stall owners, coconut milk was used to please the palates of diners from Central Thailand where coconut milk is central in their cuisine.

Others claim the use of coconut milk and spices were due to the influence of Malay Muslims from Siamese Malay states migrating to north Thailand to join fellow Muslims (Hui / Chin Ho) in Chiang Mai in the early 1900s (in the aftermath of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909 which ceded the Siamese Malay states of Perlis, Kedah, Terengganu and Kelantan to British Malaya).

Note the resemblance between the two buildings.

Top is the Balai Besar, part of the Sultan of Kedah's palace in Alor Star built in 1896.

Bottom, is a group photo at the signing of the Anglo Siam Treaty in 1909 at the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

Kedah, together with Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu were part of Siam Malaya till the Treaty of 1909.

Earlier on in 1891 - 1895, local chiefs in Pahang state of British Malaya launched the Pahang Uprising against the British. Some rebels escaped to Kelantan which was then part of Siam. They were arrested by Siamese authorities and deported to Chiang Mai. Could these Malay rebels have introduced the taste for coconut milk and spices to the Siamese in Chiang Mai?

Yet, another theory attribute the spices in khao soi to Hui people, as they are familiar with spices from the Mediterranean to the Malay Archipelago, from black cardamom, coriander seed, cinnamon, turmeric to mace and cloves, many of which are found in khao soi curry.

(But then, this begs the same question why there is no spiced khao soi in Yunnan today.)

Surprisingly for a dish so widely embraced, and so iconic of Chiang Mai, its roots are not very deep there - I mean khao soi according to the widely accepted Yunnan theory is a fairly recent phenomenon in Chiang Mai.

Also according to the Yunnan theory, khao soi created in north Thailand was exported to Myanmar as ohn no khao swe which means coconut milk noodles in Myanmese.

Like khao soi Chiang Mai, ohn no khao swe of Myanmar has spiced coconut milk, yellow noodles and a crispy topping.

Amazingly, a cousin of khao soi and khao swe, known as khausa can be found in a distant, unlikely place - Pakistan and Gujarat state of India.

Memoni Muslim traders from Gujarat, India travelled to British Burma (today's Myanmar) to trade and encountered the Burmese khao swe.

Jama Mosque, oldest in Sittwe, established in 1859

Some Gujarati traders settled in Sittwe, Burma but most returned to Gujarat, India and Pakistan in 1947 and in the 1960s.

They brought khao swe, the spice and coconut milk noodle dish, back with them which became khausa. However, instead of yellow noodles, spaghetti was substituted.

Today, we can buy khausa from street carts in Karachi, Pakistan and in Gujarat, India, and it has a strong resemblance with Myanmese khao swe.

Could Chiang Mai khao soi (like khausa) also be a derivative of the Myanmese khao swe?

The long intertwined history of Chiang Mai / Lanna kingdom and Burma suggests that it is possibility to explore further.

The Burmese conquered the Lanna kingdom with its capital city Chiang Mai in 1558 and were ousted by the Siamese only in 1775, more than 200 years later.

It cannot be dismissed that khao swe / khao soi could possibly be one of the legacies that the Myanmese left behind in today's Chiang Mai, Thailand.

What we need is evidence that khao swe existed in Burma and the Lanna kingdom (of north Thailand) during this 200 year period.

So many theories but paradoxically, khao soi is not a Yunnan dish even though its origin has always been associated with Yunnan Hui people in Chiang Mai. Personally, I am still looking for information and evidence. In the meantime, I find the intriguing Malay connection rather appealing.