Chiang Rai offers many culinary surprises, ranging from unusual local food to adaptations of Asian dishes. Serendipity will be well remunerated here. The night market is the best place for that, but surprises wait in many local eateries: the smaller and less advertised the place is, the better chance you have to find a pot of gold.
Kong Ne Restaurant is located in front of Top Charoen Optical, close to the terminal, and serves Khao Kriab Paak Moh, an exceptional local dish that I could not spot elsewhere. Thai dishes names usually refer to their method of preparation and their main ingredients. In this case, it means steamed rice butter with pork filling. From afar, it reminds a common dumpling, but a closer look will excite all your senses. The perceptibly thin coating looks liquid -- I wondered which kind of force held the structure together -- and has a weak bluish hue, a fragile, liquid blue with the emotional strength of an electric one. The product is appealingly prepared in front of your eyes over two bowls, with boiling water working in parallel. One of the bowls is covered with a cloth, over which a thin layer of rice flour is poured and then covered with a conical metallic cover. While this one is cooking, the second one is opened. The ready circular, thin pancake is cut in half, and in each half a small amount of shredded pork is placed. Afterwards, each half pancake is then folded into an irregular shape. They are served with garlic and coconut cream on top and fresh vegetables at their side. These delicate, highly esthetical dumplings are one of the best Thai dishes I ever tasted. Curious about their hue, I approached the chef, and she proudly showed me small, dark blue flowers that are added to the flour.