Dining Kantoke Style in Chiang Mai

Khantoke dinner
The word "Khantoke" is a local dialect compound noun for a kind of wooden serving tray. It stands on legs about 50cm high and is usually lacquered for effect. The tray and the height are tailored to fit the traditional Khantoke eating positions, which are the cross-legged "lotus" position for the men and legs folded to one side for women.

According to Lanna culture (and many other places in Asia) these are considered polite sitting positions. Sound like you need to be double jointed to enjoy a Khantoke dinner? Don't worry, the positions are very easy to attain, and if you have any difficulty then chairs are readily available. Luckily, the modern Khantoke experience takes into account that westerners might not be as supple as their Thai counterparts.

Khantoke Food
On the Khantoke tray you will find such delights as mixed vegetable curry, a Burmese style pork curry, northern Thai style pork sausage, pork rinds, minced pork with chili dip, and no Khantoke dinner would be complete without the famous lahb khua (roasted mince pork or beef) served with mixed vegetables.

Now, that little lot might strike you as being highly carnivorous, and it is, but nevertheless it's the traditional regional fare and is worth trying at least once. It tastes really good. The dishes are served with sticky rice, which is eaten with the fingers.

Also on offer are various "sweety stuffs", usually made with rice of some form of natural filling, such as beans or coconut. (You'd be amazed at how many different forms rice can take.)

And for the really adventurous there are banana leaves filled with a kind of tobacco to chew on, usually taken before or after the main meal, so leave the nicotine patches at home.

On the Side
But the traditional edibles are only a part of it: what makes a Khantoke dinner really worth checking out are the various live performances that take place while you eat. There's the Nail dance, the sword dance, the Maiden's dance and a number of ethnic hill tribe dances, all accompanied by strange yet pleasing music.

Khantoke dinners happen on a daily basis and attending one is easy to arrange. See your hotel staff for details.