Northern Thailand

Several recorded northern Thai local dishes include 『苦い（ขม、コム）』 (in translation: "bitter [khom]") in their names. According to its description, the cultural program 『ครัวหลังเขา ต้มขม(ลีซู)』 (in translation: "Kitchen Behind the Mountain: Bitter Soup (Lisu)"), broadcast in 2017, documented food culture in a northern Thai highland community; its title includes 『ลีซู（リス）』 (in translation: "Lisu"). The description does not establish a specific village or province. Likewise, 『ลาบขม（ラープコム）』 (in translation: "larb khom [bitter larb]") appears as 『ลาบขม หรือ ลาบแป้』 (in translation: "larb khom or larb pae") in a local-food record registered by the Phrae Provincial Cultural Office on May 4, 2020. This establishes that it is an officially recognized dish name at least in that province.

Multiple local-food records survive from Phrae Province within northern Thailand. As noted, the Phrae Provincial Cultural Office registered 『ลาบขม หรือ ลาบแป้』 (in translation: "larb khom or larb pae") as a local dish, and both posting and approval were made under the provincial office’s name. A nonformal education institution (กศน.) in Ban Kwang, Sung Men District, Phrae Province, also published instructions for 『ส้าจิ๊น（サージン）』 (in translation: "sa jin") on a regional-information page. Each is a record from a single local institution; these sources do not justify generalizing distribution or recognition across all of northern Thailand.

Beyond dish names, taxonomic records also exist for plants used in cooking. A 2009 scholarly paper identified the spice plant locally called 『マカーウェン』 (in translation: "ma-kwaen") as Zanthoxylum myriacanthum from specimens collected at elevations of 920–1,200 meters in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Nan provinces, distinguishing it from 3 other Zanthoxylum spice species in northern Thailand. This was a morphological and taxonomic study, with only limited detail on culinary use.