This dish (Khao Soi Recipe) takes us back in time to the mid-19th century. The trade caravans were trailing the jungles of northern Thailand along the ancient routes between India and China. Those long caravans were carrying wealth of exotic goods, leaving rich aroma of spices and the sweet scent of opium as they passed.
The men on this long line of between fifty and one hundred mules would be Yunnanese Muslim Chinese, who dominated the trade routes and began to settle in Chiang Mai and the main towns of north Thailand at that time.
The Yunnanese, or the Ho people (จีนฮ่อ) as they generally called, were referring to themselves as ‘haan jeuu yen’ (หานจื้อเย่น) and ‘yuunnaan yuuh’ (ยูนนานเย่อ). They established settlements, build Mosques and opened Halal restaurants were fellow Muslim traders could spend the night indoors and exchange latest information and news with other caravan traders over cooked halal dinner.