'You could say that khao soi is in our blood," laughs Chiang Mai native Wilaiwan Petsophonsakul of her city's signature dish, an ambrosial medley of flat, yellow egg noodles and chicken, beef or pork in a coconut milk-based red curry soup.

The concoction is crowned with crunchy, deep-fried noodles and cilantro leaves, drizzled with rich coconut cream, and served with sliced shallots, lime, pickled mustard and a sweet-hot chili sauce called nam prik paow.

Khao soi is so closely identified with Chiang Mai that it sometimes appears on overseas Thai menus simply as "Chiang Mai noodle." Yet the dish isn't local at all, but a fusionist creation abetted by migration and entrepreneurial ingenuity.

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Robyn Eckhardt is a writer based in Kuala Lumpur.