Restaurants Archives - eat.vietcariously

I’ve been craving Thai food for weeks and my friend finally said to me, “let’s go!” and we’re off! We normally go to Thai Gourmet to get our fix. It’s one of the popular Thai restaurants in Houston, but sadly they’re closed on Sundays. Then I remembered an article I read back in December via The Houston Eater about a new restaurant opening highlighting northern Thai cuisine, with Executive Chef PJ Stoops at the reins. Chef PJ lived and cooked in northern Thailand for several years and with this under his belt, gave him immediate credibility with me. This also excited me at the same time, as I just returned from a trip to Thailand which I spent a chunk of it in the northern region called Chiang Mai. Since the article, it’s been on my list of places I wanted to check out and what better timing than this. So, we ventured into the Heights and found Foreign Correspondents. At first look, the exterior did not suggest a Thai restaurant whatsoever. My friends looked at me and began to doubt my pick, but they were wrong!

Khao soi - Chiang Mai, Thailand — Khao soi – Chiang Mai, Thailand

The menu placed in front of us was a simple one-sided page with about a little over a dozen entrees. My eyes went straight to a dish called khao soi. Khao soi is a traditional northern Thailand dish – a light coconut milk curry with egg noodle and chicken, typically with a drumstick, topped with crispy fried egg noodles – served with pickled mustard greens, shallots, and onions. In fact, it was one of my first meal I had in Chiang Mai. The young gentlemen in the tour guide shop next to my hotel suggested I try khao soi from this tiny food stand in an alley a few blocks away, which I found with ease. Surprisingly it was a small stall in front of a home with a few tables and a cooking area. Right away, I felt this meal was going to be home cooking at its best. I sat down at the end of a communal table and proceeded to order khao soi and Thai iced tea.

I can smell the khao soi as it made its way to me. The spices were so fragrant I could hardly contain my excitement. When it comes to any type of broth based dish, I like to taste the broth by itself first to truly experience its flavor. I can taste the sweetness of the coconut milk – just a perfect balance with the curry. The egg noodle was cooked just right and the drumstick was tender. I finally squeezed a bit of lime and added the plate of pickled mustard green and shallots to my bowl. Let’s just say that it was love at first bite. I didn’t think all of these different flavors and textures would go so well together but yet again proved me wrong. This was simply delicious.

Khao soi - Pantawan Cooking School in Chiang Mai, Thailand — Khao soi – Pantawan Cooking School in Chiang Mai, Thailand

While in Chiang Mai, I signed up for a cooking class at the Pantawan Cooking School. It wasn’t surprising to see one of the dishes I was going to learn was khao soi. What’s surprising is how many ingredients it took to make such a simple dish. We first made the paste, which is the bulk of the flavor. The paste alone had 9 different ingredients: dried chili, garlic, shallot, turmeric, kaffir lime zest, finger root, lemongrass, shrimp paste, and yellow curry powder. The paste was then added to the coconut milk and chicken stock, seasoned with palm sugar and fish sauce. The curry is poured over the cooked egg noodle and topped with crispy fried egg noodles. The khao soi was so good. This was one of my most favorite experiences in Chiang Mai. I can’t wait to cook this dish for my friends and family in the near future.

Khao soi at Foreign Correspondents -Houston,TX

Fast forward to Foreign Correspondents, I excitedly pointed to khao soi on the menu to my friends and told them this is what I’m going to order. I told them how much I loved it when I was in Chiang Mai and this would be the true test if Foreign Correspondent gets it right. All I have to say is Chef Stoops did an absolutely amazing job staying true to its northern Thailand roots with this dish. It even came with the pickled mustard greens, shallots, and lime. I was in heaven when I took that first bite. It was love all over again. I shared this dish with my friends and loved it so much we ordered a second bowl. My friends ordered chicken curry with rice and the beef waterfall salad, which were all good but didn’t stand out as much as the khao soi did for me.

When you travel to other countries and eat their food, it holds a very special place in your heart. I’m sure the stateside version will never measure up because you’ve experienced its true flavors cooked by the people who invented the dish. For me, this is exactly how I feel about khao soi and thought I would never find the same feelings again, but Foreign Correspondents surprised me. Their dish brought back good memories from my trip to Chiang Mai and I look forward to coming back for more.

Foreign Correspondents

4721 N Main St. Suite A

Houston, TX 77009

(713) 864-8424

Pantawan Cooking School

201 Moo.2 Mae Hia Muang, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Tel: (66) 85 032 2007

Tel: (66) 53 111 274

pantawancooking@gmail.com

www.pantawancooking.com

Nothing brings me warmth like a traditional Vietnamese family-style dining. I was invited to share this wonderful meal with my dear friend, Fiona and her family, this past weekend at Thuan Kieu Com Tam. This Houston establishment is known for their rice dishes and family-style entrees. All of my childhood favorites were ordered. Pictured above, clockwise from the top left is steamed chicken with ginger fish sauce, eggrolls, spring rolls, caramelized catfish in a clay pot, lotus stem salad, and in the center we have sweet & sour catfish soup.

As the waiter continued to bring out each dish, I was flooded with very fond memories of what it was like at the dinner table in my family’s home. Each dish had a special memory in my heart and I’m so grateful to get to experience this thousand of miles away from home with wonderful people I’ve met that I have come to see as my own family. We talked and laughed heartily as we shared our stories while taking bites in between. No dish was left untouched. We couldn’t stop eating, as we kept asking for our bowl to be filled over and over again with rice.

My favorite dish is the caramelized catfish in a clay pot, cá kho tộ. This is simply catfish braised in a clay pot with garlic, shallots, fish sauce, soy sauce, coconut juice, seasoned with fresh ground pepper, garnished with fried pork fat and sliced chili for heat. Growing up, I had a traumatic incident with a fish bone stuck in my throat, so I refused to eat fish for a good part of my childhood into my adult years. The dark caramelized sauce of the dish didn’t help the cause as I feared it was hiding those pesky bones and I was determined not to be a victim again. Fast forward to five years ago, I decided to give it another try and let’s just say it was heaven. Now, I can’t get enough of it! Soon, I’ll have to share my dad’s cá kho tộ recipe with you.

No Asian meal is complete without soup! One of the most popular and common soup you’ll find at any Vietnamese household is sweet and sour catfish soup, canh chua cá. This soup is tamarind-based with shallots, garlic, lemongrass, catfish, pineapple, tomato, bean sprouts, taro stems, and rice paddy herb. My favorite ingredient is bac ha or Vietnamese taro stems, the green spongy looking plant on top in the picture to the right. I love how it absorbs the soup and a bite of it is an amazing explosion of sweet and sour in your mouth.

Stir-fry water spinach with garlic, rau muống xào tỏi, is a simple and easy dish to whip up in minutes. The crunchy stem is the best part! My mom loves to cook this dish with an extra ingredient, fermented bean curd. The bean curd gives it an extra earthy flavor that I love to eat it with rice.

Pork and shrimp lotus stem salad, gỏi ngó sen tôm thịt, is super refreshing. It is a variety of thinly shaved cucumbers, carrots, onions, and lotus stems tossed in a citrus fish sauce garnished with crushed peanuts and coriander leaves. This is a staple favorite at family gatherings and we often eat it with shrimp chips.

Who doesn’t love a good egg roll? These were perfectly seasoned and fried to a golden brown. It was great to see it come with a variety of herbs for wrapping and dipping into the accompanied fish sauce. Egg rolls are on top of the list of foods at every Asian party I’ve been to.

Steamed chicken with ginger, gà hấp gừng, is nothing special in itself, but the ginger fish sauce dip takes this dish to a whole different level. There must be a good balance of ginger in the fish sauce to elevate the basic flavor of the chicken. Too much ginger will overpower it. You can tell from the texture of the chicken it’s fresh and not frozen, which is a huge plus in my books. The ginger fish sauce from Thuan Kieu Com Tam is nicely done. Good enough for me to buy a small bottle to take home.

I love to eat spring rolls!!! I can eat it every day if I could. There are so many types of spring rolls, but one of my favorites is bò bía. Bò Bía is made of several key ingredients: jicama, carrots, Chinese sausage, fried egg, dried shrimp, lettuce, and herbs. The julienne jicama and carrots are slightly stir-fry with garlic. It is then placed on a bed of lettuce and herbs topped with thinly sliced fried egg and Chinese sausage, wrapped in rice paper. Of course, you can’t forget the peanut dipping sauce! The peanut sauce was thick at Thuan Kieu Com Tam and not how I preferably like it, but it was nonetheless good.

I left Thuan Kieu Com Tam with a full belly and happily satisfied. I feel so lucky to be surrounded by good food and good company, which are the two must-have things in my life.

Thuan Kieu Com Tam: 10792 Bellaire Blvd – Houston, TX 77072 – (281) 988-8865

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