Thursday, July 25, 2013

Asian food

I grew up on the Navajo Nation reservation and in a small town that has a population of about 3,000. There are no restaurants and the food in the city where we did most of our shopping and eating out was not really so good (I say this because food everywhere else is just so much better). My idea of Asian food was the Chinese buffet; fried rice, fried noodles, breaded chicken and sweet sauces galore.

When I moved away, my world changed. When I came to Las Cruces four years ago my idea of food changed too, especially after I started writing about food for the Sun-News. With all the different people suddenly around me, there came different foods; and a whole other world of Asian food.

Exploring all parts of Asia is great. It's not just greasy noodles or fried pork, it's peanuts, squid, raw fish and mind-blowing soup.

Here's a quick tour of Asia right here in Las Cruces:
Japan -- Sushi! I remember the first time I had sushi. It was at a Chinese buffet and I think something was wrong with it (I'm looking at you, Farmington). It was extremely fishy and gross. I spit it out and couldn't see how people could eat that crap. I decided to give it another chance, this time at the Empire Buffet. I heard a lot of good things about it and I saw how popular it was. I started with the California roll and it was fine. It was great! Over time, I got bolder and tried nigiri and temaki sushi with all kinds of large pieces of raw fish at Tokyo Sushi and Katana. I think I want sushi for lunch...

 The Las Cruces roll at Katana has a whole chile relleno in it!

Korea -- Kim-Chi House is about a year old and, boy, I'm I glad they moved in. It's where I discovered kimchi, a fermented vegetable side dish that I could easily make into my main dish. Kimchi, after all, is one of the worlds best foods. I don't know why I didn't like it when I first tried it. But I came back and tried it again and now it's one of my favorite things. The meats here are great too. They're grilled and marinated in a special, tangy ginger sauce and it usually comes with kimchi, rice and wontons. Even the Ramen noodle soup is one of the best dishes I've had in a while. It's spicy and has vegetables and a mix of other spices that takes a $.15 package of noodles to another level.  Kim-Chi House is one of my favorite restaurants in Las Cruces.

Spicy Ramen at Kim-Chi is awesome! especially with kimchi. 

Thailand -- Thai Delights serves up a great pad Thai noodle dish. The mix of peanuts and special spices is wonderful; so much better than buffet noodles. There used to be a restaurant called Bann Thai -- it's now out of business. I tried it once and wanted to visit again, but it quickly closed. I tried the Pannang Curry there and it blew my mind. It had coconut milk, lemongrass, chile and vegetables. It was one of the best things I ate. And curry remains one of my favorite dishes.

Pad Thai at Thai Delights is great! We ordered it for the office once. 

Vietnam -- Pho Saigon and A Dong restaurants are right on par with each other and you're not going to hear anything different from me. I think Las Cruces needed another Vietnamese restaurant to make more bowls of pho. I remember my first time at Pho Saigon: I tried the egg rolls and was expecting a fried one. They brought me a weird looking spring roll and I was confused. But I gave it a try and I'm hooked. I don't go to a Vietnamese restaurant without starting with spring rolls. 

Spring rolls at A Dong are made with mint.

Asian food is the most complex world cuisine. Ingredients are mixed and cooked in a way that's totally unrecognizable. And that's a good thing. Unlike the buffet, it's so fresh and there's so much variety. I never knew peanuts could be used that way. I never knew fish sauce was that good. I never knew how hot wasabi was. Ginger? I hated it, now I love it. Bean paste, sesame seeds, mint, cilantro, eggs and onions. Even what they describe as a "poor man's dish" is a simple yet an unbelievably tasty meal. I know I'm just commenting on the tip of the ice burg here, but that's the great thing about it: there's still a lot more to explore!

(Gosh, the food in that part of New Mexico, where I grew up, was bad)

So I hardly ever visit the Chinese buffet any more. The last time I went there, it was OK. Now I crave specifics. "I want Korean food today." "I feel like some soup, I want pho."

Photos by Andi Murphy