This Asian-cuisine Pop-Up Should Be Hot

My mouth is already watering at the thought of a pop-up next week, which will feature four chefs and four styles of Asian cuisine: Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Laotian.

“There’s a growing number of new generation Asian chef-restaurateurs that grew up in the U.S. who are drawing from their roots and putting out some pretty legit, thoughtful food. So why not have fun with it?” says Andrew Chen of Monkey King Noodle Company, where the pop-up will be held on Wednesday and who hopes this will be the first of a series.

On the menu are hard-to-find cuisines like Lao, underrepresented in Dallas. Two of the chefs have included thoughtful takes for vegetarians and vegans, as well. Lao musubi (cousin to the Hawaiian block-of-Spam-on-bed-of-rice classic) of homemade Lao pork sausage on sticky rice served with smoked eggplant dip, tripe chicharrones, and vegetables, turns into chickpea and lemongrass patties on sticky rice with white fungus crunchies. And the Lao boat noodles, made with hand-pulled rice noodles, can float with assorted mushrooms and fried tofu instead of pork meatballs and brisket. Even Chen’s brisket burnt-end egg rolls, a whimsical take on a childhood favorite, apparently have a vegan alter-ego. Chalk it up to the new generation of chefs, mixing their roots with the tastes of the current generation.

Whichever choose-your-own-adventure you take, it should be a treat.

What to expect on the menu:

Chef Andrew Chen (Monkey King Noodle Company)

Ketchup fried rice with Hong Kong style sausage
Brisket burnt end egg rolls (vegan egg roll option available)

Chef Donny Sirisavath (Khao Noodle Shop pop up)

Boat Noodles with handmade noodles.
Lao version of musubi. Lao pork sausage with sticky rice, served with a eggplant dip, alongside with tripe rinds and veggies. (Vegetarian version available for both)

Chef Tuan Pham (former Chef of Shinjuku Station, chef of Four Sisters, taste of Vietnam, coming soon to Fort Worth)