"Instead of the fresh and vibrant ground meat salad with mint and lime he ate growing up in Bangkok, the style most familiar to American diners, this one was dark and unctuous, with no lime to brighten it. "I sent it back," he says, presuming the kitchen had made a mistake. When it came back unchanged, still redolent of warm, dry spices and no lime or mint, he wasn't mad but inspired:"
"The team spent a chunk of 2025 in Chiang Mai sampling every local dish they could find: khao soi, the coconut milk and curry egg noodle soups; sai oua, a pork sausage scented with galangal and lemongrass; pork and beef curries; fried and grilled chicken; and a lot of som tum, the spicy green papaya salads pounded in a Thai mortar and pestle,"
Akkapong "Earl" Ninsom first encountered Northern Thai larb at Pok Pok in Portland around 2009, finding it dark, unctuous, and lacking lime or mint. He initially sent it back, then felt inspired by the kitchen's refusal to cater to Western palates. Ninsom later partnered with Eric Nelson and Sam Smith on several restaurants. OK Chicken and Khao Soi will open in the former Pok Pok shack with dinner service first, later adding lunch and a late-night fried chicken menu. The team researched Chiang Mai dishes in 2025, sampling khao soi, sai oua, curries, grilled and fried chicken, and som tum.
Read at Portland Monthly
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