Ticket to Isan — Beyond Somtam & Rediscovering Laab
I don’t eat Thai food in Malaysia but when I came across Homm House n8’ “V3 Tickets To Go Home” menu, I was intrigued.
When you mention Isan food, somtam or green papaya salad comes to my mind. I went to a Northeastern Thai restaurant in Phuket with my colleagues twice and to be honest I did not enjoy it as much because it was very very very pet (spicy in Thai).
There were probably five different somtams on the table and I can tell them apart, visually. But when I eat them, all I could taste was the heat. At one point, it felt like they were plating the same dish in five different ways.
Somtam is not on Homm Houses’ menu so I thought this is a good opportunity to rediscover Isan food and try new Thai dishes. Saw an opening and immediately booked a table for three.
To start, we had Isan fermented pork & rice sausage, rose apple with pickled mustard green and Aunty Koy’s coconut noodles.
When I took the first bite of the sausage, ‘lap cheong’ or Chinese sausage came to my mind. But when it hits my taste buds… Oh my god, what a surprise! It tasted nutty, sweet, smoky with a hint of sourness. And I really like the crunch and the freshness from the rose apple. It balanced the pickled mustard green really well!
The Aunty Koy’s coconut noodles was hands down my favourite dish of the night!! I don’t like to eat peanuts but when it’s in a sauce form, take my money!! I love peanut sauce (especially with noodles) a little too much and I’ll never get tired of it. The prawn too was cooked perfectly, juicy and flavourful *insert chef kiss*.
The night before the dinner, my friend Kim and I were discussing what drinks to bring for the meal. (They only serve water and we are free to BYO). I was thinking to bring green tea, you know…to make me feel better about having a big meal but I was worried that the food might be spicy and the temperature of my tea might induce more heat.
In the end I settled with an ideal temperature of 60°C (so that’s its still a warm drink and yet will not trigger the tongue to feel more heat) Wang Lao Ji herbal tea. Kim on the other hand came prepared for the heat with soymilk, which proved to be very useful! (not advertisement )
For mains, we had dishes to share paired with sticky rice. The first dish that caught my attention was Laap Pla (Isan smoked fish salad with fresh herbs). My experience with laap previously was not great. Due to my low spice tolerance, laap usually taste very one dimensional to me — very very pet.
But this one right here… it made me question, what is laap? Baby don’t hurt my, don’t hurt me, no more. It was layers of flavours, you can taste the smokiness, perfect touch of spice and umami. Fish sauce is magic! Can I get an amen?
See that tomato chilli relish right there? This goes so well with the deep fried pork skin as it cuts off all the greasiness. It is spicy but also refreshing and I would love to have this with nachos!
Another highlight of the night is the pork ribs sour soup. When you use pork ribs for soup, sometimes~ the ribs will end up dry and tasteless. But this soup, the ribs were tender and flavourful. And the soup… it was spicy, sour, hot…its irresistible because it was so appetising!
(this is also when I start to drink more and more water haha)
Next, we have a generous portion of assorted grills. The protein were cooked to perfection. It’s juicy, flavourful and the dipping sauce pairs so well with it like bread and butter. For someone who doesn’t eat a lot of meat like me, I was actually taking second and even third servings (and lesser and lesser dipping sauce cause very pet).
And lastly, dessert! On the menu, it says “dessert of the day”. I was secretly hoping for something warm because it was a rainy and cold. Surprise surprise! Dessert was a black glutinous rice with taro, topped with coconut milk . (Think pulut hitam tongsui meets bubur cha cha)
I love how Chef Guggs used salt on the dessert because it really elevates the flavours and gave a nice balance to the rich coconut milk.
Overall, I was very satisfied with the meal. The only setback was that I left my good old umbrella at Homm House №8. I guess that means a second visit when they have a new menu next time?
Also read: Revisiting a Food Memory — The Yam Abacus
