Haan Ghin

I was reading my feeds on the train (since I don’t drive, I often am writing posts or reading blogs or links on FB/Twitter/whatever as I commute) and came across the Oregonions’ article on Portland’s Top 10 new food cartsof 2014. That’s where I learned about a food cart that was only a few blocks from me by co-owners Anthony Manivanh and Ann Derryberry, a Laotian little shack/cart right by the PSU Library at SW Park and Harrison.

It’s only open during the daytime and on the weekdays (aka Monday – Fridays 11isham-2:30 or 3pm, which is why I had never been able to visit. When there was one day that I had some online meetings in the morning but no need to be in the office until right after lunch, so I decided to grab some of their food to go on my way in.

Laos is a country just to the east of Thailand, and similar to its other neighbors Burma, Vietnam, and Cambodia but most similar to Thailand. In fact, the two languages are extremely close, but yet have differences. At least, it’s different enough that when I hear the language and sentence structures and see the written language, it is both familiar but I also don’t fully understand. I can read a few of the letters (and fully read the Open sign), but when reading the menu there are letters I just don’t know. Haan sounds like Ah-Haan which is food in Thai, and Ghin means to Eat.

You are going to get the same experience with the food of Haan Ghin – it will be reminiscent of Thai food in some ways, but also new.

The Haan Ghin menu is small, which I take as a sign of expertise. I went with both the Mii Gai and and Laap Gai main dishes.

Mii Gai in both Laos and Thai means Noodles (Mii) and Chicken (Gai). The details are that these are egg noodles with housemade sweet and savory Mii sauce topped with chicken, ong choy, fried garlic/shallots, scallions and crispy chicken skin. I was sorely tempted to pay a mere $1 more for extra chicken skin but wanted to show you what a regular order looks like, so held in my greed. It is a sacrifice I still think about.

I thought that would be my favorite dish. I am a sucker for Southeast Asian noodle dishes, especially if they have egg noodle. But, do not overlook the spicy Laap Gai. This is a dish of minced chicken that you eat in lettuce wraps and can adorn with cucumber, a pinch of sticky rice, and a little scoop of jaew bawng (a dark thick reddish paste made from chiles and galangal root).

Really, just look at those photos, and know that it is as excellent as it looks.

You can find out more about Haan Ghain on their Facebook page or also follow them at @HaanGhin on Twitter