Nongs Khao Man Gai Portland Oregon | Hainanese Chicken Food Truck

Nongs Khao Man Gai Portland is a food truck turned restaurant in Oregon. Not only is the food delicious, it has comes with a heartwarming story. Owner and Chef, Nong Poonsukwattana arrived in the US from Bangkok, Thailand with just $70 and two suitcases. Learning to cook from her mother at an young age, she worked at various Thai restaurants (including Pok Pok) until she saved just enough money to open the Nongs Khao Man Gai food cart in 2009. It shows that hard work and dedication pays off.

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Order from the counter and seat yourself. There is tea, garlic and hot sauce available on the side. If there is one thing to try here is their Khao Man Gai Chicken and Rice (no kidding right?) Also, place a double on the fried chicken skin. Super limited and always sells out.

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Khao Man Gai is Thailand’s version of the Chinese Hainanese Chicken. Like Thailand cuisine, flavors are bold and powerful. The sauce is more pungent.

The free range chicken gets infused with garlic, shallot, galangal, and pandan leaves. Fat is rendered for cooking the rice later. The chicken then gets poached in water with ginger, pandan leaves and more garlic. The chicken stock is super concentrated after cooking many chickens. This gets used in both cooking the rice and also for the soup that is served with your Khao Man Gai chicken rice.

The result? The chicken is soft, moist and tender. The rice with an aromatic fat infusion of super chicken stock.

In the summer or when the weather is nice, there are tables outside to sit at.

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