It Makes a Tiger Cry : In Thailand’s Isaan cooking hits L.A.

In English, seua rong hai means “it makes a tiger cry.” The phrase is the sobriquet of a fiercely spicy dish from Isaan --Thailand’s rural northeastern region. Seua rong hai typifies the bold, pungent flavors of Isaan regional cooking, which lately has become wildly popular among foodies in Bangkok.

Now Isaan cuisine (pronounced ee-SAHN )has begun to show up on this side of the Pacific Rim. Outside of Thailand itself, Southern California may be the only place with several restaurants specializing in northeastern Thai dishes.

Isaan food is dramatically different from the palace-influenced, central-style cuisine most Americans know as Thai . The familiar mee krob --stuffed, deep-fried chicken wings--or complex coconut-milk-based curries are far more elaborate than rustic, uncomplicated Isaan dishes. Isaan cooks transform their limited range of ingredients into glorious fusions of taste and texture: Meats are simply charcoal-grilled--or even served raw--and accompanied by fiery dipping sauces. Or they are sliced and tossed with chile and lime into fresh herb-filled salads.

The people who first brought Isaan food to Bangkok were the northeastern rice farmers whose fortunes depend on the region’s dusty soil and temperamental monsoon rains. Between the planting and harvest seasons, the farmers would come to the city to work as tuck tuck drivers (3-wheeled open taxis), domestics or some form of menial labor. Others set up shop as food vendors that catered, at first, to other workers from the region.

Gradually, certain side streets in Bangkok became known for the enticing smell of grilling kai yang -- Isaan -style chicken--wafting from outdoor stalls. The stalls attracted college students, cabbies and anyone seeking a supremely tasty meal for small change. Now those students are Thai yuppies and they’ve brought this regional fare uptown. And here in Los Angeles, Isaan’s future looks bright.

In Bangkok . . .

The tiny stalls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants serving Isaan food have recently been joined by chic dining spots. Among these, I - sarn Classic, a five-branch Bangkok restaurant chain has created upscale versions of the now-famous street stalls. Cooks do the grilling in a glassed-in “open” kitchen in the center of each restaurant. Two large fish tanks hold lively freshwater prawns and a waiter scoops them out for each order. These will be grilled or served raw as koong ten , “dancing shrimp” with a chile-lime juice sauce.

The grills are always consumed with additional fresh herbs (served on the side) and glutinous or “sticky” rice, which diners roll into little balls and eat with their fingers. These rice balls are wonderful for sopping up sauces or picking up morsels of food.

My favorite dish here is larb pet , a salad of chopped lean duck meat freckled with fresh herbs and minced chile, scorching but wonderful--especially when alternated with bites of sticky rice. Larb , the signature dish of the region, whether it’s made from duck, fish or meat, is always flavored with lime juice and plenty of dry ground red chiles. The distinctive larb flavor comes from roasted ground rice powder, a characteristic ingredient in northeastern cooking.

Menus written in English are available here, though sometimes you have to ask for one. The Silom Road branch opens onto the street, providing a front-row view of the activities in this lively shopping area.

I-sarn Classic 1, 154/809 Silom Road, (across from Silom Plaza), 235-1087; 2. Ploenchit Arcade, 253-4943; 3 Soi Chok-Chai, Lardphrao Road, 539-0782.

Another of Bangkok’s newer Isaan spots, Sara-Jane’s Larb Langsuan, is tucked out of sight on the chic Soi Langsuan among the mansions and members-only clubs. It has a huge following. The restaurant and its two branches are owned by an American woman and her Thai husband. Both English and Thai menus offer a fairly basic selection of Isaan dishes--nothing as exotic as larb pet , for example. What draws the crowds are the various grilled meats and a delicious smokey version of kai yang accompanied by sweet, only slightly hot, dipping sauce. You can also get a wonderful lime-drenched squid salad, a bamboo shoot salad, Isaan -style som tam --the local version of shredded green papaya salad--and the regional oxtail soup.

Sara-Jane’s Larb Langsuan, 36/2 Soi Langsuan, Ploenchit Road, 252-6572; or 1/2-5 Soi Rang Nam, Phayathai Road; or 453 Soi Sirijulsawek, Silom Rd.

Festooned with lights, Larb Nikkomakasan is a huge open restaurant where several charcoal grills are kept busy. It is a place designed for serious eating, not style, and boasts the largest variety of Isaan dishes in Bangkok.

Nikkomakasan’s grilled offerings are authentic. They include eel, frog’s legs and other foods more readily available in the northeast than beef. Our waiter asked us if we wanted our larb “hot, medium or mild,” a question, I understand, not reserved for tourists. Determined to keep this an authentic meal, we ordered Isaan fresh-water fish soup--river and lake fish being mainstays in the non-coastal northeast. The soup, brought in one of those chimney pots with burning charcoal in the center, was heaped with meaty fish chunks, sweet shrimps and tiny river crabs, all infused with the zing of lemon grass and Thai lime leaves. Our squid “salad” was remarkably good though it was simply a plate of naked grilled squid strips, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes accompanied by a splendid hot-sweet-sour red pepper dipping sauce. The unassuming combination of perfectly matched salty, hot and cooling flavors confirms the irresistible appeal of Isaan ‘s simplicity.

Larb Nikkomakasan, 2451 New Petchburi Road (near Soi Ekamai), 318-2060, or 318-2062.

Isaan’s Kitchen, a simple, white-plastered dining room in the fancy Sukumvit Road district (where you’re likely to find as many expatriates as Thais), had no English menu. But the Chinese-Thai owner was able to explain the dishes to me and he said an English menu was forthcoming. From som tam poo (spicy green papaya and crab salad) to yam pla duk (deep-fried catfish salad) or neua yang (grilled beef served with dipping sauce), most offerings are no more than 30 baht (about $1.20 U.S.). A few seafood items-- koong pla (rare shrimp salad) or hoi klang (a grilled shellfish)--are just slightly more. Two people could indulge in a substantial feast with drinks for about $6.

Isaan’s Kitchen,, 3/7-9 Soi 24, Sukumvit Road, 258-6314.