Beyond Pho and Pad Thai: Southeast Asian Dishes You Should Try
- Kieran Heng
- Mar 19
- 7 min read
“So.. what’s good? What should we get here?”
“Oh you should definitely try the Char Kuey Teow!”
“Cool. What’s that?”
“Ummm… it’s kinda like Pad See Ew”
“Say that again?”
“Pad See Ew?”
“No clue.”
“Ah. Well it’s like Pad Thai but with thicker noodles.”
“Oh! I like Pad Thai.”
This was a conversation I had with friends over dinner at Nyonya, a Malaysian restaurant. The day before, the four of us ordered four bowls of Pho at Hello Saigon because we feared embarrassing ourselves with our pronunciation of the other dishes. Fortunately, my friend said he liked this mysterious new dish that I definitely did not force him to order. But all this made me wonder: why are these same few popular Thai and Vietnamese dishes always at the forefront when we think of Southeast Asian food?
I did some detective work (doomscrolling on google maps) and noticed that there are significantly more Thai and Vietnamese restaurants in the city. But, why? I dug deeper by google searching “Why are there so many ______ (thai/vietnamese) restaurants?”, and the reasons were surprisingly interesting. For Thai cuisine, its popularity is credited to the Thai government’s “Global Thai Program” to market their country through food. As for Vietnamese cuisine, the primary reason was stated as vast flows of immigration after the fall of Saigon during the Vietnam war.
Those were cool rabbit holes for sure. But as a Singaporean, all I was thinking was “What about us and our food?”. When I first got to New York, I was definitely happy to see that there was no shortage of Singaporean restaurants, but also unhappy to discover that half of these restaurants described themselves as Singaporean-Malaysian-Thai fusion. Singapore and Malaysia? Sure. But Thai? That’s a step too far. My bias is probably showing here, but you can distinguish the melting pot of Chinese, Malay, and Indian influences in Singaporean and Malaysian food from the distinctive spiciness and sourness of traditional Thai dishes.
To make deciding what to order at these restaurants, beyond just Pad Thai, a little less daunting, here’s a rundown of some other Southeast Asian cuisines you can find in New York, along with dishes I think you should try!
🇸🇬 Singaporean Cuisine
What is Singapore’s national dish? Even as a Singaporean, I’m always stumped when it comes to answering this question. As a small yet diverse country, our cuisine has Chinese, Malay, Indian, and even “Western” influences, and you can often find dozens of these varied dishes under one roof at our hawker centers, which are basically government-established food courts of former street food vendors. Given that, it’s hard enough already to decide what to get for lunch, let alone pick a national dish when there isn’t an official one! That being said, here are two of the most popular mentions:
Hainanese Chicken Rice
This dish can be found in almost every hawker center, coffee shop (smaller neighborhood hawker centers), or food court (air-conditioned hawker centers in shopping malls) in Singapore. It sounds simple and maybe not that appetizing: poached (boiled) chicken over a bed of rice cooked in chicken broth. But trust me, it is surprisingly packed with flavor, because the hours of steaming the chicken and cooking the rice in chicken broth and aromatics cause the ginger, garlic, and green onions to seep into the dish. If that’s not enough, dip your chicken or drown your rice in any of the three sauces – a spicy garlic chilli sauce, a fragrant ginger scallion sauce, or sweet dark soy sauce. A southeast asian alternative to New York’s beloved halal cart chicken over rice!
Where to try: Lou Yau Kee, 124 E 14th St, New York, NY 10003 (Floor 1, Urbanspace food hall)
Lou Yau Kee Storefront (Courtesy of Kieran Heng) Lemon fried chicken rice & Roasted chicken rice (Courtesy of Kieran Heng)
Kaya Toast
So that’s lunch and dinner settled. What’s for breakfast, then? Kaya Toast is just as, if not more, ubiquitous as chicken rice. You may find some without a chicken rice stall, but every hawker center has a drinks stall, and almost every drinks stall sells a “Kaya Toast set” which includes two slices of Kaya Toast, two soft boiled eggs, and kopi (coffee) or teh (tea). So, what is Kaya Toast? When my roommate first saw it, he remarked: “Ooh, avocado toast?”. Sure, kaya is a thick, creamy, almost paste-like bright green spread, but that’s where the similarities end. It is a sweet jam made out of pandan leaves, coconut milk, and eggs. In between two slices of toasted bread, it is usually paired with butter to add some saltiness. Some swear by dipping the toast into the soft boiled eggs, others see it as blasphemy. I say: do what you like! Just try it first.
Where to get it: Kopitiam, 151 E Broadway, New York, NY 10002
Left to Right: Kaya Toast from Kopitiam (Courtesy of Darrell Loo), Kaya Toast (Top left) catered from Kopitiam for Singapore Student Association events (Courtesy of Ranveer Nalwa), Homemade Kaya Toast with soft-boiled eggs and Teh Tarik (Courtesy of Kieran Heng)
🇲🇾 Malaysian Cuisine
A favorite topic of discussion or possible debate between Singapore and our neighbor, Malaysia, is who has the better food. The two were once the same country, and as much as I hate to admit it, share very similar cuisines. After all, the dishes I will write about below are also found everywhere in Singapore. Many Singaporeans make the trip across the border for a day to take advantage of the exchange rates and have their local favorites at cheaper prices.
Nasi Lemak
Often referred to as the national dish of Malaysia, Nasi Lemak consists of coconut (milk) rice at its center, surrounded by sambal (a dark reddish prawn chilli paste), fried anchovies, peanuts, cucumbers, a hard boiled egg, and oftentimes with a choice of protein; usually fried chicken or fish. To me, the creamy, slightly sweet coconut rice together with the spicy sambal are the stars of the show, which was why I was deeply saddened when I ordered it at Nyonya and it came without the sambal. A modern day tragedy.
Where to try: Nyonya, 199 Grand St, New York, NY 10013
Char Kway Teow
It’s time to redeem myself and give a better description of this dish than “it’s like pad see ew which is like pad thai but the noodles are thicker”. Honestly, that description wasn’t even that accurate: the flat rice noodles are thicker than in pad thai, but slightly thinner than those in pad see ew. Like pad thai, it is more commonly made with prawns and beansprouts, but its flavor profile feels more similar to pad see ew. Regardless, if you love smokey, stir fried noodle dishes, this is a must try!
Where to try: Laut, 15 E 17th St, New York, NY 10003
If that isn’t enough, trust this review by my girlfriend and fellow Singaporean and follow her Beli account:
🇮🇩 Indonesian Cuisine
Despite being the largest and most populous country in Southeast Asia, I ran into far more difficulty finding Indonesian restaurants. Which is a pity, because one of my favorite dishes ever is an Indonesian dish. And no, it’s not Indonesia’s most famous instant noodle export, Indomie.
Ayam Penyet
The dish I was searching for. Apart from two restaurants in Elmhurst, there was also a stall in Urban Hawker, a Southeast Asian food hall in midtown, which Google Maps claimed sold it. Sadly, it did not. Ayam Penyet is literally translated as “smashed fried chicken”. An entire chicken leg is pounded with a pestle and mortar, deep fried, and served with rice, sambal, fried tofu, cucumbers, and lettuce. This technique tenderizes the chicken. The crispy flakes topping the chicken are so good that, if I had no self-control, I'd eat them on their own.
Nasi Goreng
Widely considered Indonesia’s national dish, nasi goreng means “fried rice” in Bahasa. It is also commonly found in Malaysia and Singapore. In all three countries, it is made with Kecap Manis, a sweeter, thicker dark soy sauce, as well as shrimp paste and often chillis. This results in a sweeter and spicier taste and a darker brown color compared to Chinese fried rice. You can even order a Nasi Goreng Ayam Penyet, a dream combination for me but probably not so much for my heart.
Where to try:
Awang Kitchen, 8405 Queens Blvd Ste 1C, Elmhurst, NY 11373
Asian Taste 86, 8610 Whitney Ave, Elmhurst, NY 11373
🇵🇭 Filipino Cuisine
Despite living a three hour flight away for two decades of my life, I’d never tried Filipino food aside from Jollibee until less than a week ago. And in fact, I only tried Jollibee after coming to New York. From the one time I’ve had it though, I feel like I can say that Filipino cuisine definitely feels the most unique, compared to the multitudes of overlaps between Singaporean, Malaysian, and even Indonesian cuisine.
Sisig
A sizzling plate of chopped pig’s ears, snout, and liver with onions, garlic and spices, topped with a raw egg to be mixed in. I would not have known to order this dish had it not been the most recommended dish on Google Maps and Beli, but I’m glad I did. It is crispy, juicy, fatty, and a unique and adventurous (at least to me) dish.
Tocino
They sure do love their pork! Tocino is thinly sliced pork marinated in wine, sugar, salt, and spices, then pan-fried, making it crispy and distinctly sweet with a reddish hue on its exterior. The thinness and sweetness made it a good complement to both the salty garlic rice it was served with, as well as the rich, melt in your mouth sisig. Both these dishes were indulgent and satisfying, but in different ways.
Where to try: Grill 21, 346 E 21st St, New York, NY 10010
So, the next time you’re looking for an Asian fix but don’t want the usual Chinese takeout or sushi, why not make full use of New York’s culinary diversity and start by giving these Southeast Asian dishes a shot?
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