When I moved away, my world changed. When I came to Las Cruces four years ago my idea of food changed too, especially after I started writing about food for the Sun-News. With all the different people suddenly around me, there came different foods; and a whole other world of Asian food.
Exploring all parts of Asia is great. It's not just greasy noodles or fried pork, it's peanuts, squid, raw fish and mind-blowing soup.
Here's a quick tour of Asia right here in Las Cruces:
Japan -- Sushi! I remember the first time I had sushi. It was at a Chinese buffet and I think something was wrong with it (I'm looking at you, Farmington). It was extremely fishy and gross. I spit it out and couldn't see how people could eat that crap. I decided to give it another chance, this time at the Empire Buffet. I heard a lot of good things about it and I saw how popular it was. I started with the California roll and it was fine. It was great! Over time, I got bolder and tried nigiri and temaki sushi with all kinds of large pieces of raw fish at Tokyo Sushi and Katana. I think I want sushi for lunch...
The Las Cruces roll at Katana has a whole chile relleno in it!
Korea -- Kim-Chi House is about a year old and, boy, I'm I glad they moved in. It's where I discovered kimchi, a fermented vegetable side dish that I could easily make into my main dish. Kimchi, after all, is one of the worlds best foods. I don't know why I didn't like it when I first tried it. But I came back and tried it again and now it's one of my favorite things. The meats here are great too. They're grilled and marinated in a special, tangy ginger sauce and it usually comes with kimchi, rice and wontons. Even the Ramen noodle soup is one of the best dishes I've had in a while. It's spicy and has vegetables and a mix of other spices that takes a $.15 package of noodles to another level. Kim-Chi House is one of my favorite restaurants in Las Cruces.
Spicy Ramen at Kim-Chi is awesome! especially with kimchi.
Thailand -- Thai Delights serves up a great pad Thai noodle dish. The mix of peanuts and special spices is wonderful; so much better than buffet noodles. There used to be a restaurant called Bann Thai -- it's now out of business. I tried it once and wanted to visit again, but it quickly closed. I tried the Pannang Curry there and it blew my mind. It had coconut milk, lemongrass, chile and vegetables. It was one of the best things I ate. And curry remains one of my favorite dishes.
Pad Thai at Thai Delights is great! We ordered it for the office once.
Vietnam -- Pho Saigon and A Dong restaurants are right on par with each other and you're not going to hear anything different from me. I think Las Cruces needed another Vietnamese restaurant to make more bowls of pho. I remember my first time at Pho Saigon: I tried the egg rolls and was expecting a fried one. They brought me a weird looking spring roll and I was confused. But I gave it a try and I'm hooked. I don't go to a Vietnamese restaurant without starting with spring rolls.
Spring rolls at A Dong are made with mint.
Asian food is the most complex world cuisine. Ingredients are mixed and cooked in a way that's totally unrecognizable. And that's a good thing. Unlike the buffet, it's so fresh and there's so much variety. I never knew peanuts could be used that way. I never knew fish sauce was that good. I never knew how hot wasabi was. Ginger? I hated it, now I love it. Bean paste, sesame seeds, mint, cilantro, eggs and onions. Even what they describe as a "poor man's dish" is a simple yet an unbelievably tasty meal. I know I'm just commenting on the tip of the ice burg here, but that's the great thing about it: there's still a lot more to explore!
(Gosh, the food in that part of New Mexico, where I grew up, was bad)
So I hardly ever visit the Chinese buffet any more. The last time I went there, it was OK. Now I crave specifics. "I want Korean food today." "I feel like some soup, I want pho."
Photos by Andi Murphy
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