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Author Topic: Serving Hmong foods in remote towns feels special or makes one special.  (Read 4681 times)

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East West Kitchen offers best of both

Tuesday February 3, 2015 12:01 AM
By Mary E. Young 
The name of the new restaurant in the Shillington Farmers Market describes the menu perfectly.

Ia Vue opened East West Kitchen in September to serve the best food from both worlds by bringing together her Asian roots and her American upbringing.

"What was here previously was a 'snacky' kind of thing," she said. "I didn't want to get rid of that because of the customers. But I also wanted to introduce new things. If you're adventurous and want to try something different, you can."

Vue said her goal is to offer authentic cultural dishes.

"There's nothing around here that offers that," she said.

Customers will still find the usual American fare on the menu, including pizza, cheeseburgers, veggie burgers, hot dogs, panini sandwiches, soup, fries, soft pretzels and a variety of beverages. The breakfast menu includes platters, omelets and sandwiches.

However, customers also can try Asian dishes that Vue calls "Mom's Favorites" and describes as comfort food.

Among them is chicken or beef laab, a dish popular in Thailand and Laos made with minced chicken or beef, rice powder, fresh lime sauce, Asian herbs, lemon grass and red onions. It's served with a side of rice. She also serves fried rice, lo mein, Thai shrimp salad and egg rolls.

Vue's own creations include specialty rice bowls in a 24- or 12-ounce sizes. She said it's one of the most popular items. She offers a choice of white or brown rice with pork, chicken, beef or tofu.

She adds Chinese broccoli and drizzles three different sauces on the mixture. Then she adds a medium fried egg, crushed peanuts, fried shallots and grated Parmesan cheese.

A sandwich Vue calls a Po' Girl is made with slow-cooked pork seasoned with homemade Asian-style barbecue sauce and topped with a homemade lime Sriracha sauce coleslaw and fresh cilantro. A Korean Bahn Mi sandwich is made with thinly sliced sirloin steak, pickled carrots, daikon radish and cucumber, then topped with cilantro and a special mayonnaise.

On the Eastern breakfast menu are egg rolls with scrambled eggs and a choice of meat and two-egg Asian omelets with chopped green onions, cilantro, sweet chili sauce and a side of white rice.

Vue also has weekly specials. Fish tacos were on the menu board one recent weekend. She uses a citrus marinade with the fish and serves it with a citrus sauce.

Vue said she worked in accounting jobs, but always knew she wanted to open a restaurant.

"I have always had a passion for food," she explained. "The kitchen is like my canvas. I can be creative and come up with new dishes."

The result is the type of food people would have to travel to large cities to find and spend a lot more money on, Vue said.

She describes her Eastern dishes as Asian fusion, a combination of Thai, Korean, Laotian and her own Hmong background.

"I wanted to be different," Vue said. "I wanted to bring what people don't normally get. So far, everyone who's had it has loved it."

Customer Steve Rosario said he eats at East West Kitchen every time he goes to the market.

"You can't get anything like this anywhere," he said. "The flavors are amazing. It's unique: the fusion, the style. It's a different twist. Everything is fresh."

Vue said eventually she would like to hold special events to increase her customer base, add Asian pastries to the menu and then someday relocate her business to a full-service restaurant.

"The sky's the limit," she said.

Meanwhile, the farmers market is a great place to be, Vue said. Customers can get fast takeout service at a counter or be served at a table.

Being a business owner is challenging at times, Vue said.

But rewards come often in the reaction of the customers when they taste the food she has prepared, she said.

"It puts a smile on their faces," Vue said. "When they tell me this is the best food they've had, that to me is satisfying."

Contact Mary Young: [email protected].

- See more at: http://readingeagle.com/money/article/east-west-kitchen-offers-best-of-both#sthash.PQYyxdwT.dpuf

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Lyn Song

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Sound delicious, Lyn hope to dine at this place someday if family ever comes to visit Reading, PA.



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