You've Never Had Chicken and Rice Like This

If there were ever an example of the transformative power of a capable cook and quality ingredients, it's the chicken and rice dish known as khao man gai.

Think about it: chicken and rice is about as bland as can be. You feed it to your dog, or a child stricken with norovirus to keep them from ruining your carpets. It's a dish that, in almost every incarnation, is completely devoid of flavor.

Not here. A staple of food carts in Thailand, khao man gai literally translates as "chicken fat rice." That's truly all it is, and yet it has the power to pack exponential levels of flavor, like some kind of chicken-y thermal detonator.

Portland's Nong Poonsukwattana, owner of Nong's Khao Man Gai, spent weeks taste-testing varieties of rice and chicken before settling on the ones that worked perfectly for her. And with that recipe, a wildly popular small empire of two food carts, a food truck, and a restaurant was born. "Anyone can make pizza," [Nong says](How%20Portland's Thai Food Queen Turned a Cart from Craigslist into an Empire), likening her dish to the American staple. "But for the good pizza, there's a line."

Good thing that she isn't selfish. Nong, a protégé of Pok Pok's Andy Ricker, is more than happy to share her recipe with the likes of us.

But do her a solid: Don't use crappy chicken or discount rice. With a dish this simple, you're going to taste all of the ingredients—so they'd better taste good to begin with.