One Great Dish: Tom Sab Isaan Soup At Andys Thai Kitchen

By Melissa McEwen in Food on Apr 10, 2014 7:00PM

Tom Sab Isaan Soup at Andy’s Thai Kitchen is the Malört of soup, a dish that tests your ability to savor a truly full range of strong flavors. Each time I have ordered this soup I have had a different waiter and they always ask me if I’m sure I really want to order this “stinky” soup. If they ask you too, just say “yes.” If you’re ready.

The source of the "stinky" flavor is the mud-fish curd. In a world that recoils from the adjective “fishy,” mud-fish curd (also known as Pla rah), a Northern Thai specialty, makes no effort to conform. It proudly gives off the aroma of a seaside fish market on a warm sunny day. It certainly belongs to the pantheon of fermented fish for serious eaters alongside Iceland’s Hákarl and Sweden’s Surströmming.

The soup also has a pronounced phenolic flavor reminiscent of exotic medicinal trees with maybe a small dash of motor oil. Malört or Fernet Branca lovers might find it familiar. But past the gate of these strange tastes is a broth that is immensely flavorful with a rich tangy spiciness and the invigorating scent of lemongrass.