Pork Leg Stew from SomTum Gai Yang - SW Stark between 2nd and 3rd

SumTum Gai Yang is the name of the signature dish served by this cart (a papaya salad with chicken or pork), and this particular location is is their 2nd (they have another cart at the pods between 9th & 10th on Alder)

Although it is their namesake, this is not what I ordered today.

Khao Kha Moo, a dish I've never seen or heard of before -- sounded really good. Pork leg stew over sticky rice.

It smelled absolutely fantastic, and I couldn't wait to give it a try. The pork was tender and juicy, and practically fell apart when touched with a fork. It had a light sweetness to it, perhaps cinnamon or a similar spice. The meal was served with pickled mustard greens and half a boiled egg, and some chili oil. I can't emphasize enough how tender and tasty this pork is - you can tell it was cooked slow and low with lots of care.

This is another one of the 'not typical' Thai food carts - I had incorrectly assumed it was 'just another Thai cart,' as there are many, and many almost exactly alike, in every cart pod in town.

Reasonable prices, not-so-average choices, good stuff.

I am getting full and a quarter of my meal still remains... yet I don't know that I'd want to let this delicious pork go to waste... so I may just stuff myself and deal with it.

Skewed Concoctions on SW 3rd and Stark - Pork Satay

For today's adventure, I thought I'd try out Skewed Concoctions, which opened up in the spot of a former Thai cart on SW 3rd between Stark and Washington. I've seen it a few times while scouting out lunch, but nothing had jumped out at when casually strolling past...

I took a closer look at the menu this time -- They actually have a lot of offerings, for a variety of tastes. Chicken, Beef, and Pork Satay... Wings... Teriyaki -- all on sticks. (Those who prefer no sticks in their meat, they will kindly remove them after cooking if you'd like) - Pad Thai (veggie, even)- Papaya salad. Something for everybody.

You can order skewers of meat a la carte, or in a meal. I ordered the Pork Satay meal.

It was served with rice, a small cup of chopped up apples, cucumber, and onions, and what I thought was cole slaw - turns out it's served hot, and has broccoli in it. This was an unexpected and pleasant surprise. Very tasty, and perfect on a day like today where we had snow in the early morning and heavy rain following.

The eggroll was delicious - one of the more flavorful ones I've had (and there are plenty of eggrolls to be had from Portland food carts) - I didn't need to dip it in anything.

Same goes for the Pork Satay - it was wonderful all by itself, great flavor - then, I added the peanut sauce (of course) -- it had a very subtle smokey flavor to it that stood out - in fact, I almost want to guess there may be some coffee involved in its creation. HIGHLY recommended.

I kept eating rice just to add the peanut sauce, until it was all gone. Wow, that was good.

Try this place out. :D