The Tri-Village area is home to some of the best food in central Ohio, with plenty of options for any culinary craving. You could eat a different meal every day for a month just going up and down 5th Avenue.
You may not have noticed how many cultures are represented among these storefronts. From Peruvian sandwiches to a modern twist on Filipino food, your palate can travel the world without having to leave your home ZIP code. Throughout 2024 we will be highlighting some of these locations in hopes of helping you find the hidden gems right in your backyard.
With Lunar New Year beginning on Feb. 10 this year, we decided to start by checking out Nong’s Hunan Express, just off the corner of Northwest Boulevard and King Avenue.
Nong’s serves traditional Thai and Chinese recipes with a tight focus on serving great food. This restaurant is owned and operated by a husband-and-wife duo who emigrated from China.
The restaurant is clean and simplistic inside, and the food is the true standout.
I tried the staples of Chinese takeout, spicy chicken lo mein and crab rangoon.
The noodles that made up the lo mein were perfectly cooked. They were firm enough to have a satisfying chew to them and not so soft that they fall apart without being cut.
The lo mein was slick from the oil or fat that would have lined the cooking pan, but the dish was not excessively heavy or greasy. The most impressive thing about Nong’s food is that it utilizes careful seasoning and preparation rather than abusing sugar and salt to flavor the food.
According to Samin Nosrat’s highly regarded book Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat, the only factor I have left to cover in praising this dish is its acidity. Spice and acidity often go hand-in-hand, and the spice profile of this dish was impressive, yet controlled. Heat and acidity were certainly present in this dish, though both were complements to the aftertaste rather than overpowering the fresh ingredients of the dish.
The chicken was carefully cut to retain some of its fat for flavoring the meat, but I never got a chewy or unpleasant bite in my heaping serving.
The crab rangoon was puffy, airy, crunchy and satisfying. It was unlike many other iterations of the dish in that it didn’t leave me asking why “crab” was in the name. The seasoning in the cream cheese mixture was zesty and slightly sour.
The ratio of this mixture against the crispy shell was interesting, as Nong’s opted for an almost robust flavor while severely limiting the presence of the filling. This is not your average puff where the cream cheese fills its casing; there is plenty of air left inside the fried pastry pocket.
The sauce served with the crab rangoon was another welcome departure from the overly sugary and salty tendencies of your average takeout meal. It was sweet and flavorful, the perfect counterpart to the crispy and salty appetizer.
Chinese Almond Cookie Recipe
If you are looking for a sweet treat to follow your meal, almond cookies are a staple of Lunar New Year treat platters. Here is a recipe that is simple and satisfying to wrap up your festive meal.
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cup almond flour, lightly packed
- 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
- Pinch of kosher salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp. almond extract
- 1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup, 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
- ½ tsp. baking soda
- Sliced almonds (preferably blanched, or without skin)
Method
- Place the almond flour, butter and salt into a bowl and beat on low speed for three minutes. The mixture should be coarse and chunky.
- Add one of the eggs and the almond extract and beat until just incorporated.
- Whisk together flour, sugar and baking soda in a medium bowl and add to your other mixture until the two are just combined.
- Pour this mixture into cling wrap and form the dough into the shape of a disc. Wrap it and chill in the fridge for two hours.
- Preheat the oven to 350F and line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on the sheet, gently pressing down to form a coin shape.
- Beat the remaining egg and brush the top of each cookie with the egg wash, then slightly press an almond on top.
- Bake 15-17 minutes or until the cookies turn a slightly dark golden color on top. Remove and allow to cool for five minutes before transferring to a wire rack to complete cooling.
Tyler Kirkendall is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at tkirkendall@cityscenemediagroup.com.
