Crying Tiger — Signature
A grilled steak with a name that gets a lot of theories. The real story is older and quieter than the legend — Northeastern (Isaan) farmers grilled tougher cuts of beef hard, sliced them paper-thin, and chased the smoke with a sour-fire dip called jaew.
Where it comes from
Suea Rong Hai (เสือร้องไห้) literally means "crying tiger." Most people repeat the romantic version: the steak is so good it would make a tiger cry. The older Isaan story is the opposite — the cut used was traditionally a tough piece of brisket, called the "tiger cry" cut because even a tiger would weep trying to chew it. Pounding it tender, grilling it hard, then slicing thin across the grain was the village fix. Northeastern Thai cooks paired it with jaew — a dipping sauce of toasted rice powder, lime, fish sauce, and a serious amount of chili — and ate it with sticky rice and a bottle of lao khao. Our chef learned it from her uncle, who ran a roadside grill outside Khon Kaen and refused to use anything but rib-eye after he moved to California. "If you can afford the rib-eye," he told her, "the tiger doesn't cry anymore." We use his rule.
How to eat it
Eat it the Isaan way: roll a small ball of sticky rice between your fingertips, dip it lightly in the jaew, then pick up a slice of beef with the sticky-rice ball and eat the whole thing in one bite. Don't soak the rice in the sauce — the rice should be a spoon, not a sponge. A bite of cabbage between mouthfuls resets your palate.
What’s in the bowl
- Prime rib-eye, grilled over open flame to a hard sear
- Jaew dipping sauce: toasted sticky-rice powder (khao kua), fish sauce, lime, chili flakes
- Fresh mint, cilantro, sliced shallot
- Grilled cabbage wedges on the side
What goes with it
To drink
A bold Thai iced coffee or a smoky mezcal — both pick up the char from the grill.
On the side
Sticky Rice · Som Tum Thai · Pink Milk for the kids
Good to know
Contains the following common allergens — please flag any sensitivities when you order and we’ll adjust:
— From our kitchen“My uncle said the test of a real crying tiger is the moment after the first bite — the sticky rice, the smoke, the lime, the chili — they should hit one after the other, like a small parade. If they all hit at once, the cook rushed it. If only one hits, the cook was scared of the grill. We are not scared of the grill.”
Not sure how to judge a plate like this? Read our field guide to the best Thai food in Orange County — five signs of a real Thai kitchen, and what to order once you’re in one.