Isaan's famous sour sausage — days of patience in every snap.
$14
Where it comes from
Sai krok Isan is the northeast's roadside treasure: coarse pork and sticky rice seasoned with garlic, stuffed by hand and left to ferment until natural lactic cultures turn it gently, addictively sour — a matter of days, never hours. You smell the charcoal before you see the cart. Tradition dictates the escort of raw cabbage, fresh ginger, bird's-eye chili and peanuts: alternate bites, and let sour, hot and cool keep trading places.
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.
