James Syhabout’s hugely popular Hawker Fare restaurant in San Francisco is the product of his unique family history, his diverse career experience, and the food of his childhood. Hawker Fare immortalizes the dishes of this celebrated restaurant, which are inspired by the open-air “hawker” markets of Thailand and Laos as well as the fine-dining sensibilities of Syhabout’s career beginnings. The book starts with stories from his roving career as a classically trained chef, as well as his travels as an adult in his parents’ homelands—his mother’s ancestral village in Isan, Thailand’s northeast region, and his father’s native country of Laos. 

From building a pantry with sauces and oils to making staples like sticky rice and padaek, to new takes like Syhabout’s recipe for instant ramen noodles with poached egg, Hawker Fare explores the many dimensions of this singular chef’s cooking and ethos on ingredients, family, and eating well. This cookbook offers a new definition of what it means to be making food in America, in the full and vibrant colors of Thailand, Laos, and California.