3lephant Noodle Shack food truck brings Laotian, Mien cuisine to north Salem

The aroma of fish sauce, chili and beef broth coming from 3lephant Noodle Shack are tantalizing to those familiar with Southeast Asian cuisine.

Salem's newest food truck is introducing customers to Laotian and Mien cuisine, particularly pungent noodle soups.

Owner Sherry Saetern and her husband, Lee Keomorakoth, have run the cart since it opened in early September. The cart is parked in the food pod just off Silverton Road NE in north Salem.

Despite a lack of formal food service experience, the two grew up in households that cooked their cultural dishes extensively, from everyday staples to special occasion foods. Serving the food they know and love is not just a passion, but also an opportunity to represent a country many have little awareness of.

Saetern is Mien, while Keomorakoth is Laotian. The Mien, typically known as Iu Mien, is one of many Indigenous groups that predominantly reside around Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and southern China.

Across Southeast Asia, many dishes across cuisines overlap. This is due to the ingredients, herbs, flavor combinations and preparations being largely the same throughout the region.

Small selection, big flavors

The food truck's logo reflects the regional similarities. It depicts three baby elephants, each eating a different bowl of noodles. From left to right are kapoon, kaopiek and kasoy.

You may have some familiarity with the dishes if you've had Thai-Laotian cuisine before, but much of the region's food is reliant on layered flavors provided by cooked meat and an abundance of fresh herbs and vegetables. Spicy, tangy, sour, umami and mild bitterness are as common as the varied textures in dishes.

Kasoy is distinctly Mien, and has no relation to the Thai curry-based khao soi (pronounced "cow-soy"). Kasoy is a rice noodle soup with beef broth, quail eggs, meatballs and topped with ground pork. On the side are herbs like Thai basil and lime to add into the dish.

Keomorakoth said it's almost a cousin to pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup).

Kapoon is closer to khao soi, as it has a red coconut curry base with vermicelli noodles and chicken (including a pair of chicken feet), with vegetables and fresh herbs.

Kaopiek (pronounced "cow-pick") can be described as a variation of chicken noodle soup, Keomorakoth said.

It has fresh tapioca noodles in chicken broth, with quail egg and (optional) pork blood. It's a different take on the dish many know, but comforting regardless, he said.

Also on the menu is Vietnamese bún bò huế (pronounced "boong baw whey"), or Vietnamese spicy beef noodle soup, pad Thai, fried rice, pad kee mao and papaya salad in regular and platter size.

On the weekends, the truck offers kalungfun (KLF), a cold and sour snack made with flour that sits in a tamarind juice and is topped with a pepper sauce of fermented bean paste, roasted Thai chilies, tomatoes and garlic.

The standout is the papaya salad platter, which provides a family-size portion of the dish separated by salad addition.

In the center is the traditional pungent papaya salad, soaked in the "dressing" of fish sauce, shrimp paste, crab paste, green beans, Thai chilies and tomato. The remaining compartments contain pork rinds, Vietnamese ham, cabbage, sliced hard-boiled eggs, cucumbers, water spinach, vermicelli noodles and additional fresh Thai chilies.

To eat, rip the water spinach leaves into a bowl and then add all the other ingredients, mixing to get all the flavorful dressing and textures in every bite. The spicy, sour yet tangy flavors of the airy pork rinds and soft crunch of vegetables is delicious and intriguing to eat if you haven't had it before.

Adjusting the heat levels and adding other ingredients such as more meat or vegetables is also available.

You can also get Thai tea and Thai coffee, which is a cousin of Vietnamese coffee in that it is concentrated coffee mixed with milk instead of condensed milk.

"Salem didn't have a lot of what we offered, so that's why we wanted to introduce this to the community," Keomorakoth said.

Serendipitous turn of events

Starting a business to sell the foods they loved most was an idea they had discussed for the past two years. But it wasn't until this year and a series of serendipitous events that they could finally open.

Before the food cart, Keomorakoth worked in sales and Saetern in collections.

In July, the married couple found the food cart for sale in a Facebook marketplace ad. Once they finalized the sale, they decided to go all in.

They said the manager of the food pod space has been kind and there were no real hiccups except the process of adjusting to the limited space inside the food cart. It only took a month to turn things around and be ready to open.

Keomorakoth said they were shocked by the reception in their opening weekend, and are grateful for the patience of customers as they ran out of items or had to come up with alternatives.

Off to the side of the little white food cart is a covered seating area, with each table containing an assortment of Southeast Asian condiments. They include hoisin sauce, fish sauce, fried garlic, housemade chili oil, dried chili powder, soy sauce and Thai chilis in fish sauce.

Cultural homage, local representation

3lephant Noodle Shack in name and logo are representative of the Laotian flag. The couple wanted to make sure customers knew their foods are Lao-based.

The logo background has the three red and blue stripes of the current Laotian flag, while the three baby elephants eating bowls of noodles are representative of the former Laotian flag. The former flag had a three-headed elephant in the center, which represented the three kingdoms that were united and ruled the country.

The former flag of the monarchy was replaced in 1975 when the country became recognized as Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) with the political influence of communist Vietnam.

Those who know the history of Lao will understand how grim the historical context is, but Keomorakoth said he hopes the logo offers a more positive representation of their heritage.

Despite the plethora of Thai-Laotan restaurants between Keizer and Salem, the couple hope people will come out and try for themselves the difference in the cuisines.

For more info on the food cart, visit its Facebook page.

Address: 4792 Silverton Road NE

Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her at echan@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @catchuptoemily.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: 3lephant Noodle Shack food truck serves Laotian, Mien foods