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[title]Welcome to Food Envy, where we’ll highlight different dishes from Time Out Market Chicago that we think you’re going to love—partly because we do. This week, the tamarind glazed spareribs at chef Thai Dang's stall are all we can think about.
RECOMMENDED: Guide to Time Out Market Chicago
Authenticity is the name of the game at Pilsen restaurant HaiSous (and adjacent café Cà Phê Đá), where chef Thai Dang serves Vietnamese dishes inspired by the food his mother cooked when he was a child. At his stall inside Time Out Market Chicago, Dang and his wife, Danielle, show a similar reverence for traditional Vietnamese cuisine, serving chicken wings coated in caramelized fish sauce and a seafood stew that features creamy coconut broth. It's all delicious, but if you can only try one thing, make sure that it's the tamarind glazed spareribs (a.k.a. Sườn Rang Me).
The plate of four pork ribs comes stacked like Lincoln Logs (or a particularly delectable hashtag), topped with lemongrass, tiny slices of chili pepper and bits of golden fried garlic. In fact, it's so photogenic that we selected the menu item to appear on the cover of the fall 2019 edition of Time Out Chicago magazine!
A caramelized tamarind glaze gives the spareribs a slightly crisp exterior, but the extremely tender meat practically melts off the bone when you take a bite. Combining the sweet flavor of tamarind with savory pork (and a touch of heat, if you happen to get a bite with a chili pepper), this dish is an accessible gateway to Dang's menu for anyone who hasn't eaten much Vietnamese food—and it will likely whet your appetite for everything else that he's cooking.