Photos by Michael Zehring Tien Wong Hot Pot

Skip the standard Chinese take-out and spice things up with these more eclectic Asian adventures.

Tien Wong Hot Pot
2330 N. Alma School Road,
Chandler
480-802-2525
thehotpots.com

Pretty much any food that Chef Johnny Chu touches turns to culinary gold. For more than a decade he’s been wowing Valley gourmets with his modern twists on authentic Asian and adding extra thrills by serving his often painstakingly crafted dishes in bohemian spaces. With his latest restaurant, he presents spectacular build-your-own hot-pot soups in a basic strip mall, marked by the simplest sign to hint at the joys within.

The heady perfume of simmering herbs and vegetables wafts from the big metal pot on the center of the table. Pick a broth (try the Yin-Yang, a single bowl split into a duo of Hong Kong-style and Taiwanese-style bases). Then choose your goodies from an array of impressively international add-ins, such as sliced Wagyu beef, tongue, black pork, lobster puff, shrimp (with heads on) and chicken. Next, stock up on clear or fat udon noodles, eight kinds of tofu, and pristinely fresh extras, including seven kinds of mushrooms, greens such as tong o or gai choy, plus exotics such as Korean pumpkin and young bamboo. Finally, swish and swirl; everything cooks in the steaming broth to slurpable perfection.

Fresh Mint

Fresh Mint
13802 N. Scottsdale Road,
Ste. 161, Scottsdale
480-443-2556
freshmint.us.com

Tucking into a huge bowl of pho at this cheerful mint-green café, it’s easy to forget for a moment that the beef strips bobbing in the five-spice broth aren’t meat but marinated soy. They meld so well with the slippery noodles, the nubbins of tofu, the bean sprouts and the basil that imbues a sweet note throughout.

But that’s chef/owner Mai Ly’s winning trick for her all-vegetarian, often vegan, and even Kosher tour through the cuisines of Vietnam, Japan, China and Thailand. The space may look casual, but there’s a lot of thought in the lengthy menu that spans from clay pot soy fish with fresh pineapple, ginger and Thai chiles moistened in a caramel-toned garlic sauce, to a complex stew of green apple, raisins, tomatoes, pine nuts, tofu and onion in turmeric curry.

Ly’s time in Hawaii shows in her version of lightly fried Imperial rolls, the crispy shells stuffed with julienne taro root, carrots, bean thread, shiitake mushrooms, tofu, onion and yellow bean. And while the texture of soy spare ribs or a soy black pepper steak won’t fool true carnivores, there’s no denying the full-throttle thrill of her respective sauces of citrus ginger and spicy black pepper garlic.

Zang Asian Bistro

Zang Asian Bistro
6835 N. 58th Drive,
Glendale
623-847-8888
zangasianbistro.com

Owner David Chang’s heritage is Chinese, though he was born in Calcutta, India, and traveled the world for a previous sales job. So it’s not surprising that his cuisine is wide-ranging, touching on Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Thai, Malaysian and Singaporean, all nestled into a stylish eatery in historic downtown Glendale.

The core is casual Chinese, with traditional Kung Pao chicken, Shanghai beef and shrimp in black bean sauce. But look to the menu and you’ll find that the apricot chicken represents Vietnam, fried chicken dumplings tossed with light tempura green beans give a taste of Japan, and cheese puffs offer memories of Malaysia. A few dishes seem to be their own inventions, such as the Japanese-style “King Tau” sweet pork, and there’s even a whimsical nod to America in the “chop sooee” (yes, that’s how it’s spelled here).

Thai curry fans will lap up the red or basil versions, while garlicky beef ribs have a pleasant Korean character. For even more custom cuisine, diners are encouraged to pick their preferred spice level – the regular is already riveting, but the chef will happily amp it up to two or three times the heat.