Meing kham.

I need to make a few more visits before I can say for sure, but if my first visit was any indication, Chang Thai and Asian Cuisine might be the answer to Central Arkansas’ Thai-starved prayers.

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Because, despite the typical, boring buffet line, the Sherwood restaurant’s got an authentic Thai menu (see it here and here) with at least a couple items I’m pretty sure you can’t get elsewhere.

Like mieng kham, a popular poor man’s snack in Thailand. It’s a pinch of fresh ginger, toasted coconut, roasted cashew nut, shallot, lime, dried shrimp and little Thai chili slice wrapped in Betel nut leave and topped with a tamarind coconut sauce. It’s definitely the most exotic thing I’ve tasted in Arkansas in a minute.

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We got an order as an appetizer, but ended up using them sort of like a palette cleanser as we jumped from green curry to egg wrap pad thai (pad thai served in a sort of omelette basket) to pad kapraow (a pepper-y rice noodle dish) to spinach and basil rolls. All of which tasted different and nothing at all like the meing kham, which was sort of like spicy dessert.

Chang is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday; 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at 9830 Highway 107 (near the Wal-Mart). The phone number is 835-4488.

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