Boy meets girl. Girl brings boy home to meet mom. Mom cooks for boy. Boy is smitten with mom’s cooking and they all live happily ever after.
Plot of a rom-com? Not quite. But it is the true story of how Ming Oun’s Kitchen started.
Darius Hilario and Kelly Ouk run Ming Oun’s, a Cambodian-Filipino pop-up concept and catering company that regularly shows up at places like Bica in Normal Heights, Pizza Kaiju in Barrio Logan, La Mesa Wine Works, and The Soap Factory in Logan Heights. But it all started in Ouk’s mother’s kitchen.
It was the tail end of the Covid shutdowns, and Hilario and Ouk worked in healthcare. But during that time, Ouk’s mother was teaching them how to cook the way her parents did, and those who came before them. By the time everyone made it to the other side of the pandemic, they realized they had the opportunity to share her gift with others. Figuring they had nothing to lose and some incredible home-cooked food to share, they launched a small friends-and-family preorder meal from home. It was a success.
So they did it again. And again. “We kind of just went off from there,” Hilario says. The pop-up was born.
The name “ming oun” (pronounced ming own) is for Ouk’s mother, which translates to “younger aunt” or “auntie” in Khmer, Cambodia’s national language. (In certain cultures, “auntie” is a common way to address women around your parents’ age, as a way to show respect.) Ouk’s family was displaced from Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge era of 1975-1979, but managed to pass down the recipes they had made for generations. Ming Oun’s Kitchen isn’t just home cooking. It’s a legacy.
Neither is a formally trained chef—just experimentation, often centered around memory. Hilario grew up in the Philippines and recalls walking past people’s houses, smelling skewers grilling, slathered with a very specific marinade the different aunties used. “I remember asking, when I was a child, how to make it, and I remember three things that they said,” he recalls. “Banana ketchup, soy sauce, and black pepper.” He tried a few combinations, trying to recreate the flavor that only existed in his mind and past.
One day, he put his concoction on liempo (pork belly). It was perfect, transporting him back thousands of days and thousands of miles away in an instant. “I was like, ‘Wow, this is exactly how I remember trying it when I was, like, less than 10 years old,’” he says.
Most dishes center around Ouk’s family’s Cambodian comfort food, with dashes of Hilario’s Filipino heritage. It’s a loose menu, sometimes just what they’re vibing with. For example, their garlic steak dish uses a thinly sliced tri-tip with roasted garlic over rice with crack sauce (a common Southeast Asian condiment that’s sweet, spicy, and a little umami). Steak was one of the first things Hilario knew how to cook, and Ouk’s family had a garlic sauce that he loved. One day he put it on a steak and, boom! The garlic steak plate was born.
But there are influences from all over Southeast Asia. Chicken wings might have fish sauce (Vietnamese), or maybe salt and pepper (Cantonese). Sometimes there’s mango sticky rice (from Thailand). There may be smoked milkfish nam khao (from Laos). It’s a conglomeration of flavors from that part of the world, and it’s all delicious.
The pop-ups are a stepping stone for something bigger, or so they hope. The pair also offer catering services for things like weddings and corporate events, and Hilario says that’s the side of the business they’re trying to grow, using the pop-ups as a way to both get their name out there and fund their future endeavors. They’d also like to open a small noodle shop one day, maybe even a cafe in the future. But for now, they’re just happy to keep learning, collaborating, and sharing the wealth of their birthrights. “And that’s what we want to be able to serve with our food,” Hilario explains. “We just want people to feel [at] home.”
Check Ming Oun’s Instagram page @mingounskitchen to see their upcoming pop-up schedule.
San Diego Restaurant News & Food Events
Beth’s Bites
- The restaurant at 1251 Prospect Street in La Jolla has led a number of lives—Alfonso’s, Mermaids & Cowboys, Aldea. But this month, it’s poised to transform into its latest iteration: La Jollita Del Mar. There’s not much info out there besides “honest coastal cuisine with a Mexican soul,” but as long as there’s seafood, I think we’ll be good.
- How the mighty have fallen, and few have fallen farther than Ballast Point from its billion-dollar pedestal in 2015. Five years later, Kings & Convicts snapped it up for an undisclosed amount, but what industry experts generally estimate to be around $68 million. (What’s a few hundred million between friends?) And as of this week, it’s officially vacating its sprawling Miramar headquarters and bar-restaurant by the end of the year. I think it’s safe to say the beer bubble has burst.
- I think I’m totally late to the party, but Carnitas’ Snack Shack’s weekday happy hour is pretty legit. From 2 p.m to 5:55 p.m., there’s a ton of $5 specials like a carnitas taco and chips, a cold can of beer, a draft margarita, or a shot of tequila. I love a deal, and that seems like a good one.
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