Find 12 Vietnamese Noodle Soups on Piggy Smalls’ New Menu The Kaka‘ako hot spot just reopened with a new chef, revamped brunch and dinner lineups, and a revolving slate of noodle soups. December 21, 2020
Good news for fans of Honolulu’s eclectic dining scene: Piggy Smalls, a Kaka‘ako eatery shuttered for most of the pandemic, reopened last week with a new chef and menu, and a permanent rotating lineup of two Vietnamese noodle soups a day, six days a week. That’s 12 in all weekly, about half of them not found elsewhere in Hawai‘i.
Many Vietnamese eateries pride themselves on their pho; occasionally you’ll also see spicy, beefy bun bo hue, or a version of bun rieu with minced paddy crab and tomatoes. In rare instances you might find lemongrass-and-annatto-laced bo kho beef stew with crusty baguettes or wide rice noodles. No place I know does 12 noodle soups, and certainly not 12 from the distinct cuisines of Vietnam’s north, south and central regions. The recipes are from Loan Le, a.k.a. Mama to founding chef Andrew Le of Piggy Smalls and The Pig & The Lady, bequeathed over the years in parsed-out lessons to Le and Kristene Moon. It is Moon—a teenage culinary student when she started out at Pig’s farmers market stand eight years ago—who is the new executive chef of Piggy Smalls.