Specialty #2: Omsom
"Proud, Loud Asian Flavors" to load in your pantry
If you are like me (which you probably are not, because I am, as my teachers would say, unique), you may often suffer from what-to-make-for-dinner syndrome. Symptoms include indecision, cooking paralysis, a general confusion for what you’re craving and a frugality making you inept at ordering takeout when your fridge is stocked with fresh, uncooked ingredients. Sound familiar?
Meal planning is helpful, if not a little too idealistic — how do I know what we want to eat on Wednesday when I shop on Sunday? And what if I just don’t feel like making it? During the shutdown, I became more in tune with how much I like to eat spontaneously — even the most carefully planned restaurant reservations and curated Instagram screenshots that help me instruct our table what to order, offer a level of surprise. And excitement! That’s exactly what my kitchen is missing on nights I just feel totally lost about what to eat for dinner. Enter: Omsom.
Launched in spring 2020 by two second generation Vietnamese sisters, Omsom is the Hamburger Helper for the Blue Apron generation. That is, it’s not quite a meal kit, but a Southeast Asian inspired meal starter, offering recipe suggestions, techniques and ideas, all possible with a boldly flavored, brightly packaged, pre-portioned sauce. Varieties include Vietnamese Lemongrass BBQ, Thai Larb, Krapow, Korean Spicy Bulgogi, Japanese Yuzu Misoyaki (fave!) and more.
I first tried Omsom in April 2020, nearly a month after I’d set foot in a restaurant, a multi-weekly indulgence in the before times. Learning about the women behind the brand and their partnerships with New York City chefs — like Chat and Ohm Suansilphong of Fish Cheeks for Omsom’s first Thai packet and Jimmy Ly of Madame Vo for the Vietnamese packet — intrigued me. The concept was clear: Cook like a chef, even in cuisines perhaps out of your comfort zone, with a palm-sized packet.
I started with lemongrass bbq, marinating chicken legs and grilling the meat on the stovetop. I was hooked. The ease, and tangy restaurant-worthy flavor emboldened me to also move out of my cooking comfort zone, progressing onto Omsom’s larb (which has a wet packet and dry packet for crunch) with ground chicken. It was spicy and dynamic and not at all difficult. Will I ever make larb from scratch? Probably not! But thanks to Omsom, tasty homemade-ish larb is in my dinner rotation.
In the past two years, Omsom has expanded to more flavors, more recipe suggestions and opened up my creativity on how to use each starter. Sure, the suggestions are helpful, but the options feel nearly limitless when I have a packet of Omsom, some fresh veg and a protein. So far, my favorite is the Japanese Misoyaki, which has a tangy, savory flavor and works well with tofu crumbles, seafood, glazing veggies and even as a noodle sauce. Also, it was created with Maiko Kyogoku, owner of Bessou, an excellent Manhattan restaurant (and a source for a New York Times feature I wrote last year).
Omsom is currently DTC, meaning you buy it exclusively online. Three packets go for $12, which is $4/packet, which yields 2-3 servings. At less than $2/serving (not counting the veggies you add, and splurging for pre-shopped at the store is totally worthwhile for this semi-meal-kit), Omsom is very worth it, even if it lingers in your pantry until you’re out of recipe inspo. Subscribe or buy a sampler kit and save. And you may very soon be planning Omsom night on your weekly meal plan.