Ready Meals

Lemon Grass Kitchen Serves Chef Mai Pham’s Asian Meals

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With the nationwide launch of Lemon Grass Kitchen, shoppers in the USA can now find another selection of flavorful, better-for-you Southeast Asian and Korean cuisine in the frozen food aisles of supermarkets and other grocery stores.

Mai Pham, chef and founder of the award-winning Lemon Grass and Star Ginger restaurants in Northern California, has created a line of authentic recipes using premium ingredients to deliver the bold flavors of Thailand, Vietnam and Korea to home kitchens. The cuisines of Southeast Asia are growing increasingly popular with restaurant-goers across North America and the rest of the world, and Chef Pham’s Lemon Grass Kitchen creations, developed in an exclusive partnership with Seattle, Washington-based InnovAsian Cuisine, allow diners to enjoy their favorite dishes at home.

“My family fled Saigon in 1975, and the culture and cuisine we brought with us is the inspiration behind my restaurants, cookbooks, and now, Lemon Grass Kitchen entrées,” said Chef Pham, Lemon Grass Kitchen’s culinary director. “My life-long passion is to share the fabulous Asian flavors that I grew up loving. We prepare these frozen meals the same way we cook at home or in the restaurants – with love, passion and great care.”

lemon grass products

Traditional ingredients such as lemongrass, tamarind, cilantro, Thai basil, fish sauce, ginger and gochujang are used to create the bold flavors of the six Lemon Grass Kitchen dishes now offered:

  • Lemongrass Chicken Stir-Fry: Made with 100 percent white meat chicken, crisp vegetables and authentic lemongrass and garlic sauce.
  • Shrimp Pad Thai: Succulent shrimp, authentic rice noodles and crisp vegetables in an aromatic tamarind sauce.
  • Korean-Style Grilled Chicken: Made with 100 percent white meat grilled chicken, crisp vegetables, and a spicy, smoky gochujang sauce.
  • Beef & Broccoli Noodles: Premium marinated beef strips, authentic wheat noodles and a savory dark soy sauce.
  • Chicken Pad Thai: Made with 100% white meat chicken, authentic rice noodles and crisp vegetables in an aromatic tamarind sauce.
  • Chicken & Broccoli Noodles: Made with 100 percent white meat chicken, authentic wheat noodles and savory dark soy sauce.

“For 17 years, InnovAsian Cuisine has offered meal solutions for busy families, and we’re excited to expand our presence in the growing frozen category with Lemon Grass Kitchen,” said Mark Phelps, president and co-founder of InnovAsian Cuisine. “Chef Pham’s Lemon Grass Kitchen creations are the solution for on-the-go families who want delicious, convenient meals without ingredients people want to avoid, like additives and MSG. The authentic, bold flavors she has created for home cooks to recreate in minutes are the perfect takeout alternative.”

Lemon Grass Kitchen uses no artificial ingredients. The signature dishes are available in 20-22 ounce bags at grocery stores across the country, including: Target and Super Target outlets and regional chains such as Meijer, HEB, Whole Foods, Cub Foods, Giant Eagle, Hy-Vee, and Ingles. The meals retail for $6.99 or $7.99, depending on location and retailer.

About Chef Pham

chef mai phamWhen Mai Pham arrived in the United States as a refugee 41 years ago, little did she know she’d someday become a well-known chef. Although she studied journalism, worked as the first Vietnamese-born television journalist in the US, and was as a speech writer for a California governor, it was in cooking that she found her true calling.

It was fate that led her to open her first restaurant, Lemon Grass. Armed with family recipes, Chef Pham worked long hours, doing much of the cooking herself. What was most gratifying, as it later turned out, was the fact that her cooking and sharing of food and culture provided much needed solace during those early years in an adopted country.

Luckily, after a challenging start-up, Lemon Grass became one of the top restaurants in Sacramento, California, and its reputation soon spread nationwide. Chef Pham began offering cooking classes, which reignited her passion for teaching and writing. She wrote a food column at the San Francisco Chronicle for 10 years, and also contributed to the Los Angeles Times. Her articles exploring Southeast Asian culture and recipes earned her a Berte Greene Award for Excellence in Food Journalism.
She also taught at The Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley, and authored several award-winning cookbooks – The Best of Vietnamese & Thai Cooking, Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table and Flavors of Asia.