Ming Ng, a cook at Mamak Malaysian restaurant in Houston, holds the roti canai dish. It's "crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside," the menu says.
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Malaysian food is one of many Asian cuisines available in Houston's Chinatown. This Hainanese chicken is on the menu at Mamak in Dun Huang Plaza.
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At Dun Huang Plaza, a procession of cramped strip malls adjacent to but apart from one another creates an area that's both dense and sprawling.
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Men play xiangqi in the food court of Hong Kong City Mall in Houston. The city's Chinatown is 12 miles southwest of downtown.
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The street signs along Bellaire Boulevard are posted in Mandarin characters as well as English script. Go further west and they change to Vietnamese.
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Hong Kong City Mall is anchored by Hong Kong Food Market, where employees prep a variety of seafood and stock a bounty of hard-to-find produce.
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In addition to fresh fish, Hong Kong Food Market carries teas, sauces, cooking pastes, instant ramen and addictive powdered Vietnamese iced coffee.
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Hong Kong City Mall also features specialty shopping. Thich Minh Chon is a shopkeeper selling Buddhist gifts and literature.
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Colorful backpacks and plush toys are among the offerings at Moshi Moshi Gifts & Stationery Co. on Bellaire Boulevard.
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Crawfish Cafe is one of a handful of crawfish purveyors in Houston's Chinatown that blend hints of Asia with the Cajun specialty.
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Houston's Chinatown is relatively lacking in postcard-worthy vistas, but one exception is the Vietnamese Buddhist Teo Chew Temple.
