Chef Akkapong Earl Ninsom is by all accounts crushing Thai food in Portland, and that includes fried chicken. Hat Yai's star dish, the fried chicken leg quarter, Malayu-style curry, and roti combo, provides the best of all worlds: crispy chicken and pan-fried bread with rich and spicy curry for dipping. And note: dipping should be mandatory.

It would be hard to name a more distinctive plate of Portland nachos than the version at Expatriate: Wonton chips arrive in a gooey Thai chile cheese sauce, with lemongrass-scented beef and makrut lime-tomato salsa. They have that nice balance of smart twists with all the messy, unfussy charm of bar nachos — Portland bar food in a nutshell.

If the Loaded Everything Plate at Kee’s isn’t an icon, cart owner Kiauna Nelson certainly is. Her warm, candid selfie videos, posted on Instagram, have made her something of a star in the Portland food world — as well as a number of her most popular dishes, like her mac and “kees,” fried chicken, and brown sugar ribs. Her Everything Plate is a tour through all of the greatest hits, including some dishes she makes on a whim. It’s certainly enough to feed more than one.

When this hardcore collaboration between Akkapong Earl Ninsom (Hat Yai, Langbaan), Matt Vicedomini (Matt’s BBQ), Eric Nelson (Shipwreck), and Colin Yoshimoto (formerly Poke Mon) opened on North Williams, the brisket burnt end curry became the fan favorite quickly, a perfect encapsulation of the restaurant’s schtick: Chunks of smoked fatty brisket bathe in Golden Mountain, white vinegar, and sugar before landing in a subtly spiced white curry. The combination makes for a sweet, aromatic-heavy dish ideally paired with any of the restaurant’s maximalist cocktails (or mocktails).

This Scandinavian cafe has become a sensation throughout Portland, with locations on both sides of Burnside as well as a Hood River outpost. And of Broder’s several beloved dishes — lost eggs, Swedish meatballs — the restaurant’s ebelskivers, or Danish pancakes, are its top billing. Little spheres of soft dough come dusted with powdered sugar, with little ramekins of lemon curd and lingonberry jam. Dunk to your heart’s content.

Name-dropped by the rapper Aminé and once called the “best Korean teriyaki in the known universe,” a plate of char-blistered, juicy chicken drenched in sweet teriyaki, served with a scoop of rice and a poppyseed-dressed salad, is a rite of passage for those who grew up in Portland. The menu has a few other options — yakisoba, a tofu bowl — but when you’re at Du’s, you’re in it for the chicken.

Really, any of the loaded jianbing at this Northwest Portland cart could hit this map, but the Adam may be its top performer: Ribbons of egg, wonton crackers, green onions, and its classic “bing sauce” are interspersed with pieces of Chinese sausage and bacon, in a hearty handheld crepe. It’s worth strolling through Nob Hill, jianbing in hand, on a nice day.

This supper club within Northwest Portland’s Phuket Cafe changes its menu monthly, but a few snacks never seem to leave the menu: the miang som, a betel leaf filled with jewels of cara cara orange and shrimp, as well as the kanom krok, a sweet Hokkaido scallop dressed with coconut cream in a crispy rice cup. Both are perfect little bites, frequently discussed and treasured, when people talk about their meals at one of the city’s finest tasting menu spots.

This legendary fried chicken sandwich destination known for its Instagram has opened a full-on restaurant in the Pearl District, serving its likely most-photographed sandwich: crispy-fried thighs smashed between shokupan with coleslaw, ranch, and both cheddar and American. There are plenty of fantastic sandwiches at Jojo — the spicy chicken comes to mind — but when it comes to something distinct to the brand, a cross-section of this gorgeous sandwich (and a side of massive jojos) is hard to top. The cart has reopened as well, so you can get that sandwich at either location.

Ken’s Artisan Bakery is a pastry destination for a reason, but when it comes to the dish that is characteristic of the state, it’s hard to beat the Oregon Croissant. A melange of marionberry and hazelnut cream — two Oregon icons in their own right — the croissant uses a flavorful Pacific Northwestern flour for an added nuttiness. It’s a combination of Portland tropes: local fruit and exceptional baked goods.

It’s odd to think that the pandan breakfast sandwich at Matta wasn’t on the menu when the cart opened, considering its meteoric rise into Portland breakfast sandwich royalty. A toasted pandan bun arrives stuffed with a smashed pork patty, American cheese, a curry-spiced hash brown, and a fried egg, yolk dripping and mixing with the sandwich’s tasty “dac biet” sauce. It’s best paired with cà phê, featuring Matta’s house roast.

Some might lobby for the beef cheek bourguignon at Gabriel Rucker's Burnside bistro, but this savory-leaning dessert, on the menu from the very beginning, is a better representation of the what has made the restaurant famous: It's playful, experimental, rich, and mind-blowing.

When the casual counterpart to the lauded Le Pigeon opened, its tiny steam burgers were the obvious breakaway hit. Sure, the duck gravy-smothered pancakes and foie gras dumplings developed their devotees, but the simple steam burgers — bolstered with French onion soup flavors in the patty, blanketed in melty American — steal the show. It’s one of those classic Portland high-low deals: sitting in a beautiful brasserie-esque dining room, sipping a glass of orange wine, and inhaling a pile of impeccably executed mini-burgers.

House-made charcuterie is ubiquitous on Portland menus, thanks in part to the astronomic rise of Olympia Provisions and its USDA-certified curing facility, which is now distributing its sopressatas, chorizos, and saucissons nationwide. At its flagship Southeast Portland restaurant, the charcuterie board could feature a wide range of products, from mortadella to salami to head cheese terrine, depending on the chef's whims of the day.

Pretty much out of the gate, Kachka became an icon for kicking off the Portland Russian food revolution. And this terrine, sort of Ruskie-style seven-layer-dip, is responsible for turning a city onto pickled herring. Its gorgeous gradient and triumphant plating make it a commonly photographed dish, with an elegant flavor on the palate.

Ever since Berlu started its bakery pop-up on the weekends, crowds have swarmed the restaurant for its bánh bò nướng, a slice of bright green, springy cake with a satisfyingly chewy texture. It’s enough of a sensation that you can now buy birthday cards and socks featuring the tapioca flour cake. Be forewarned: It’s only available on Sundays — unless you’re springing for the full tasting menu, which often has some version of BBN within the dessert courses.

In the up-and-coming icon category, the sweet, wood-fired wallet of a roll from this Richmond food cart has rapidly gained a cult-like following as one of the very few items on the menu that sticks around permanently. This is some Americana realness, fluffy rolls based on owner Collin Mohr’s grandmother Ruth’s recipe, served with jams made with Oregon fruit. It’s utter simplicity, and enigmatic of Portland food — unassuming, tasty, and more than the sum of its parts.

The soups change daily at this cheery Vietnamese soup spot, but on Saturdays, the deli crafts a somewhat dry noodle dish that’s almost impossible to find in American restaurants. Thick noodles sit in a bath of aromatic, sweet broth — they should sit for another two minutes once they arrive at the table — before they’re tossed with peanuts, pork, crackers, and an assortment of herbs and greens; the side of core-warming stock is for you to sip separately. Its intricate, careful construction and depth has made it a Saturday tradition throughout Portland.

There is a small-but-mighty facet of Portland dining that relies heavily on the Scandinavian culinary canon, thanks to our regions’ shared love of seafood, pickles, and preserves. Viking Soul Food’s lefse wraps have become one of the more memorable Portland food cart dishes, in particular its steelhead lefse, made with house cured and smoked steelhead. Technically a river trout, steelhead is a common Oregon river fish akin to salmon, and this light and handheld meal is a gorgeous way to experience it. Get it from the cart on Belmont, or the restaurant in the Woodstock neighborhood.