Inside the Kitchens of Secret Congee and Khao Soi
Secret Congee grew out of a simple idea shared by two brothers. JP (Jakkapat) and Boss (Akarawin) Lertsirisin wanted to focus on one thing and do it well. Congee made sense to them. JP said, “Most restaurants try to do too much. I wanted to do one or two things and do them well.” That approach still guides the businesses the two now own and operate together.
Growing up near Bangkok, they saw plenty of street stalls built around a single recipe. Families passed those dishes down from one generation to the next, and each vendor spent years perfecting their version. That mindset stayed with the brothers and shaped the way they cook today.
JP and Boss did not grow up in a household that cooked often, though. One of JP’s earliest food memories is watching his mom heat frozen mashed potatoes in a small skillet and finish them with crispy bacon bits. Most meals came from takeout or packaged foods. The food that made the biggest impression came from their travels. This was before social media, and the places they found relied on word of mouth. Those meals pushed JP toward being, in his words, more of a “foodie” long before he saw himself as a cook.
He and Boss started cooking more seriously in college. They went to school during the week and worked night shifts in restaurants. On weekends, they made congee out of their apartment and sold it as simple catering. That hands-on work became the groundwork for what eventually turned into Secret Congee.
Their focus on specialized cooking did not stop there. The brothers also run Khao Soi Na Chiang Rai, which they created after rebranding their former spot, Ginger & Scallion. That restaurant also circles around a single dish and reflects the same tight, deliberate approach that defines their work.
JP believes Seattle needs more restaurants that stick to a narrow focus. He compared the city’s dining scene to larger food hubs like New York and Tokyo and said that if more places specialized, Seattle would move closer to that level. “There should be more specialized food concepts here in Seattle,” JP said. “It will take everyone to make that happen.”
His current favorite dish on their menu is the meatball congee, a traditional Thai version he grew up eating. At first, customers hesitated to order it. Now it is their top seller. He also likes cooking with pickled finger root, a Thai herb he uses in all types of curries.
Eventhough JP spends most of his waking hours in a kichen he still enjoys searching out a good meal not self cooked. A recent standout for him was the udon at Raku in New York. In Seattle, he keeps returning to Chinook’s for fish and chips and to Spicy Style of Sichuan for the spicy pork stir fry with celtuce.
Outside of work, he likes to travel and keeps (like myself) Diet Coke as his go to drink.
JP and Boss built Secret Congee by keeping their focus narrow and staying true to what they know. That mindset started in their childhood, shaped their early cooking, and continues to guide everything they do across both restaurants.
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