Thai-Style Wide Noodles In Thick Sauce, 'Kuaytiao Lad Na'

Sawatdee from Cornwall! Thanks for dropping in today for a mug of Northern Thailand Hill Tribe coffee and a delicious virtual treat or two. Glad you could make it. Here is one of my favourite (I have many) Thai noodle dishes...Nong made this yesterday and it was delicious.She said not only was it the first time she had made it in Canada, it was the first time she had EVER made it. 

Lad Na is served all over Thailand, so it can be considered a national Thai dish. Nong used a recipe from the Net - a sidewalk version that's over 40 years old. It's typically served not spicy, with Thai condiments on the side to "fix the taste" and make it spicier to your own palate. Nong used the first of our very own balcony pot Thai chillies. They are good...fiery! 

In Thailand the broccoli floret as well as the stems are used, and if you'd rather use asparagus than broccoli that's fine too. Thais use another stemmed vegetable called ka-na. 

Here’s the lad-na recipe Nong used if you care to try it.

Ingredients

10 oz wide rice noodles *

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon black soy sauce

1/2 lb chicken, cut into thin slices (Nong used 1/2 lb thinly-sliced pork tenderloin instead of chicken)

3 tablespoons tapioca flour

1 tablespoon Maggi Seasoning

1 1/2 cups broccoli

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon yellow bean sauce (Didn’t have any - still tasty without it)

3 cups chicken stock

1 tablespoon fish sauce

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar (or a bit less if you prefer)

1/2 teaspoon Thai pepper powder (black or white pepper)

* You'll probably have to go to an Asian market to find these.

Method

Soak the noodles in warm water for 30 minutes then rinse in cold water. Add noodles to a pot of boiling water and boil for 1 minute, then rinse in cold water again, and set aside.

Toss chicken/pork with 1 tablespoon tapioca flour & the Maggi Seasoning. Marinate for 10 minutes.

In a mixing bowl, separate the noodles and toss thoroughly with 1 tablespoon oil and the black soy sauce. Fry this in a nonstick pan (noodles will stick to a wok so you should use a nonstick pan if possible) until golden brown. Remove from pan and keep warm.

Saute garlic in oil over medium heat until golden color, then add yellow bean sauce, stir well until fragrant. Add the chicken and saute until cooked. Add 2 1/2 cups chicken stock. 

When stock starts to boil, add broccoli and season with fish sauce, oyster sauce and sugar. Stir well and let cook a bit longer. 

Mix remaining tapioca flour separately with the remaining 1/2 cup chicken stock, then stir in with the chicken/pork & broccoli until it thickens. Remove from heat.

Arrange the fried noodles on a serving plate, spoon the gravy over the noodles. 

Sprinkle with Thai pepper powder, and serve with prik dong. Prik dong is thinly-sliced Thai chillies in vinegar... easy and spicy! Not many chillies left in the bowl as we had already sprinkled most of them on the lad-na!

Yum! Enjoy! (Nong can make lad-na again anytime she wants to!)

See ya, eh!

Bob