Noodles

One of the foods Lyndsay and I were most excited about in Thailand was noodles, or Khuaytiaw, in Thai. Our first bowl of noodles was at Bangkok's Chatachuk market. The type of noodles we had are commonly called "boat noodles" because they used to be served from boats when the canal systems were a more commonly used mode of transportation.


Noodle places offer a choice of noodles, usually sen yai (wide fresh rice noodles), sen lek (medium sized rice noodles), or sen mii (angel-hair sized rice noodles). We chose sen yai, but later realized they would have been best with sen lek. The broth is slightly sweet and tastes like it is seasoned with star anise and maybe cinnamon or cloves. It also features a hearty dose of pork blood (which I have fallen in love with), making the broth a deep reddish brown. The portions at this place were small but the pork, meatballs, and morning glory in it were all good and the broth was amazing.

Our second bowl of noodles was on Katie's soi (a small side street in Thailand).


Lyndsay and I both chose sen lek this time. These noodles had meatballs and rare beef (briefly swished in boiling broth to cook it). The broth had some pork blood, but these were no boat noodles. Most noodle places offer four condiments: phrik pod (powdered chili), nam plaa (fish sauce), sugar, and sliced chilies in vinegar. I added some sugar, fish sauce, and chili to mine.

Bowl number three was in Phetchaburi.



I got mine with sen mii and sweet marinated pork and Lyndsay got sen lek with a whole chicken thigh. The meat was very good because it was pre-cooked and marinated, but the broth was much more bland than other places. They served us cups of weak iced tea though! While we were eating a guy came to our table with what I soon recognized as a cut open cocoa pod. He offered us some and then came back later with a whole one and gave it to me! There will be more on the cocoa pod in the train post. Back to noodles.

The next bowl of noodles was in Hua Hin and was my favorite so far. Unfortunately we learned a hard lesson and forgot our camera, so no pictures of this bowl. In case you are so inspired by my description that you want to attempt to find the same noodle stand, it was the first one on the right side of Th. Dechaunuchit as you are going toward the beach in the last block of the street. This bowl featured fried fish cakes (mmm from Eric), fried tofu (mmm from Lyndsay), meatballs, and chicken. Tiny dried shrimp and fried shallots were sprinkled on top. They had very generous portions for only 25 Baht a bowl. Our only criticism was that the sen lek was a little undercooked, but it could have been because we were her first customers of the day and the water was not yet at its hottest.

We then made our way up north to Phitsanulok and had some noodles there for breakfast. This bowl looked like it would be best with sen yai, so we ordered and sat down.


She brought us fat noodles with fish pieces, especially delicious fish balls, some weird crunchy/chewy curly sea-creature-like thing, morning glory, and a mystery vegetable. It came with small bowls of a vinegary chili sauce which we dipped our fish pieces in. I thought the broth was a bit bland so I added sugar, fish sauce, and some of the dipping sauce. Lyndsay just stuck with the phrik pod. This was a pretty good bowl of noodles overall.


That's all for now! Sluuuuurp!