I’ve never cared for the Thai-Chinese noodle dish rad na. At its worst, it’s a veritable symphony of sloppiness: slimy rice noodles; pork so soft a baby could chew it; limp greens; bland gravy. As one friend observed, the tapioca-thickened sauce can sometimes bear a resemblance to – sorry, but it’s true – mucus. In the land of tom yam kung, yam pla duk fu and som tam pu pla ra, how, I often wondered, had this yawner of a dish managed to insert itself into the pantheon of Thai street staples? It was a mystery. (Only slightly less baffling than a similar puzzle: the enormous popularity of grim hot-pot chain MK.)
So when I heard the rad na at Aree Bar, Salt’s sister venue on the corner of Ari Soi 4, had to be tried, I wasn’t expecting much. But a pessimist is never disappointed – and often very pleasantly surprised. It turned out to be nothing short of spectacular: the kind of dish that elicits involuntary “ooohs” and “aaahs” and sends you into a trance while you devour it; the kind of dish that inspires entire articles like this one.
In truth, this isn’t simply rad na, the name of which alludes in Thai to the pouring of the gravy over the noodles. This is rad na sen krop mu dam yang: “Crispy Rice Noodle Soup with Grilled Kurobuta Pork”, as the menu has it. And at THB220 – four or five times what rad na will cost you on the street – you’d be right to expect something special.
How do I love this dish? Let me count the ways. First, there’s the renowned porkiness of that imported kurobuta – the Berkshire pig in other parts of the world – which is marinated in black pepper, milk and olive oil and grilled to juicy, tender perfection. There are the noodles: thick, layered, with a pastry-like crunch and a hint of charred bitterness. The gravy is thinner than usual – no mucus here – with a twist of sesame oil. And the greens are baby bok choi, when it’s available, rather than the usual kale or Chinese broccoli (the version pictured contained the latter, however).
It’s the kind of seamless melding of cuisines and ingredients that doesn’t deserve to be cursed with the word “fusion”. It’s the kind of thing I think local writer-restaurateur Jarrett Wrisley was talking about recently in his excellent essay on the culinary f-word. He wrote: “Bad fusion food abounds in Bangkok, where recent culinary graduates splatter pizza or spaghetti with something that sort of tastes Thai. But serious chefs have figured out how to use each others’ arsenal of ingredients, and well.”
What’s all the more refreshing is that the talent behind the dish, 26-year-old Ruangrit Teparak, has yet to even finish Dusit Thani culinary school himself. In fact, it’s got me wondering: Is this the best rad na in Bangkok? And if we can agree on that, perhaps we can get even sillier: Is this the best rad na in the world? If you know a better version, let me know. Because I’d give my left kidney to try it.
