Wok Classic · Noodles Under Gravy

Kuay Tiew Rat Na (Stir-Fried Noodles in Gravy)

Photo: Takeaway / Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 3.0

'Rat na' means 'poured on top', naming the dish after the step where the thick gravy is ladled over the noodles.

Wide rice noodles are seared in a hot wok with soy sauce, then buried under a glossy, cornstarch-thickened gravy of pork or beef, egg and Chinese broccoli, finished with a crack of white pepper. Vendors cook each plate individually over roaring wok fire.

Why it's made this way: Rat na belongs to the same wave of Chinese-Thai wok dishes as pad see ew and kuay chap, brought by Teochew immigrant cooks and adapted into a fixture of Bangkok's cart and shophouse noodle stalls.