Rad Na

My absolute favorite part about travel is the food. Hands down. Like everything else about it is a distant second. The Eiffel tower?? Meh. I’ll take a glance after I finish my croissant, but then we need to get back to more important things…like mapping out which cafe to hit for our mid-morning snack.

We went to Thailand a few years ago, and the food. was insane. And cheap. Which meant that I had plenty of baht (or moolah to the layman) with which to try it ALLLLLLLLLL!!!! All the food in Bangkok quivered in fear as I set foot on Thai soil. Pad Thai, Tom Yum soup, mango with sticky rice, street-cart banana crepes, lychee, lansones, mangosteen. There was nothing I wouldn’t try. But my unequivocal favorite was the Rad Na.

Rad Na is a Thai specialty consisting of four crucial elements: fork-tender chicken, fresh stir-fried veggies and chewy pan-fried noodles, topped off with a sexy-ass pan gravy. I ate my way through Thailand for a week, sampling all the Rad Na they had to offer. Then as we returned home to America, I looked forward to trying the Rad Na at our local Thai restaurants. Which I would’ve done. If any American Thai restaurant on the face of the earth served Rad Na. Which they don’t.

Since Thailand is reallllllllly far away, I figured I should just learn to make it myself. Even that proved to be somewhat difficult, as Rad Na recipes are tough to come by on the internet. Go figure. Type the word “boobs” into your search engine, and within nanoseconds you’ll have millions of pervy options at your fingertips, but the computer whizzes over at Google HQ can’t be bothered to make revolutionary Thai recipes an SEO priority. Whatevs. No biggie, because I have now perfected my very own Rad Na, and it is, for lack of a better word, pretty damn rad. Don’t let the lengthy recipe intimidate you – it’s actually very simple. Everything is broken up into sections, so just go one section at a time. Trust me, the end result is soooo worth it.

So there ya have it: the best of southeast Asia right here in the southeastern US, no 21-hour air travel required.

Print Recipe

Rad Na

This was my hands-down favorite of all dishes I tried in Thailand. Since it inexplicably doesn't seem to have much of a presence in the U.S., I considered it my duty to spread the word about how to make it. You're welcome.

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Servings

servings MetricUS Imperial

Ingredients

• Chicken:
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
• Pan Gravy:
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tbsp reduced-sodium organic tamari
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 2-3 tbsp water
• sea salt to taste
• Veggies:
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 3 bunches baby bok choy chopped
• 1 bunch green onions chopped
• 8 oz white mushrooms sliced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• sea salt to taste
• Noodles:
• 15 oz fresh pad see ew noodles thick rice noodles
• 3 tbsp organic canola oil

Servings servings MetricUS Imperial Ingredients Chicken: 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs Pan Gravy: 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil 2 cloves garlic minced 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth 1 tbsp reduced-sodium organic tamari 1 tbsp cornstarch 2-3 tbsp water sea salt to taste Veggies: 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil 3 bunches baby bok choy chopped 1 bunch green onions chopped 8 oz white mushrooms sliced 3 cloves garlic minced sea salt to taste Noodles: 15 oz fresh pad see ew noodles thick rice noodles 3 tbsp organic canola oil

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Instructions

1. To cook the chicken:
2. Season both sides of the chicken with sea salt and black pepper.
3. In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the chicken for a few minutes on both sides, until lightly golden.
4. Remove chicken to a cutting board, chop and keep warm.
5. To make the pan gravy:
6. In the same skillet over medium heat, add the sesame oil. There should be a tiny bit of drippings still left in the pan, so scrape that up with a large spoon or spatula as the oil heats.
7. Add the garlic, give it a quick stir in the hot oil and let it cook for no more than a minute. You don't want to brown it.
8. Add the chicken broth and tamari, stirring up all the drippings. Let it come up to a simmer.
9. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and water, stirring until you get a smooth, very thin paste (you want a heavy cream consistency). Add the cornstarch mixture to the simmering broth as you whisk thoroughly. It should immediately thicken up into a thin gravy.
10. Taste and add pinches of sea salt as needed. Cover and turn heat as low as possible.
11. To make the veggies:
12. In another large skillet over medium heat, add the sesame oil. When it's hot, add the garlic, cooking for no more than thirty seconds or so, just enough to be fragrant, but not browned.
13. Add the mushrooms and stir, cooking until slightly browned, a couple minutes. Add the bok choy and green onion, stirring often, until bok choy is wilted, a couple minutes. Add a small sprinkle of sea salt and stir. Remove veggies to a bowl and keep warm. Wipe the skillet.
14. To make the noodles:
15. Soften noodles according to package instructions.
16. In the same large skillet over medium heat, add canola oil, heating for a minute or so. Add noodles to pan, distributing evenly, and let cook for a couple minutes. With a spatula, flip the noodles and cook another couple minutes on the other side.
17. To serve:
18. Divide the noodles among four bowls, then top with the veggies, chicken and gravy.
19. Devour.