Chewy, soft rice noodles in tasty gravy make Kuey Teow Rad Na a popular dish in Thailand. It is also a well-known dish in South East Asia. In Malaysia, you can easily order Kuey Teow Rad Na or Ladna in any Malay or Chinese restaurants.
What is Kuey Teow Rad Na?
Rad Na or Rat Na means topping. It is a Thai-Chinese noodle dish. It is a combination of rice noodles, meat and vegetables.
The wide rice noodles or kuey teow is usually used in this dish. However, some variants use rice vermicelli instead. The kuey teow can either serve as it is or deep-fried with eggs before serving, which makes crispy noodles that can soak up the gravy. Thus, you will get crunchy and chewy noodles at the same time, which is very addictive.
The meat that was initially used is pork. Then as it spreads to other countries, meat ingredients expand to chicken, beef or seafood. At most places, the combination of chicken and seafood is common. This produces a unique and tasty flavour to the dish.
Chinese kale is the usual vegetable in this dish. However, you will sometimes see there are cabbages, carrots, mustard leaves or broccoli in the dish. This creates a healthy and balanced meal.
The thick, egg gravy is usually brown or cloudy in colour. It is poured on top of the noodles. The gravy is made of stock, tapioca starch, egg, garlic, soy sauce, sugar and black pepper. The tapioca starch determines the consistency of the gravy.
This dish is typically mild and not spicy. For those who love spicy food, it is great to enjoy this dish with sliced chillies in vinegar or ground dried chillies.
History of Kuey Teow Rad Na
Rad Na originated from China. Initially, it was only prepared in high-end restaurants. Then, they began selling it to working-class people.
As its popularity grows, this dish spread to Thailand around 60 years ago. The Thai people recreated this dish, and it became a popular dish in Thailand. Many famous noodles restaurants in Thailand serve this delicious meal.
Kuey Teow Rad Na versus Char Kuey Teow
Both Kuey Teow Rad Na and Char Kuey Teow is a noodle dish with gravy. The colour of gravy is almost the same, which is brown in colour. They also both use seafood and eggs in the ingredients.
Besides that, both use soy sauce and garlic as the condiments. They are also mild and not spicy. Thus, you can see sliced chilli in vinegar accompany these dish. However, the similarity ends there.
While Rad Na is a famous noodle dish in Thailand, Char Kuey Teow is more notably famous in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia. The latter is the national favourites noodle dish in Malaysia and Singapore.
There are many types of meat ingredients used in Rad Na. However, for Char Kuey Teow, it is mainly prawns and cockles. Other meat such as chicken or beef is not commonly used.
Other than that, the vegetable used also differs in both dishes. Rad Na is quite versatile as many types of vegetables goes well with it. Char Kuey Teow only contains beansprouts and chopped chives.
Whatever the similarity or differences between these dishes, both had gained their places in people hearts. They are readily available and are usually sold together in the same restaurants.
Where to find in Malaysia
You can go to any Malay and Chinese restaurants in Malaysia and will most likely find Kuey Teow Rad Na served there. Try it from Sobri City Corner (Alor Setar) or Restoran Maaidah Uptown (Kuala Terengganu).
Or else, you can find it at home by making your own version of Kuey Teow Rad Na with our recipe here.
You can also find more Chinese cuisines on foodpanda, and have it delivered to you!
