Laad Na

Greg and I went to Sawatdee a week or so ago and I was determined to try something different than the same old red curry I get every time we go there. I needed to branch out.

So I opened the menu and the first thing I saw was something called Laad Na. It was described as such: Fun noodles (those are the big wide lasagna, looking ones) stir fried with egg in a bean sauce topped with stir fried broccoli and Napa cabbage in a savory gravy. I just loved the words “savory gravy” so I ordered it. It was delicious.

I looked all over the Internet for a recipe and none seemed to be like what I had. But some were close. So I printed them all out and then improvised and tried to come up with something that would be similar. This is what we came up with. It’s not exact, but it’s darn close.

The photo is of the actual dish I had at the restaurant. I didn’t take one of my masterpiece because we used the wrong kind of noodles (can’t find “fun” noodles here) so it didn’t look exactly right. When I had it in the restaurant I had tofu, at home we used chicken. I liked the tofu much better.


Laad Na

Marinade:
3/4 pound boneless, skinless beef, chicken breast, tofu or pork, cut into 2 x 1/4 x 1/4-inch strips, or 3/4 pounds shrimp
2 teaspoon thin soy sauce
2 teaspoon Chinese cooking wine
2 teaspoon cornstarch

Noodles:
1/2 bag wide rice noodle
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon black bean paste
2 eggs

Sesame oil
2 cloves garlic smashed

Gravy:
2 cups chicken broth
2 teaspoons black bean paste
1 Tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon fish sauce
¼ cup Chinese cooking wine

To thicken:
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Place noodles in a bowl and pour hot or boiling water over them to soften. They need to sit for about 25 minutes or so, so this is a good time to get everything else ready.

Assemble marinade ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
Assemble gravy ingredients in large measuring cup or mixing bowl, set aside.

Cut up the broccoli and cabbage, and yep, you guessed it, set aside.

Now you’re ready to begin cooking. Once you start, it’s hard to stop, so you want to make sure everything is ready.

Heat wok, add soy sauce and black bean paste and rice noodles, cook for just a couple of seconds and then add the egg. Scramble it all up until the egg is done and noodles are covered with the sauce. Place the noodles in the serving bowls.

Heat oil in wok. Add marinated meat/tofu and cook until white (for pork or chicken, starting to brown for tofu). Remove and dish out in serving bowls.

Adding more oil to the wok if necessary, add the garlic and cook until it becomes fragrant. Add the broccoli and cabbage and stir-fry until the broccoli begins to soften and turns a deeper green. Remove to serving bowls.

Add gravy mixture to the wok and let it boil for a few moments. Once it’s at a good boil slowly add the cornstarch/water mixture and stir until thickened. Ladle over the other ingredients in the bowls. Optional but good, add some freshly ground black pepper just before eating.