These fried noodles are so hot right now

Ask your Thai friends what’s the hottest dish in Thailand right now and they’ll probably say “phad ngor ngae”. 

Literally translated as “fussy fry”, this wok-fried  noodle dish most likely takes inspiration from Malaysia’s char koay teow and comes with egg, diced tofu, and Chinese sausage. A seasoning of soy sauce and, of course, wok hei give the dish its unique smoky aroma and flavor. 

The dish was the main staple in Hunger, Netflix’s latest Thai movie about a young chef who comes under the tutelage of a famed culinary figure. The movie was so popular, both in a good (praised for its amazing cinematography) and bad (shaded for its false portrayal of a chef’s life) way. But regardless of what you thought of it, one thing’s for sure: you probably craved for the movie’s key dish. 

The story goes that the dish was created ad hoc from what’s left in the fridge to calm down fussy and frustrated (“ngor ngae” in Thai) diners, hence its name.

You can get phad ngor ngae at many places around town (Netflix has even rolled out a pre-made sauce you can use at home), but OG honors go to Lerdtip, a Thai-Chinese diner in Ladprao (no.87 on the extended Asia's 50 Best Restaurants list). Its chef owner, Kamol Chobdee-Ngam, is credited for training Hunger’s lead actors on how to master the wok. Lerdtip’s ngor ngae is called Phad Happy and features the exact ingredients as in the movie. It’s B180 a serving and, from the first smell of the wok hei, you know it’s worth it.