Thai Boat Noodle Soup (Guay Tiew Reur ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ) and the Sweet Rituals

Bangkok, Thailand (10 Jan 2021) – I remember how it went the first time I had my share of the Thai boat noodles, so-called Guay Tiew Reur ก๋วยเตี๋ยวเรือ, the one that was actually sold directly from the boat once, hence the name. That meal actually happened in Rangsit, a canal-lined district of Pathum Thani, a rice-growing province about 30 kilometres north of Bangkok.

From my memory, the seller had an actual boat, a large one. But instead of working it up and down the canal, they had it permanently tied with a big raft at the shore and that was the dining area. The boat had pots, pans, all things you would need to make the noodles. Each bowl of the noodles was ridiculously tiny. I could finish it in one or two, maybe three slurps. And we each ended up with piles of those bowls at the finish line. Something not unlike the piles of dishes after a hearty meal at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant. 😀