Boat Noodles (Kuay Tiew Reua)

Tiny bowls of rice noodles in dark, rich pork or beef broth thickened with blood and seasoned with fish sauce, sugar, white pepper, and fried garlic -- traditionally served from boats on Bangkok's klongs (canals) -- are eaten in rapid succession (6-10 bowls per sitting) at the floating restaurants of Ayutthaya and Bangkok's Ratchadaphisek Boat Noodle Lane. The recipe has been largely unchanged since the canal-boat vendors of the 1940s and is Thailand's most intense and least-known dish to international visitors.