December 2022: Kancha Boat Noodle

Come try our family's version of an elevated Boat Noodle soup. The broth includes about 30 ingredients, including pandan, galangal, cinnamon, pickled lime, fermented tofu, blood, and, of course, a low dose of THC, with a side of homemade CBD infused chili oil. There are limited bowls of noodles, and we are expected to sell out!

Reserve to dine alfresco for $5 per person (non-refundable and will be donated to Union Station Homeless Services) or pre-order for pick-up: we plan to toss and assemble noodle on the sidewalk in front of our restaurant. Join us for a bowl (or more) in our parklet (we'll do the dishes) or pick up and easily warm your meal in the comfort of your home. Sponsored by CANN. 

Broth includes lean beef, braised beef, tendon, meatball, and topped with crispy pork rinds. Dine-in price $25/bowl + tax. Any allergy concerns, please email us at orders@ayarathai.com. 

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Boat Noodle is a rich and flavorful beef noodle soup suspected to contain marijuana and traditionally sold from boats gliding along Bangkok’s canals as early as the 17th century. Before the days of cars and roads, Bangkok was referred to as the Venice of the East. The Chao Phraya River and canal network that branched from it stretched hundreds of kilometers and became a major form of transportation and a marketplace—essentially the lifeline of Bangkok. Boat Noodle vendors were said to have paddled up to bridges, houses, or places where people gathered along the banks of the canal and would make the noodles in the boat and then serve from the boat.

There’s no reliable documentation, historical records, or written recipes of marijuana (kancha, in Thai) being used in Boat Noodle. All are oral accounts of stories that are shared and/or have been passed down. Many suspected that kancha was used as a flavor enhancer and meat tenderizer. Witnesses account the smell of cannabis, symptoms of dry cottonmouth, and an increase in appetite after a meal, and some have witnessed seeing cooks add a bundle of kancha into the stock pot.

Today, many Bangkok canals have been drained or filled to make roads, and Boat Noodle vendors are forced into shop houses along streets and countryside. In 2019, Thailand was the first nation in Southeast Asia to legalize medicinal marijuana use and to allow each household to grow up to 6 plants. This movement may result in more cannabis-infused food, and the increased availability of the cannabis Boat Noodle in Thailand.  

** This dish contains cannabis, a controlled substance. May only be served to persons 21 years of age or older. Consumption of cannabis impairs your ability to drive and operate machinery. Please consume with caution.