When I was 15, I had my first school exchange trip to Bangkok with the Interact Club, the kiddie version of the Rotary club. The students hosting us brought us around to eat street food. We sat at this stall, one of those hole-in-the-wall places, and to this day I don’t know what it was, but it blew my mind in two ways. First, it was the most delicious rice noodles with meatballs, maybe some bits of water spinach. It wasn’t drunken noodles; I don’t remember the sauce being so dark. There was no fish sauce or soup, but a little bit of broth at the bottom of the bowl and meatballs. Then, I decided it needed some spice. You know how they have chili powder on the table? There I was loading it on, and then I thought I was going to die because it was so spicy. I had to force myself to finish the noodles because, you know, pride. But I’ve never forgotten those noodles — they got me hooked on Thai food. Every time I go to Bangkok, I try to find this particular dish, but I just can’t. It’s been 30 years. Find me that dish!