Apparently "khao soi" doesn't actually mean anything in Thai, so it's very likely that the name is just a derivation of khao swe, the Burmese word for "noodles", which literally means "fold pull" i.e. the method for making noodles. Khao soi is also known as khao sway, khauk swe, khaot swe and my absolute favourite, cow suey. That's what happens when you try to transliterate a non-Roman language like Burmese. "Ohn-no khao swe" literally means "coconut milk noodles" (and then you get into all kinds of murky cultural metonymy, as "no" not only means "milk" but also "breast" in Burmese), but the protein which is generally used is chicken, hence my paraphrase of coconut chicken noodles. This is a wonderfully subtle, lightly curried dish, vaguely like laksa but comforting and flavoursome without whacking you in the face. Of course, you can also adjust the seasoning to taste - adding more fish sauce, squeezing more lime or sprinkling more chilli and egg at the table.
