History Of Pad Thai

[FunFon]

Interesting to some perhaps:

http://www.themorningnews.org/post/pad-thai

Note the fact that he tried to suppress the Chinese. . .

[Shot]

Edited March 26, 2013 by Shot

[canuckamuck]

It really could have used a better name. Fried Thai?

[Trembly]

It really could have used a better name. Fried Thai?

It's actually even better : Pad-Thai = Thai-Fry. . . almost sounds as if it belongs in a fast-food restaurant!

[FunFon]

It's always struck me how exactly alike the street-food vendors (not just Pad Thai) prepare and present their food.

I used to think it was some sort of corporate-centre controlled franchise system, then later on just put it down to complete willingness to spurn original thinking and individual creativity.

The fact that even these aspects of daily life here spring fully-developed from the forehead of the military-political leadership adds a whole 'nother wrinkle to my understanding of and wonder at Thai "culture".

Like General Eisenhower = KFC's "the Colonel"

[muythai2013]

I thought pad thai was developed for backpackers to eat every morning,noon and night in Khao san Road.

they Talk about how amazing thai food is whilst tucking in to it even though its the only dish they ever order.

If they opened a menu to find pad thai was the only thing on the menu, and was written in large font smack bang in the centre of the page they would be in their element.

[eeeya]

I love a good pad thai, but i can't help feeling a little bit like the cliche foreigner when ordering it.

Oh well at least im not hovering around the fried bug cart.. Another foreigner cliche

[tutsiwarrior]

pad thai was invented in California in the 70s...

one afternoon in Venice, CA about 1 o'clock someone got outta bed with a hangover and an appetite and he looked in the fridge and saw the left-overs from the previous night's stir-fry and there were also a couple of fresh eggs...

he yawned and scratched and fired up the skillet and tossed in the the stir-fry and it smelled good as it warmed up...then he cracked and scrambled four fresh eggs, added it to the mixture and it was too much to bear...

then he covered his nakedness and ran around the corner to the bodega and got fresh corn tortillas and on return to the kitchen there was his woman sloppily (and alluringly) attired in a bathrobe tasting the mixture on the stove...

he looked at her and she looked at the fresh corn tortillas and the rest became a monument to south east asian cuisine...

Edited March 28, 2013 by tutsiwarrior

[katana]

I must admit I like Thai food, but Pad Thai's never really done anything for me.

[Trembly]

99% of the Pad Thai I come across these days is atrocious. When I was growing up you often only found pad-Thai being sold along with Hoy-Thawt, if not by by itself - there was far greater food-vendor specialisation in those days - but these days every man jack is selling pad-Thai from a 1-wok diner. Most of them just load it up with sugar instead of using the tamarind paste, which should provide the signature fruity flavour to the dish and imparts a little tartness even before you put any lime on it.

A dish that used to be so flavoursome is now just a soggy mess of heated starch, bland and boringly sweet.

Truly lamentable.

Edited March 29, 2013 by Trembly

[katana]

Thanks for the tip about the tamarind. The OP's link gives a recipe. May try it to see if it's an improvement!

[wooloomooloo]

Agreed. Bland stodge.

[koknia]

There's only one place to eat it.

http://www.thipsamai.com/

[Trembly]

Just have a think about a couple of the key ingredients (prior to seasoning): tamarind paste and dried shrimp.

If the flavour of the pad Thai doesn't give you at least a gentle smack on the face as it meets your palate then it ain't done proper.

Edited April 3, 2013 by Trembly

[tominbkk]

A good pad Thai can be hard to find but I know of two stands by my house (out in the boonies) that do a great job. Many are really gloppy, but pad Thai done right is a taste sensation.