Pad Thai is nothing more than a regular noodle dish, one that is not even native to Thailand. To understand the history of Pad Thai (ผัดไทย), you need to understand the meaning of the words. Thai (ไทย) – that’s obvious. Pad (ผัด) – means fried. There are however, countless Thai dishes with the word Pad in it.
The main ingredient in Pad Thai is rice noodles which are stir-fried. So, if you were to roughly translate Pad Thai, you’d have to say the dish is stir-fried noodles Thai style. The actual name of the dish, Kway Teow Pad Thai (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวผัดไทย), hints at possible Chinese origins. Kway Teow (ก๋วยเตี๋ยว) in Chinese, refers to rice noodles.
It is likely that some early version of the dish came to Thailand with settlers crossing from southern China who brought their own recipe for fried rice noodles. Certainly the cooking style— stir-frying—is Chinese, and most food historians credit the Chinese with the invention of noodles. The cooked meats and vegetables in Pad Thai resemble dishes prepared by the Cantonese and Tae Chiew (Chao Zhou in Mandarin) from China’s eastern Guangdong province. Nevertheless, the flavors and textures are pure Thai.
If the Chinese migration theory holds, Thai ancestors may be the Chinese T’ai (phonetically, “Dai”) people who migrated from southwest China in what is now the Yunnan province. In fact, today’s Thai can find many similarities in language, dress, and cooking with the Chinese T’ai.
On the other hand, there are some who believe that Pad Thai was introduced by Vietnamese traders who came to visit the ancient capital city of Ayutthaya. In Vietnam, there is a similar dish called “phở xào” or “bánh phở xào sa tế,” meaning “stir-fried pho”.
Pad Thai was made popular in the late 1930s and 1940s by the Thai government as part of a campaign to promote Thai nationalism during World War II. The government also wanted to reduce domestic rice consumption, as the Thai economy was heavily dependant on rice exports.
To help increase the popularity of Pad Thai, the Thai government provided recipes and encouraged people to use wheeled carts to sell the dish. Soon, Pad Thai became a cheap and convenient meal.
References:
http://www.themorningnews.org/post/pad-thai
http://www.gastronomica.org/finding-pad-thai/
http://first2board.com/verygoodpoints/pad-thai/
Best Thai hangover cure after a night of partying…
Happy 2014!
Still nursing that pounding headache after last night’s countdown?
Try some spicy noodles.
Almost every recipe for Pad Kee Mao (ผัดขี้เมา – drunken noodles) comes with the claim that this simple dish is a good hangover cure.
But according to locals, Pad Kee Mao is best eaten while you’re in the process of drinking. Not after.
Instead, spicy noodle soup is what cures what ails you the morning after.
It comes in many forms. Yellow noodles. Glass noodles. Wide noodles. Noodles topped with beef, fish balls, pork, chicken, pigs blood or duck.
And all are made with different flavors of broth, including the all-powerful tom yum.
Many Thais claim extra spicy soup helps freshen them up by letting them sweat out some of those nasty booze toxins and shake that queasy hangover feeling. The hearty ingredients, on the other hand, tame the angry beast crying for attention in your stomach.
For some, the idea of slurping a bowl of spicy liquid when your stomach lining is already irritated is about as appealing as knocking back another five shots of tequila.
Fortunately, at Thai noodle stands you can add your own spice from a dispenser on the table (few travellers can handle the spice intensity the locals can).
Visit the nearest street noodle stand. Or, if you’re really desperate, any Thai convenience store carries cups of instant noodles, which will do the trick if you’re in a hungover pinch.
References:
http://travel.cnn.com/asias-top-hangover-cures-230961
http://www.lostbeachestravel.com/blog/the-best-thai-hang-over-cures/
http://www.walltowatch.com/view/2703/The+best+hangover+cures
Did you know that Pad Thai (ผัดไทย) did not come from Thailand?
Pad Thai is nothing more than a regular noodle dish, one that is not even native to Thailand. To understand the history of Pad Thai (ผัดไทย), you need to understand the meaning of the words. Thai (ไทย) – that’s obvious. Pad (ผัด) – means fried. There are however, countless Thai dishes with the word Pad in it.
The main ingredient in Pad Thai is rice noodles which are stir-fried. So, if you were to roughly translate Pad Thai, you’d have to say the dish is stir-fried noodles Thai style. The actual name of the dish, Kway Teow Pad Thai (ก๋วยเตี๋ยวผัดไทย), hints at possible Chinese origins. Kway Teow (ก๋วยเตี๋ยว) in Chinese, refers to rice noodles.
It is likely that some early version of the dish came to Thailand with settlers crossing from southern China who brought their own recipe for fried rice noodles. Certainly the cooking style— stir-frying—is Chinese, and most food historians credit the Chinese with the invention of noodles. The cooked meats and vegetables in Pad Thai resemble dishes prepared by the Cantonese and Tae Chiew (Chao Zhou in Mandarin) from China’s eastern Guangdong province. Nevertheless, the flavors and textures are pure Thai.
If the Chinese migration theory holds, Thai ancestors may be the Chinese T’ai (phonetically, “Dai”) people who migrated from southwest China in what is now the Yunnan province. In fact, today’s Thai can find many similarities in language, dress, and cooking with the Chinese T’ai.
On the other hand, there are some who believe that Pad Thai was introduced by Vietnamese traders who came to visit the ancient capital city of Ayutthaya. In Vietnam, there is a similar dish called “phở xào” or “bánh phở xào sa tế,” meaning “stir-fried pho”.
Pad Thai was made popular in the late 1930s and 1940s by the Thai government as part of a campaign to promote Thai nationalism during World War II. The government also wanted to reduce domestic rice consumption, as the Thai economy was heavily dependant on rice exports.
To help increase the popularity of Pad Thai, the Thai government provided recipes and encouraged people to use wheeled carts to sell the dish. Soon, Pad Thai became a cheap and convenient meal.
References:
http://www.themorningnews.org/post/pad-thai
http://www.gastronomica.org/finding-pad-thai/
http://first2board.com/verygoodpoints/pad-thai/