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.
Someone’s shiny present from Santa is stirring some online outrage.
While this photo may not represent the typical street beggar, it certainly explains why some people hesitate to hand over their money.
Thousands of Thais retweeted a photo from user Assadang NuoM of a panhandler in the Pratunam area, captioned, “A Pratunam beggar plays on tablet to kill time. Outrageous?”
The photo was posted this morning, and we cannot be more happy to see some Christmas spirit in the city.
With a name like that, you’d better believe this dish is alive.
Dancing Shrimps or Goong Ten (กุ้งเต้น) is a crunchy mixed salad literally crawling with small little transparent shrimps attempting in vain to wiggle their way to freedom. The shrimps are served with very spicy, garlicky, and limy sauce, and is popular in Northeastern Thailand.
Northeastern Thais just love raw food so much, some food enthusiasts have opined that sushi, so identified with Japanese cuisine, might have originated from there (citation not included).
Food blogger, Mark Wiens, admits that a spoonful of the dancing critters is both entertaining and delicious. After taking a bite, the shrimp rupture with saltiness and climax with a pleasant crunch.
Although this may sound barbaric to some, the experience is actually surprisingly enlightening according to food blogger, Kasma Loha-unchit, who claimed that…
“We felt the shrimp become us – we were the vehicle through which their spirit would carry on in the world. We didn’t feel that we were eating them alive, taking away their life. Instead, we felt their life continuing on within us, that they happily became part of us. They danced in us and made us dance with life. I was reminded of the teaching that “energy never dies; it is only transformed,” and, because something must die (whether this be animal or vegetable) in order that we may live, may we be worthy to carry on the spirit that has sacrificed its life for our nourishment at every meal.”
Very enlightening indeed.
May those shrimps find their way to Nirvana with the help of Kasma Loha-unchit’s appetite.
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/
Pratunam beggar plays with tablet while waiting for coins…
Someone’s shiny present from Santa is stirring some online outrage.
While this photo may not represent the typical street beggar, it certainly explains why some people hesitate to hand over their money.
Thousands of Thais retweeted a photo from user Assadang NuoM of a panhandler in the Pratunam area, captioned, “A Pratunam beggar plays on tablet to kill time. Outrageous?”
The photo was posted this morning, and we cannot be more happy to see some Christmas spirit in the city.
Source – http://news.asiainterlaw.com/?p=7826
Dancing Shrimps – they can’t get any fresher than this…
With a name like that, you’d better believe this dish is alive.
Dancing Shrimps or Goong Ten (กุ้งเต้น) is a crunchy mixed salad literally crawling with small little transparent shrimps attempting in vain to wiggle their way to freedom. The shrimps are served with very spicy, garlicky, and limy sauce, and is popular in Northeastern Thailand.
Northeastern Thais just love raw food so much, some food enthusiasts have opined that sushi, so identified with Japanese cuisine, might have originated from there (citation not included).
Food blogger, Mark Wiens, admits that a spoonful of the dancing critters is both entertaining and delicious. After taking a bite, the shrimp rupture with saltiness and climax with a pleasant crunch.
Although this may sound barbaric to some, the experience is actually surprisingly enlightening according to food blogger, Kasma Loha-unchit, who claimed that…
“We felt the shrimp become us – we were the vehicle through which their spirit would carry on in the world. We didn’t feel that we were eating them alive, taking away their life. Instead, we felt their life continuing on within us, that they happily became part of us. They danced in us and made us dance with life. I was reminded of the teaching that “energy never dies; it is only transformed,” and, because something must die (whether this be animal or vegetable) in order that we may live, may we be worthy to carry on the spirit that has sacrificed its life for our nourishment at every meal.”
Very enlightening indeed.
May those shrimps find their way to Nirvana with the help of Kasma Loha-unchit’s appetite.
References:
http://www.thaifoodandtravel.com/features/dsintro.html
http://www.eatingthaifood.com