Pad Thai

Thailand

Also known as Phat Thai, Phad Thai

About Pad Thai

Pad Thai is a plate of thin rice noodles stir-fried in a very hot wok with egg, firm tofu and shrimp, then tossed in a sauce that is sour, sweet and salty all at once. The sourness comes from tamarind, the sweetness from palm sugar and the salt from fish sauce. "Phat" simply means stir-fried, so the name translates to "Thai-style stir-fried noodles".

The dish as Thailand knows it took shape in the 1930s and 1940s, when the government of Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram promoted rice noodles as a cheap, filling and patriotic meal at a time when rice was scarce. Street vendors were encouraged to sell it, and the wok-frying technique borrowed from Chinese cooks living in Thailand helped it spread quickly.

A good Pad Thai is never served plain. It comes with a small heap of crushed roasted peanuts, a wedge of lime, chili flakes and raw bean sprouts or garlic chives on the side, so each person can make it sharper, hotter or crunchier at the table. Today it is one of the best-known Thai dishes in the world, found everywhere from Bangkok night markets to Thai restaurants abroad.

Ingredients

• rice noodles
• shrimp
• tofu
• peanuts
• bean sprouts
• tamarind
• fish sauce
• eggs
• garlic
• sugar
• lime