Pad Thai

I chose to learn about Pad Thai because it has been a dish I have enjoyed for years. As a vegetarian family my parents were always looking for restaurants that would substitute meat for tofu. Thai restaurants have many main dishes that include tofu without having to substitute it for a meat. My favorite dish is Pad Thai I remember on special occasions my family and I would visit our local Thai restaurant to celebrate and I looked forward to eating my fried tofu with chili sauce and then consuming large quantities of sweet Pad Thai noodles. Most pad Thai dishes consist of stir-fry rice noodles, an assortment of vegetables, crunchy bean sprouts, crushed peanuts, and small quantities of fried egg. In many restaurants you can get different meats and fish to put into your dish but of course my family always chose tofu. Because of the assortment of vegetables (vitamins), bean sprouts (fiber), peanuts (protein and fat), and egg (protein), pad Thai makes for a delicious as well as nutritious meal that can be served quickly and cheaply.

            The history of pad Thai may actually have started in China. The proper name for pad Thai is kway teow pad Thai. Kway teow is a Chinese word for rice noodles, so kway teow pad Thai translates to Thai style rice noodles. It is believed that the dish was brought from south China and then transformed into a Thai dish by adding Thai chilies. The dish was not popularized until the 1940’s when the Prime Minister Pibulsonggram or Phibun was credited with spreading the dish around the world in attempt to westernize Thailand while spreading Thai nationalism. Another reason Phibun wanted to spread Pad Thai was for nutritional and economic reasons. With the vegetables, peanuts, and eggs in the dish Phibun believed that it would greatly increase the health of the Thai people who lived off of rice and chili paste. His other reason for spreading Pad Thai, especially among the Thai people was because of the rice shortage and disease that was being spread because of flooding. By promoting a meal that was cooked thoroughly and in clean plates he hoped to improve the health of the Thai as well provide a cheap meal that did not involve rice which was in shortage. Phibun presented a recipe for pad Thai to all Thai people and encouraged street vendors to sell this dish in their mobile carts, thus pad Thai became a fast food. With the dish selling for less than a dollar it quickly became a national favorite for lunchtime meals. Eventually the dish spread to the popularity that it holds today among not only the Thai but also many other nations and people.

            Today the dish is just as popular as it was in the 1940’s. “According to the Web site www.thaikitchen.org, at least 11,600 Thai restaurants (many bearing the name Pad Thai) operated worldwide in 2007.”( http://www.gastronomica.org/finding-pad-thai/) But restaurants are not the only place you can eat pad Thai, many people enjoy preparing the dish as home with simple ingredients found at the grocery store including fish sauce or soy sauce, rice noodles or fettuccini can be substituted, and any vegetables you wish to add your dish. When someone visits a Thai restaurant for the first time they are encouraged to try the pad Thai as a way of deciding how they feel about Thai food, which has not only increased the popularity of dish but also drawn people into other types of Thai cuisine.

            Pad Thai has come to have multiple meanings over its short history. For the Thai people it is sense of pride having popularized a dish throughout the world that stated as fast, street food and which it still remains that today. For Thai immigrants it is a connection to home that can prepare in their house or purchased at their local Thai restaurant. For western people it is opportunity to try an “exotic” cuisine. And for me it is memories of happy celebrations and a filling, delicious meal.

http://www.gastronomica.org/finding-pad-thai/

http://qz.com/198860/the-strange-and-potentially-stolen-origins-of-pad-thai/