THAI FOOD made easy: Pad Thai, Pad Thai everywhere...Why Pad Thai?

Pad Thai...

You might heard of Pad Thai a zillion times. You might ate Pad Thai a hundred times.

There are so many pad thai recipes out there. Each individual recipe has its own unique flavor reflecting the taste of the cook. I had my first pad thai way way back to my very young age. The first pad thai was colorless. I remembered watching, a pad thai vendor, Pa Uan (aunty Uan) cooked her pad Thai using fresh thin rice noodle on a charcoal stove call Tao Ung Lo. She had never in hurry. I saw a lot of people waiting on the line waiting for a simple but yet delicious thin rice noodle slowly cooked on the wok. It took total half of an hour to get an order of pad thai from Pa Uan. It was wrapped in green banana leaves and a sheet of newpaper jacket. Years later, I remembered another pad thai vendor popped up her pad thai stall not far from Pa Uan. Pe Boon (sister Boon) was making pad thai slightly different from the iconic vendor in a small town. Her pad thai had color added into it. Her reddish pad thai cooked on gas stove and using dried noodle that soaked and drained before cooking. The new comer's pad thai became popular shortly after start up. Pe Boon made pad thai sauce before hand. The pad thai lover line up and the waiting time at her noodle stall was cut more than half, but more count of the wraps had been done.

When did you hear about pad thai.

I first heard history of pad thai long time ago. But when I have to put together in writing, I have done some research for its accuracy. This is what I have found. Pad Thai history began in the between 1938- 1957. Thai government under field marshal Plaek Piboonsongkarm, the 3^rd prime minister of Thailand, wanted to modernized the country during the World War II. His strategy was set to demonstrate the strength and unity of Thai. A part of his strategy included developing and distributing a thai noodle, Pad Thai, with completely Thai food profile across the nation. This noodle was replacing the popular chinese noodle sold in Thailand by chinese migrated to Thailand at that time. You can find out more following the links in references below. I found all the articles point to Piboonsongkarm's era and even the recipe had been developed in his kitchen. We have to thank you him of introducing pad thai to not only his people but Thai food fan around the world. I wouldn't be surprised, if I heard Pad Thai Piboonsongkarm in the future in recognize of his name.

This is my take on pad thai recipe. What I put here is my preferences. The recipe call for either fresh or dried noodle. In this recipe, I preferably use fresh rice noodle over the dried one. I wanted the end result of fresh and chewy noodle. Nothing right, nothing wrong, it's all about personal preference. If you could find the fresh pho noodle, use it. The fresh pho noodle is best for pad thai. It's a little costly but it will paid off at the end. (in my opinion) We will pre-made the sauce before hand. Pre-made sauce will make cooking easy and delicious Pad Thai. I hope you enjoy the taste of pad thai made from this recipe in the next post.

Happy cooking.

@chezLenk