Pad Thai

Pad thai is not ancient Thai cuisine. It's a 20th-century invention — and a wartime one at that. The dish was popularized in the 1940s under Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram (Phibun), who led a campaign to promote Thai nationalism. As rice was scarce during WWII, the government encouraged noodles as an alternative. Pad thai — with its rice noodles, peanuts, and chili — became the official 'national noodle.' The campaign worked too well. Today, most Thais and most tourists consider pad thai to be the national dish. But the older, regional dishes — khao soi in the north, khanom jeen in the south — are more representative of the country's actual noodle traditions. The classic pad thai is made with thin rice noodles, tofu, shrimp, egg, bean sprouts, and garlic chives, all stir-fried with tamarind paste (the key ingredient, which gives the dish its characteristic tang), fish sauce, and palm sugar. It's served with crushed peanuts, lime, and chili powder on the side. The 'best pad thai in Bangkok' debate is endless. Thip Samai (also called Pad Thai Pratu Phi, after the gate it sits by) is the most famous — a 50-year-old open-air stall that has served everyone from Anthony Bourdain to the Thai royal family. The lines are long, the portions are small, and the noodles are exactly as good as the reputation suggests.