Thailand's national noodle dish — rice noodles stir-fried with egg, bean sprouts, and choice of protein in a tangy-sweet tamarind sauce, finished with crushed peanuts, chilli flakes, and a squeeze of lime.
A government invention
Pad Thai’s ubiquity as “Thai cuisine” is largely the result of deliberate state promotion. In the 1940s, Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram’s government promoted a standardised version of stir-fried rice noodles as the national noodle dish — part of a campaign to promote Thai national identity and reduce rice consumption during scarcity. Pad Thai was propagated through mobile carts, subsidised carts, and recipe distribution.
The sauce balance
Authentic pad thai sauce balances four elements: sourness (tamarind paste), saltiness (fish sauce), sweetness (palm sugar), and umami (dried shrimp). The exact ratio varies by cook, but the tamarind is the defining flavour — not ketchup, which is used in tourist-market versions but is historically inauthentic.
The wok technique
Pad thai requires very high heat — the wok hei (wok breath) — and a very small portion per batch. Cooking more than one portion at a time drops the wok temperature, causing the noodles to steam rather than fry and producing a sticky mass rather than separate noodles.
The condiment set
Thai pad thai is served with a condiment set of: fish sauce, sugar, chilli flakes, and white vinegar or chilli vinegar. Diners customise each bowl to their preferred balance at the table.
Find more foods by letter
Pad Thai starts with P and ends with I. Browse other foods along the same letter.
Foods that contain a letter from "Pad Thai":