Dawn in Phuket: Pad Thai

One Thai Dish that almost all the tourists seem to love and remember is Pad Thai. This local dish can be found in many tourist restaurants as well as at street-side food stalls and markets. I have driven passed the Pad Thai Suit Borahn Restaurant in Bangkok Road, Phuket Town for ages but today I decided to stop and have a plate of Pad Thai Goong Sot. As per the traditional recipe it was served with raw vegetables including the banana flower (on the right of blue plate) and all for only 50 Baht! Next time I go I will tell them not to put too much sugar in as for me, today, I found it a little bit too sweet, I still enjoyed it though! I have eaten excellent Pad Thai from street markets and remember the first time I tasted it sometime back in 1988, when I was given a 'parcel' of Pad Thai to taste. That was in Rawai and I am not sure if the family still sell Pad Thai now (2013) I really must try and remember where they were, not easy when everything has changed so much!

Pad Thai or Phat Thai (Thai: ผัดไทย) which translates as "fried Thai style"; is apparently of Vietnamese origin ("Phở Xào") A dish of stir-fried pho noodles, a type of rice noodle, with eggs, fish sauce, tamarind juice, red chili pepper, plus any combination of bean sprouts, shrimp, chicken, hot dogs, or tofu, garnished with crushed peanuts, coriander and lime, the juice of which can be added along with Thai condiments (crushed peanuts, garlic, tomato, chives, pickled turnip, coriander, lime, spicy chili oil, chili powder, vinegar, fish sauce, sugar). It is usually served with scallions and pieces of raw banana flower (as seen in the photo above).

The dish was said to be imported to the ancient Thai capital city of Ayuthaya by Viet traders, and was then altered to reflect the Thai flavor profile and assigned a name reflecting its newly acquired Thai character. The dish was made popular in Thailand by Luang Phibunsongkhram, the prime minister during the late 1930s and 1940s, and renamed to Pad Thai as part of his campaign to promote Thai nationalism and centralization, seeking to reduce domestic rice consumption. The Thai economy was heavily dependent on rice exports, and the prime minister hoped to increase the amount for available to export by encouraging Thais to make and sell rice noodles from street carts and in small restaurants. Pad Thai has since become one of Thailand's national dishes.

Thanks to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pad_Thai

Pad Thai was voted one of the World's 50 best foods by CNN readers - please note that the photo and description are a little out of line in the article!
http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/eat/readers-choice-worlds-50-most-delicious-foods-012321