Why Pad Thai is so Popular

Рет қаралды 13,086

Күн бұрын

Pad Thai is the face of Thai food. It's likely one of the only dishes most people can name from Thai cuisine. For that reason, a lot of people travel to Thailand looking for "traditional" and "authentic" pad thai. But what if pad thai wasn't as authentic as you think? Let's dig into the weird lie behind why pad thai became so popular.
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SOCIAL MEDIA:
Twitter - / itsmatthewli
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Credits:
Producer - Matthew Li
Production Assistant - Mana Chuabang
Script Supervisor - Russ Medcalf
Special thanks:
Nam Jitmun
Olarn Chuabang
Churiya Chaipanya
Pearl Supichaya
Louis Govier
Yusef Iqbal
Yeevonne Lim
Music from Musicbed & Tom Fox
SOURCES:
The Atlantic - t.ly/9kDjf
Atlas Oscura - is.gd/eQDCLg
JohorKaki - t.ly/D89K
BBC - t.ly/sXjcw
Flavors of Empire by Mark Padoongpatt
Timestamps:
0:00 Pad Thai isn't as authentic as you think
1:04 I ate Michelin Guide pad thai
1:57 The history of pad thai
4:08 Why Thailand wants you to eat pad thai
6:25 Eating the best pad thai in Bangkok
7:30 How pad thai became so popular
9:30 Is pad thai becoming authentic?

Пікірлер: 108

@vianabdullah2837 Жыл бұрын

The quality of these videos are actually staggering for a channel that only began a few months ago.

@semzip8558 Жыл бұрын

Seriously!

@DakikFr 11 ай бұрын

That's exactly what was on my mind !! Great job

@coucoubrandy1079 11 ай бұрын

Well, I think that a lot of us learned something ! I shared it with a friend who loves thaï food, and there's even a restaurant here that's called Pad Thaï ! I'm looking forward to more new videos ! Again, brilliant job ! 👏

@Kingofthehill84 8 ай бұрын

Just one tiny problem the vast majority of East Asian and southeast Asian peoples are ethnic Lao peoples though originated from Altaic mountain Mongolia since the Neolithic time.

@trashpanda8437 7 күн бұрын

The dude knows how to make great videos, got a sub from me !

@krish4134 Жыл бұрын

I have to say, for a channel that isn't even that old or big, your editing skills rival that of channels with millions of subscribers!👍🏽👍🏽

@bigoof9486 11 ай бұрын

Side note. Not only they wanted cheaper alt for rice. But the noodles are made out of old rice. So it was easy, cheap, and resourceful.

@RKNancy Ай бұрын

It can also be made from broken rice, the rice that's not fit to cook.

@jif.6821 11 күн бұрын

@@RKNancy AHA! That explains why a rice noodle costs less than the rice itself. Didnʻt make sense at first. Thank you.

@aka-bo6ej Жыл бұрын

Rather than subsituting pork with shrimp or chicken, I think what make Pad Thai distinct are ingredients like tamarind juice and palm sugar, which are hardly seen in traditional Teochew recipes and greatly change the flavor profile.

@goodpandubadpandu Жыл бұрын

This is my new favourite channel, keep up the amazing work. Going to recommend this channel to all my friends.

@selinclayton Жыл бұрын

Thank you, I love every single one of your videos and am amazed by the quality!

@justsomegirlwithoutamustach Жыл бұрын

Finally found you after you being missing from RC anime, honestly just happy to hear your voice on any topic you talk about, love your narration

@raab2616 11 ай бұрын

Came across one of your videos yesterday, now i feel i gotta watch them all. So much quality for such a "small" channel (soon to be big!)

@mindful-trainer 11 ай бұрын

Thank you for sharing this! Amazing video & super informative👋

@rob-neill-aus 3 ай бұрын

Great content - very informative, and super quality narration. Keep it up - IMO the channel will grow based upon the excellent content and story telling, oh and the editing is first rate too..

@Lavszera Жыл бұрын

Thank you for your awesome work! I love not only the editing of your videos, but also the storytelling in general! Please keep up with the great work! And also, this history of Pad Thai is really curious! I'd never have imagine such a popular dish was created by the governament. I know that the governament can affect the way we live in many ways, be it with transportarion, urban planning in general, taxes and economical decisions, but I think this is the first time I hear of a governament affecting the way people eat!

@hirotakafukumoto9000 Жыл бұрын

Thank you for a well edited video. I feel so lucky to be an early subscriber to this channel.

@AHkadawTOM808 10 ай бұрын

Cool bro like your video, its like food and history connecting together hope you make it big man

@VincentImmortal 11 ай бұрын

Stumbled upon your channel because of my Japan research. Subbed because of your dedication of always wanting to learn about food, something we both share. Cheers

@mmps18 Жыл бұрын

I learned so much, thank you!!! Love thai culture and cuisine ❤

@brainwheeze6328 11 ай бұрын

I got into your channel via the Portuguese food video (I think it was a hit here in Portugal). Your stuff is informative and very well produced!

@tammiesspark Жыл бұрын

Awesome history lesson. Well done. Please keep it up.

@xsithspawnx 12 күн бұрын

Love the history lesson and video! I've been on a Pad Thai kick lately and it's really cool seeing how the dish developed in such an interesting way.

@MT-kr8cn 11 ай бұрын

Congrats for your videos, very educational and well made👌....we also, love the story about the Pad thai🙏

@lauracamargo3229 Жыл бұрын

This is one of the most interesting KZfaq food-history oriented channels out there right now and I’m loving eeevery video that comes out !!!! ❤❤❤❤

@jimmychu7609 Жыл бұрын

Hey there! Loving your content. Will you consider doing some stories on the history of Hong Kong cuisine?

@offthemenuyt Жыл бұрын

A definite yes! HK is a place I really want to return to and make videos on

@peterkhotsombath1134 9 ай бұрын

😮 Wow, I can only guess how much time and research put in for this excellent video.

@mr.e212 Жыл бұрын

This is interesting to learn. Thank you

@renatanovato9460 Жыл бұрын

I do agree that a traditional food has to be invented and developed by a ppl or community. And if you give padthai a second thought, it has really been developed by the community. Each one has their special ingredient and ways of making it all over the country.

@eduardochavacano 10 ай бұрын

Thai foods look very cultural. While apparently, it may have been something that was decided for the people by the government, it has become something very cultural. To call it a lie is not very accurate. But makes a good tittle and an interesting thought.

@luxluv1012 5 ай бұрын

Love the content!

@diego-rwix 8 ай бұрын

8:13 You could have written the names of those dishes/food on the screen while editing, that way, we viewers could learn more from your experience and Thai food in geberal, I'd love to see that in future videos. Excellent content as usual. :)

@nazelislam12345 10 ай бұрын

The algorithm is doing its work. Great content.

@Lum9908 Жыл бұрын

Thanks again for the insanely high quality video, can't wait for the next one

@veraciously Жыл бұрын

Been loving this channel. I love food and travel and since COVID haven't been able to enjoy the latter at all. Your videos continue to be informative, fun and inspiring me to cook better at home.

@az197 Жыл бұрын

Hey Matthew, Thanks for producing great food history stories. I really enjoy your work and hope you get a large following. I was wondering if you could post Google map links for all the restaurants you ate at. Not that I haven't paused the video and try to run the image through Google translate to find it... But would be easier

@andrzejszpak688 Жыл бұрын

Early congrats on your 1 million subs. Nice work

@carmonobre802 Жыл бұрын

I Love your vídeos!

@thanhhua7684 Жыл бұрын

Probably one of my new favourite KZfaq food channels. Let’s go

@VienneseCafe Жыл бұрын

Such fun watching your videos!

@stefanbieberach7474 Жыл бұрын

Your channel is literally my fav right now 😂

@SomeNoob Жыл бұрын

The bangers keep on coming

@michaelfung4629 11 ай бұрын

The govt actually wanted people to use Thai ingredients and the dish was developed by entrants. I'm glad you tried cowboy pad Thai.

@samuelfrancavilla5910 Жыл бұрын

Would like to see you take on our italian cuisine! Congrats for the quality videos, always a good vibe

@lexso5877 5 ай бұрын

It is showing how smart Thai leader in that time. Thai government innovated Pad thai to be the nation Thai dish. Cambodia ppl also has their own national dish which innovated in civil war time also. It is called “Polpot rice soup “. Hope you make a clip about Cambodia national rice soup too.

@YumeKakera Жыл бұрын

Excellent quality as always!

@jjkk12229 9 ай бұрын

Pad Thai was never a national dish of Thailand. It was an advertorial dish that was delicious and tasty in western and around the world. We never claimed our foods or tradition was original from us but we adapt and make it better.

@marpintado Жыл бұрын

You are spot on!!! Even the cashew nuts are originated from Brazil!!🤣🤣🤣 Subscribed!!! Give us more!!!

@FredoGallardo Жыл бұрын

I have to agree with the other comments, your editing skills are wild. Love your content

@snobordy Жыл бұрын

Love the coverage of south asian cuisine! Keep them going!

@eryalmario5299 9 ай бұрын

this is weird because national dishes are usually those that commoners eat and chosen by the people which is why it's usually 2 or 3 but they're like no this is our national dish now

@HFC786 Жыл бұрын

Please do the history and history of Jollof which country invented it

@amraouza4937 Жыл бұрын

Banger Episode !!!

@yousiri2427 8 ай бұрын

I’m Thai and Most Thais don’t cook or eat Noodles dishes at home. They prefer to go eat in the restaurant. Noodle dishes are complicated to cook at home. Most Thais eat rice, curry and stir fried dishes.

@martaaos2892 Жыл бұрын

What is the place where you ate at minute 6:50? It looks sooo good!

@offthemenuyt Жыл бұрын

It's here! Pad Thai Narok Taek

@martaaos2892 Жыл бұрын

@@offthemenuyt Thank you! Keep the good work on your videos, they are very interesting! You can come to Sevilla in Spain, there is a lot of delicious food here!

@user-qs5gt6ty6s Жыл бұрын

@@martaaos2892 "Pad Thai Narok Taek" translates as "Hell-Broken-Loose Pad Thai" :-)

@ElaBlu3 Жыл бұрын

I love how this channel is like Vox but for food

@ultra_violet_ Жыл бұрын

Please do!!!

@Mikomido5 9 ай бұрын

Love my Pad Thai 🇹🇭

@Koguma_ei Жыл бұрын

similar to how one of Japan’s most famous cuisine is just Chinese noodles

@YakuiMeido 22 күн бұрын

What's really crazy is that Ramen in China is called Lo-Mein, And in America Lo-Mein is what Chinese people call Chow Mein.

@Koguma_ei 22 күн бұрын

@@YakuiMeido yes and no, LoMein refers to Cantonese stirred noodles, generally soup-less. It is confused in NA with Chow Mein (Stir-fried noodles) which Japanese equivalent would be Yakisoba. The word Ramen comes from Chinese Lamian (pulled noodles), and was originally used to refer to Chinese style soup noodles in general, but today Lamian in China mainly refers Northern style pulled noodles.

@benjaminberrous5795 11 ай бұрын

YOU HAVE AMAZING VIDEOS MAZAL TOV KEEP GOING, TRY NORTH AFRICAN DISHES AND MEDITARREAN FOOD THAT GETS INFLUENCES FROM PERSIA AND INDIA

@wariwanda1 9 ай бұрын

8:37 ตลาดน้ำอะไร เราเป็นคนไทยแต่ไม่รู้จักตลาดน้ำนี้ จังหวัดเรามีตลาดน้ำดำเนิน แต่ดำเนินพลุกพล่านกว่านี้ เราอยากไปแบบนี้ ดูสงบ ดูเป็นธรรมชาติ

@oxoelfoxo Жыл бұрын

wow, noodles were cheaper than rice? where I live 400g of rice noodles is the price of 1kg of higher end rice varieties.

@HK-dw5rk 9 ай бұрын

he mean when ww2

@calex9398 11 ай бұрын

👍

@kirksulu 10 ай бұрын

How far back in history for a dish to be called traditional or authentic. There are new dish created every single day by various cuisines with ingredients sourced from different parts of the world. It's called globalization. That's why when someone from a country created a new dish and become popular, the name of that country is attached to it to give credit to that country that create that new concoction.

@poom323 Ай бұрын

The origin of Pad Thai isn't clear, it's actually exist before Phibun, he just promoted it, some said there are Chinese sell it, and some(even chinese) said, there are Laos sell it as well, and it's not called Pad Thai.

@lakatosalex Жыл бұрын

"the vendor is so hot" ;)

@nokphannaly9554 8 ай бұрын

Found your channel..KUDOS for studying the truth

@fabiancbarrio Жыл бұрын

You will make it :)

@EnneaIsInterested Ай бұрын

I love American Cheese too much to agree, I think firms and governments can make worthwhile food, though the DDR probably isn't the best example of a governments inventing food.

@ESC_jackqulen Жыл бұрын

Another great video! To answer your question, yes, I would consider Pad Thai to be authentically Thai. Yes, it was invented and pushed through propaganda, but the 粿條 was combined with local ingredients such as shrimp and fish sauce to make it distinct from 粿條 you would have from Chaoshan /Chaozhou. It's not century old yet, but in the future it will be, as the locals who bought the propaganda will continue to evolve the dish. P.S. Ironic that you talk about Thai propaganda when your background are all Thai election ads (their election was last week)

@aka-bo6ej Жыл бұрын

Rather than shrimp and fish sauce, I think what make Pad Thai distinct are ingredients like tamarind juice and palm sugar, which are hardly seen in traditional Teochew recipes and greatly change the flavor profile.

@sirisakpansiri233 10 ай бұрын

I agreed that Pad Thai was introduced during Field Marshal Plaek Phibunsongkhram but the fact was Thailand found problem of poverty, lack of food after end of WW 2 and massive flood too. The way to make Thai people having sufficient food by making noodle from rice flour rather than eating Thai rice. There were nationwide campaign to seek the best of noddle dish. Of course, Pad Thai is comfort food for foreigner whilst other dishes like "Pad Mee Korat", "Boat Noodle Soup", "Sukhothai Noodle" are popular dish for Thai people. All of noodle made from rice flour not wheat flour. Except famous "Khao Soi noodle" from Yunnan, China was adapted by adding coconut milk and domestic ingredients the same time too. Lucky for Thai people that they didn't eat cat or mouse in the ally like French during Prussian-French war time in Paris whilst richer consume Elephant meat which were given as a gift from Siam (aka Thailand).

@tsurugi5 6 ай бұрын

thais don't actually like pad thai all that much. We don't even pronounce it like that, it's "pat". If I along with my the rest of my countrymen, had to vote on the "national dish", it would undoubtedly be pad krapow, stir fried holy basil with meat on top of rice with a fried egg. If a dish deserves to be called that, it's pad krapow.

@mexusH 10 ай бұрын

Do Mexican food! Or how Mexican food conquered the USA 🇺🇸

@Tinil0 Жыл бұрын

Great editing and I love your videos, but this one felt a little...surface? Tourist-y? Pad Thai is not really the national dish of Thailand anywhere but outside Thailand, there are other dishes that are much more common and beloved in Thailand. It makes a great street food, but it's mostly sold in touristy areas. Obviously, everyone loves a good pad thai, even Thai people, but still. In addition, some of the script about the rice shortage and desire to switch to noodles is presented weirdly when...their noodles are made of rice. You didn't really talk about how rice noodles are a more efficient use of rice, stretching out the limited supplies and allowing them to use lower quality rice while selling the higher quality rice, you sort of just presented it as if noodles were completely different from rice. Nothing technically wrong mind you, just felt a bit awkward.

@oxoelfoxo Жыл бұрын

i did wonder how processing rice made it cheaper

@Mana13un Жыл бұрын

2:26 lol😂

@jacksullivan289 Жыл бұрын

History of Pad Thai from a cool guy

@WilsonHsie Жыл бұрын

Curious about the map showing Taiwan flag over China

@offthemenuyt Жыл бұрын

That was the official flag of China in 1937 when the full-scale Japanese invasion of China started. At the time the CCP wasn't the official government ruling China, though they were in the midst of a civil war with the ROC during since 1927. After WWII ended, the CCP took control of mainland China, forcing the ROC to retreat to Taiwan (which was just freed from Japanese control). So the current flag of Taiwan was the flag of China a hundred years ago. It's a complicated history!

@WilsonHsie Жыл бұрын

@@offthemenuyt Apart from the part of the flag that you commented on, the rest of the story I already knew because of my father's family, which is of Taiwanese origin. Thanks for answering!

@joeloutridge9129 Жыл бұрын

Yummy food

@thevictoryoverhimself7298 Ай бұрын

Its weird that people get so bent out of shape about "Americanized" or "Westernized" asian food and turn a blind eye to a corn and mayonnaise pizza.

@user-ib3mh7su8h Жыл бұрын

@zzzzzz69 Жыл бұрын

I hear Pad Thai Fai Ta Lu is good

@YakuiMeido 22 күн бұрын

Don't care Pad Thai slaps.

@Muay-MMA 11 ай бұрын

When you're in Thailand, you should also try "Hor mok" and "Papaya salad" because they're the original versions of "Amok" in Cambodia and "Tum bak" in Laos. "Thailand must be as cultured as other nations". This is still true until today. Looking in Cambodia and Laos, you still see Thai cultures dominantly there. Thailand has been absorbing cultures from around the world, then refining and modernizing the cultures since Rattanakosin era into today world-class popular Thai cultures and "Thainess". Its like a melting pot of Southeast Asia, and it's become the beacon of the region. Every year Thailand still welcomes almost 40 millions tourists and this number is expected to go up even further.

25 күн бұрын

i wish, half of propaganda around the world was like pad thai

@kittenastrophy5951 9 ай бұрын

How come making noodle is easier than making rice !? Have you ever cooked rice or made noodle on your own? You got this third tier history quite close along the outline but faulty in the critical points. Nationalism and fear of colonization by the west in Siam has been slowly established decades by the monarchy before the era of Luang Pibun and Japanese invasion or WWII. And the list goes on for the other faulties. I don't see what the point of lying about Phad thai and from who!? Thai people never did the overhype of Phad thai as a super authenthic tradinional and must eat Thai dish . it's the western them self that did. For Thai people Phad thai is just a so so dish you barely eat twice in six month.

@bounnhongsiripannha1151 7 ай бұрын

Pat Thai was not exist ,it was khauh mee that is Laotian dishes .

@milkteaalliance1748 Жыл бұрын

Its a very unhealthy snack dish. I prefer the meat with rice and cucumber dish. Sprouts are not healthy for us just filler and nut sauces are cery unhealthy snack food sugar blast