Pad Thai is not a foreign creation like General Tso’s chicken. “Whenever we try Thai food,” chef and Thailand native Nick Srisawat tells Gastronomica, “we try pad Thai first, because that is a way to judge how good a restaurant is.” Pad Thai is a staple of Bangkok street food and sold in small, Thai villages.
Seventy-five years ago, when Phibun decided to redesign Thailand’s culture by decree, pad Thai barely existed—if it existed at all. Rice with chili paste, leaves, and salt was the staple, subsisten