What is Phad Thai Anyway?

If you do a Phad Thai image search you will be amazed at how many variations there are. Type "ผัดไทยกุ้งสด" the Thai script for phad thai into google images and again and you will see that even Thai people don't appear to have any definitive concept of what phad thai is. If you look up "authentic phad thai recipe", again various "experts" will tell you their version is "just like in Thailand" or whatever. Most recipes do have some ingredients in common, such as tamarind, palm sugar, and fish sauce, but otherwise it seems to be a free for all.

I've been making phad thai professionally for 25 years in various restaurants,bars and cafes. I first learned to make it from a hippy guy when I worked at a place called Zooey's on Queen West in Toronto in 1990. Since then I've been slowly perfecting it over the years and I've got it down. Everyone loves it, but I'll tell you a secret, it's not phad thai.
Recently I had a Phad Thai Showdown against my friend and accomplished Thai chef Joey in Copenhagen. Both were good, but ultimately most people thought mine was better. I watched Joey make his and it seemed very authentic, and that's the problem. By nature, phad thai is a pretty boring dish. People who love Thai Cuisine expect certain things. Big bold flavours like you get in Tom Yum or Massaman Curry . Phad thai doesn't traditionally have those things. I know what the punters want. I threw the kitchen sink of Thai flavours into my version. Besides the necessary tamarind, fish sauce and palm sugar, I put lemongrass, kaffir, galangal, red curry paste, oyster sauce, sriracha, rice vinegar, and yes, even the dreaded ketchup! Joey's very nice traditional version didn't stand a chance against the Thai food bomb that exploded on my plate.
 I've pulled this stunt against Italian chefs and Caribbean cooks as well, sneaking nontraditional things into their cherished national dishes and coming out on top. There's a lesson to be learned. You don't cook for yourself, or some sacred ideal of what a dish should be. You cook for your customers, and you need to understand what their expectations are. I learned this the hard way from the famous "sheppard's pie incident" in Scotland, which I will relate to you another time. Believe me, you can slave in the kitchen over technique, sourcing the best ingredients, use your grandma's best recipe and put all your love and soul into a dish, but If doesn't match what the customer imagines, or what they are used to eating, the work will not pay off.

 I don't eat phad thai very often in Thailand. There are just way too many more interesting things to eat. Often I hear backpackers and expats scoff at the tourists eating phad thai on Khao San Road. I've eaten it there, and yeah it's not so great. I've also had it at road stands in other parts on Bangkok, like the photo above, that are very specifically not for tourists, and you know what? It's the same. Not so great. In Thailand for the most part, phad thai is a cheap filling dish that will get you by until your next meal. It's like a cheap hotdog, or one of those Jamaican patties you get in a corner store. If you are hungry and want to eat then eat it. The motto cabbie thinks it's alright.

Thip Samai

On my last trip to Bangkok I finally made it to Mahachai Road to eat at the famous Thip Samai restaurant where they have been making phad thai for 50 years. There are actually two phad thai places almost side by side. I tried both, and although they were similar, I think the smaller lesser known place was superior, and I'm not just saying that to be some kind of hipster. It really was better. I think the place next to Thip Samai is called Pad Thai Loong Pha, but I'm not positive. It's about 3 doors down towards Democracy Monument. You can't miss it

Pad Thai Loong Pha

The red stuff in the pot is pure shrimp goodness

The thing that makes these two places unique is the sauce. A bright red stock made of shrimp heads. The other ingredients seem to be the standards, plus preserved radish, and the tiny dried shrimps for extra punch. The phad thai are made in quite large batches, then divided up for both takeaway and the sit down customers. Most people order Pad Thai Haw Kai Goong Sot. This is phad thai with shrimp wrapped in an omelette. It's a great presentation and no matter what recipe for phad thai you use, if you can learn the technique, you are bound to impress. I watched the woman at Pad Thai Loong Pha wrap about 20 portions. I'm going to practice when I get back to Copenhagen.

Learn to do this!

How it is presented

When you cut into the omelette, steam and the smell of rich shrimp essence rushes out. Lime,bean sprouts,chili, and peanuts are on the side to garnish as I did in the lead photo. It very interesting to sit and watch the dozens of phad thais being made and wrapped. The versions of phad thai i had on Mahachai Road were unlike any phad thai I have ever tasted, but although the sauce was as rich as bisque at both Thip Samai and Loong Pha, they were a little bland compared to the dozens of amazing things you can eat in Thailand on almost any corner. That's ok though, because that's what phad thai is meant to be. So what is phad thai? It's pleasant, and a little bit boring. Like a sweater vest, or trip hop music

This woman loves her job

Menu at Pad Thai Loong Pha

American Fried Rice- A Thai Dish

I'm not sure if this is a post about a dish or a place, or an excuse to get all retro and instagrammy with my photos, so let's start with the place.
Newlight Coffee House in Siam Square in Bangkok is not only a restaurant that I go to every time I'm in Thailand, but a place I try to take as many people to as I can possibly convince. I came across it one morning in 1999 waiting for MBK plaza to open. I had never been to Thailand before, but just assumed everyone got up at dawn and the city would be open for business and busy. Not Siam Square. It's a dead zone until 11. I went looking for a coffee and stumbled across The Newlight. I'm very glad I did.

Inside is a place lost in the 60's, The restaurant doesn't appear to have changed in 40 years. The decor, the uniforms, the menu, and maybe even the woman at the cashier! Everyone loves it, because most people expect me to take them to some dark alley and make them eat bugs or something, but here they have a dish even more bizarre and unique. American Fried Rice. A dish that was meant to please American palates during the Vietnam war, it consists of rice fried in ketchup and maybe a bit of soy, that is topped with ham, hotdogs, crispy onions, little pineapple pieces a fried egg and raisins! I'm not sure who decided this was a delicious combo, but it can be found in other old school places throughout Thailand. The blog LoLo-EatableThai has an interesting Chinese take on the place with more info  on the history
 

Newlight has a large menu and has many other items. Pancakes, burgers chicken and eggs with frozen mix veg squares, and my favourite the American Club Sandwich are some of the items you can enjoy with your coffee or strawberry milkshake. If you dig old American style diners, or ever ate in one of those restaurants at the back of K-Marts in the 70's check this place out. You won't be disappointed, especially if your a bit hung over and need a break from crazy Bangkok and spicy food. I can't say that you will love the American Fried Rice, but in a way it's more authentic then gnawing on a scorpion on Khao San Road and probably better as well.

Open Kitchen

Banquet Seating

Great Uniforms Photo from lolo-eatablethai

Groovy Lighting

Khao Soi in Chiang Mai

After experiencing the Loi Krathong celebrations in Sukhothai , we took the bus to Chiang Mai on the 17th of November to see the Northern Thai version Yi Peng. The standard advice during these high tourist times is to book a place to stay ahead of time, which I always ignore. There's always a place right? Not this time. I went to Soi 9 where there are many cheap guesthouses and they were all full. We dropped our bags at a guesthouse cafe, and I went searching for a room. Two hours later after going up and down every Soi we still had no place to stay. I even checked more unusual spots like laundry places and tattoo parlours that had little "we rent room" signs. Eventually I found a quite expensive hotel in the Nimmanhemin area. By that time it was 11pm and we had missed this:

photo from http://www.photoextract.com/photo/424386.html

Remember if you want to be in Chiang Mai for Yee Peng Book Ahead! 

As it turned out the next day was also part of the festival and we spent a nice time down by the river participating in the lantern lighting and general party atmosphere. Really fun stuff. I highly recommend if you plan on visiting Chiang Mai, time it to coincide with this important Thai festival.
 There is lots to do and see in Chiang Mai and we ended up spending a week walking around, sitting in cafes, and going to see live bands at night. My focus is to always try to find a unique regional dish to try, and in Chiang mai it's khao soi.








Khao soi is a coconut milk based curry noodle soup usually containing chicken or beef. Unlike most thai noodle dishes the noodles are made of wheat, not rice. The noodles are served both in the broth and fried crispy and placed on top as a garnish. A side of spicy pickled vegetables, raw shallots, and lime always accompanies the soup.

I tried khao soi in several places. The lead photo is from Kao Soi Fueng Fah, a Muslim restaurant near the night bazaar. It offers some other dishes you might not get to try, like Thai style biryani and nice samosas. I had the chicken version it was quite mild in spice but the pickled veg really kicked it up.


 My favourite spot was a place that came recommended on Travelfish. It's a very unassuming place between the temples of Wat Monthian and Wat Kuan Kama near the North Gate. It's not properly signed and is only open until 2pm. Look for this entrance:

This time I had the beef khao soi. It was much richer and spicier than the other versions I tried, and even though the "pickles" were kind of lame the dish stood out, and "grandma" was really sweet.

 

                                         khao soi is not a particularity difficult dish to find. You see it on menus all over Thailand, but in Chiang Mai it's worth seeking out and finding your favourite spot.

Austin Bush, a quite well known food writer based in Thailand, seems to have an obsession with khao soi. He has a recipe on his blog, and if you wish to make this yourself, try his "How to Make Khao Soi" recipe. It looks like a winner.

"Grandma's" Beef Khao Soi