Do Thai People Actually Eat Pad Thai? And your other questions!

We have another AMA with all of your burning questions all about Thai food, and some about me!
JOIN US ON PATREON AND HANG WITH ME THE DISCORD: / pailinskitchen
RECIPES MENTIONED:
Authentic Pad Thai: hot-thai-kitchen.com/best-pad...
Green Curry: hot-thai-kitchen.com/green-cu...
Red Curry: hot-thai-kitchen.com/red-curr...
Hainanese Chicken Rice: hot-thai-kitchen.com/easy-hai...
Shrimp Paste Fried Rice: hot-thai-kitchen.com/shrimp-p...
00:00 Introduction
00:30 How to know if a Thai restaurant is "legit"
02:39 My biggest pet peeves
04:24 How to cut vegetables so they're pretty
06:36 Have I changed my cooking habits as a mom?
07:42 Do Thai people eat pad thai?
09:24 Is there anything I won't eat?
10:01 What is the difference between red and green curry?
10:57 How to cook multiple dishes in a meal without them going cold?
14:19 Lightning round
MY KITCHEN TOOLS & INGREDIENTS: kit.co/hotthaikitchen
WRITTEN RECIPE: hot-thai-kitchen.com/
MY COOKBOOK: hot-thai-kitchen.com/htk-cook...
CONNECT WITH ME!
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----------------
About Pai:
Pailin “Pai” Chongchitnant is the author of the Hot Thai Kitchen cookbook, co-host of a Canadian TV series One World Kitchen on Gusto TV, and creator and host of the KZbin channel Pailin's Kitchen.
Pai was born and raised in southern Thailand where she spent much of her "playtime" in the kitchen. She traveled to Canada to study Nutritional Sciences at the University of British Columbia, and was later trained as a chef at Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in San Francisco.
After working in both Western and Thai professional kitchens, she decided that her passion really lies in educating and empowering others to cook at home via KZbin videos, her cookbook, and cooking classes. She currently lives in Vancouver, and goes to Thailand every year to visit her family. Visit her at hot-thai-kitchen.com

[@camdacop]

I look for a picture of the Thai king somewhere in the restaurant when I'm seeking authentic Thai food. Has never failed.

[@scottboettcher1344]

The "cash register Buddha" covered in coins is less reliable. 😉

[@jJ-yr7wj]

Woww. You are an expert!

[@stsotika]

I agree it’s like magic when the restaurant have a picture of Thai king they always have delicious food !!! 😂😂

[@surlespasdondine]

@@jJ-yr7wj lol😅

[@angiel3693]

The first time I saw the king’s picture I asked the waiter who that person was. The answer got me so confused 😅

[@Kairikey]

As a Thai, I do eat pad thai. We all do eat pad thai, but not all the time. It's just a dish. It became the national dish because the government said so. A very generalized history ofnit is that they invented the recipe during the time where Thailand need strong identity to escape colonialism plus the rice shortage due to wartime was real back then. The dish that is more ubiquotous that people really do eat more all the time is Pad Kaprao.

[@stephanesivilay1516]

Second that !

[@Jeffffrey0902]

That turned out to be a success as Thailand is the only SE Asian country that has never been colonised. But I don't understand how the dish helped fight rice shortage as the noodles themselves are made from rice.

[@willowpitbull47]

Rice noodles are lighter than rice. In other word, noodles have lesser density than rice. A large portion of rice noodle gives an apparent of a large meal. add the fast growing bean sprout to it. You can feed more people.😄

[@jJ-yr7wj]

@@Jeffffrey0902 Wow you know that Thailand is the only SEA country never been colonised. I am impressed with your knowledge and feel honoured at the same time. Thanks. Pad thai was invented during the time of PM. Plaek (จอมพล แปลก พิบูลย์สงคราม) He was the PM during WWII when there were many turmoils from political unrests after the revolution from absolute monarchy to democracy, food/supplies scarcity in WWII, to the spread of communism. ( Well, colonialism was not really a serious threat by that time because the western countries had jumped into WWI&WWII and became weaker. The colonialism was a "HUGE" threat around year 18xx long before the WWI and we Siam (old name of Thailand) pretty much avoided being colonised by executing the King Rama V's strategies. ) PM Plaek thought nationalism was the key to strenghten up the country. So he launched many policies based on the idea of nationalism. For example, changing the name of country from Siam to Thailand, so-call-modernising citizens' way of life (and of course inventing a national easy dish Pad Thai), simplifying Thai language, etc. Some policies' consequences are given up and some still live on. Why Pad Thai? The word "Thai" was used because of the nationalism. Noodle was used because it's cheaper than the whole grain rice. Noodle can be made from broken grains.

[@Jeffffrey0902]

@@jJ-yr7wj I feel embarrassed because I didn't get good grades in history. 🙈 But since I'm from Hong Kong, a former British colony, it's nice to know a few things about colonialism in Asia. Thanks for answering my question about the noodles. Have a great weekend! 😁

[@tabacum2]

I was in a small dirt road town in Kanchanaburi and my mototaxi driver said his wife could make me Pad Thai if I was hungry. I thought he was stereotyping me as a farang that only eats pad thai, but turns out his wife ran a street stall that specialized in pad thai made to order. Best I’ve ever had. I can attest that it is a real thing in Thailand!

[@andyandy2629]

I have lived in Thailand for 20 years and yes Pad Thai exists and there are market stalls that sell it but it is far down the list.

[@kirksulu]

I'm Thai and I love good pad Thai. I don't know why people think that Thai people don't eat padthai, which baffles me. Thai people do eat padthai, but we don't eat padthai everyday, just like we don't eat curry every day, or we don't eat pad krapow everyday. Also, Thai people eat padthai as a stand alone dish, and it is a one person dish, we don't share padthai. Maybe this is the reason why foreigners don't see Thai people order padthai in Thai restaurants. In proper Thai dinner, all dishes like curries, tom yum kung, tungtong, todman, etc. are put at the center of the table and to be shared by everyone, and everyone have their own plate of rice. So it's kind of weird ordering padthai for yourself when you're supposed to be having shared meal with everyone else.

[@caitlindunnington5711]

I literally saw a video the other day with millions of views saying, I am a thai person and no one here eats pad thai, we eat pad kee mao instead. So probably supposedly thai people who say thai people don't eat pad thai is why!

[@Bixmy]

From my experience most people eat padthai like once a year or at most every quarter. Theres exceptions on a few who really like it and have it every week.

[@Bixmy]

Hard to compair it to pad krapao or other dishes. It might be a gen z kind of thing thou. Alot of gen z never even tried padthai b4

[@heshuimu]

It's just maybe because people are getting more culturally sensitive and things starts to get overcorrected. it's similar to Chinese food where a lot of my non-Asian friends in US now would usually be joking that is not real Chinese food when discussing my heritage -- which it's half-true because dishes like 糖醋里脊(TangCuLiJi) and 咕咾肉(GuLaoRou) do exist, but they are not in the form that Panda Express and P.F. Chang serve, and certainly not what Chines people eat everyday given the abundance of choices. We just need to keep educating people on the nuance of each cuisine so that people have a full understanding.

[@jensayles4163]

My Thai family eats padthai but not often. Much less often then other street foods like pad see ew, pad Krapao,and Khao man gai. And they prefer fish and fish and more fish in every form! It’s like if you they see a good padthai cart and it’s lunchtime, you’re going for it. Honestly it’s not that easy to find now. In the 90’s most bak soi markets had one padthai cart. Not anymore.

[@SL-vs7fs]

“A plate of stereotype…” You have finally nailed this for all the cuisines out there. A great public service. Thank you! 👏👏👏

[@stormybear4986]

Stereotype is a good way of describing Pad Thai for the tourists. People were always surprised when I would ordered real Thai food in Thai, my ex wife taught me to speak Thai with a bit of an accent from Southern Thailand. My Thai is very strong though I'm a little rusty now, I left Thailand in 2001. But I love to practice my Thai when I go to Thai restaurants locally. I'm a big burly white guy, but my Thai is really good. Only problem, the waitresses try to catch me for a boyfriend/husband, I almost hate telling them I'm gay and I already have a husband, But I've already had two wives and that's enough for one lifetime.

[@PettyPrinzeJr]

omg I have never heard anything more accurate in my life when describing "Thai" menu items at non-Thai restaurants lmao

[@ladyteruki]

I've seen a grand total of 3 videos from you in the past day and I'm already in love with your sense of humor. The "how about a zucchini" delivery was perfect.

[@PailinsKitchen]

Hahaha, I'll let you know when I have a standup show.

[@susanmcmasterson956]

That really made me laugh! I’m new to this channel as someone who’s become quite Thai-curious as of late and I’m loving it. Thanks Pailin!

[@junbecks]

Thats why Ive been a viewer for more than a decade! You learn to cook these dishes and you get some laughs

[@tavitlertritsumpun7160]

@@PailinsKitchen You always stand up to cook!

[@tv-21]

I love bittermelom! Bitter flavor tastes so good 😋 😍 😜 😊 😩

[@donaldcornwell1151]

Thank you for addressing the bread and butter issue. I don't feel alone in my struggle now. LOL

[@PailinsKitchen]

#stopthecoldbutter

[@neilpickup237]

Sometimes, I think they must put it into the freezer to make it extra hard for their amusement!

[@sybilseung]

If you watch Succession, there is a line in the show about how ‘the butter is frozen’. 😂😂😂

[@TheEmperorsSidekick]

All they really have to do is serve warm bread. But, alas, restaurants have been getting stingier.

[@bkm2797]

I've been complaining about it for decades lol, you see how much some things never change.

[@CHOCOLATIONZ]

I’m Thai and I’d like to second this. I like to eat Pad Thai but only from time to time. That’s because we Thai people have so many options to choose to eat. But whenever I crave Pad Thai, I go find and enjoy a nice dish of Pad Thai.

[@JKenjiLopezAlt]

Let’s do something sooner than later!

[@noodler7764]

pleeeeeeeeeaz

[@Serenity_Dee]

I NEED THIS

[@SL-vs7fs]

Why aren’t there more 👍 ?? We need them.

[@surlespasdondine]

We stayed in Thailand for 3 weeks and I already miss the food and the people so much. I tasted so many different dishes. 😋 And I love Thai values and respect we can learn from in the West.

[@57thorns]

When you said that thing about geniune Thai restaurants I had to check one of my favourites. It is located in a very small Swedish village (we have a lot of Thai immigrants, there is decent Thai practically everywhere) but this one is exceptional. So I decided to check the details of the menu and yes, they have a lot of nonstandard items, and nothing in the way of sushi or other non-Thai Asian food. Now I am even more looking forward to my next work trip there in a few weeks.

[@57thorns]

Also, my take on "genuine food" is that the food need to be eaten in the right environment. That divine light white win you sip in the shade in Mediterranean summer can become a sour, watery mess in winter in the Scottish mountains. I think the same is true for produce, they need to be grown reasonably close to where they are used, in the right soil and climate. That said, you can get delicious food that is _not_ "genuine" but still reminds you of the dishes you miss from home. (In a world where I spend a decade abroad that might happen).

[@melissalambert7615]

The broccoli in in the photo, yes. Thought you were going to mention the no spoon. The places that have one "Thai" dish and it's got peanuts cracked me up! My Greek friends go crazy with a "Greek" dish that just has feta in it. Thanks for the tips in setting up a full meal.

[@zakuradragon]

I asked the same question about bitter melon to my family during my childhood years. But over the years when I grew older, I enjoy eating recipes with bitter melons and somehow bypass the bitter taste. It has a lot of potent vitamins and health benefits that cannot be underestimated!

[@whydoineedanameiwillneverp7790]

​@@user-ph3ji8gp3pTastebuds just vary, I think I love bittergourd (same thing as bitter melon as far as I can tell) - and always have, even as a very young kid. Like, I have eaten sauteed bittergourd straight out of the fridge as a snack, in my childhood. My parents OTOH _hate_ it, and always have. They had to be forced by _their_ parents to eat it, well into adulthood (because good for health, etc). Once their parents passed, mine just stopped eating it, lol.

[@Johnne009]

We Chinese soak them in alkaline water before cooking to get rid of the bitterness

[@JC-life-is-good]

Yeah, I never really like the taste of bitter melons. My mom would cook these with the melon stuffed in the middle with ground pork in a soup. I guess people eat available things and continue to eat them even though they are not tasty. Look at stinky tofu! I tried it three times and still can't stand them. As someone stated before, why not just eat regular tofu!

[@bravery2047]

Bitter melon is good when you can taste the kind of slightly sweet aftertaste. It's like when you drink good plain tea or coffee, when you feel the kind of refreshing "sweetness" afterwards. Also, if you make it less bitter then add other strong tasting things to it, like stir fry it in fermented black-bean sauce with beef, or cook it with salty duck egg, or drip honey on cold crunchy bitter melon, the refreshing taste of bitter lemon makes a fantastic combination with the strong flavor.

[@m.taylor]

What I like about this channel is that you make an effort to reply to commenters' questions in older videos, even if it is to direct them to contact you thru other means.

[@melodyleong]

I used to hate bitter melon. But it once in a restaurant here where thinly sliced bitter melon (like strips with a mandolin), soaked in ice cold water to make it crunchy, and then dip in honey before eating. SOOOOOOO GOOOODDD

[@ezura4760]

My favourite was in Ghangzhou where it was served super fresh and pure blanched with a side of soya sauce and fresh chilli dip. I devoured almost the whole plate!

[@score2high]

I can totally relate to your pet peeve about dishes being called 'Thai' for no legimate reason. Mine is similar and it's about dishes being called Hawaiian just because it has pineapples in it. Pineapples were brought into Hawaii, so it's not even a native plant. Or worse yet, calling everyone in Hawaii a Hawaiian. It is being very disrepectable to the native people of Hawaii that has Hawaiian blood. I was born and raise in Hawaii, but don't call myself Hawaiian because I am not. Mahalo for this great Q & A!

[@Jeffffrey0902]

And the Hawaiian pizza was invented in Canada…

[@kibaanazuka332]

Favorite quote from a teacher of mine: "What makes this pizza California?" "We just put avocado on it."

[@score2high]

@@Jeffffrey0902 There's no such thing as a Hawaiian pizza!

[@aoibhealfae]

oh... add on the the pictures, Thai food presentation. Usually there's a harmony with genuine Thai dishes especially in restaurants and sometimes in street foods. It's always aesthetically please. Like even with basic mango and sticky rice, sometimes there's different colors of sticky rice (mixed with pandan or palm sugar) or like in Som Tam, you get a mix and splashes of warm colours .Sometimes you get fruit cuttings that's closer to fruit carvings. I went to a restaurant in Krabi that plated their raw vegetables and sambal belacan with pea flowers.

[@johnnypetro9314]

Excellent. All the questions were interesting. Also, the skill of smearing cold butter on bread is something Americans learn at an early age and then never think about again.

[@DarDarBinks1986]

I'm American and I don't smear butter on bread. For me, butter is more for frying food or for use in baking.

[@johnnypetro9314]

@@DarDarBinks1986 What do you put on your bread?

[@charliep9066]

Also, you should try a North Indian dish called Punjabi Bharwa Karela (Punjabi Stuffed Bitter Melon). It's fried and stuffed with caramelized onions and spices. Most of the strong bitterness is in the seeds, and they are often removed. However, some people like the crunch and extra bitterness and keep them in. I think the sweetness from the onions and heat from the spices tempers the bitterness to a more pleasant level. It goes well with roti or paranthas. I was trying to leave a link to a website with a recipe, but KZbin keeps deleting my comment - hopefully this one sticks.

[@stevef.8708]

Bitter melon is great! Try Okinawan Goya Chanpuru with lots of kōrēgūsu (chilis infused in rice alcohol) is fantastic and may change your mind. ❤

[@IdiotWithoutBorders]

Taco rice > Goya champuru

[@VicBattlefield]

🥦Poor broccoli! This was a very interesting and entertaining video as always, Khun Pai. Thank you!

[@kibaanazuka332]

One of my favorite Thai restaurants uses broccoli in some dishes, but they use Chinese broccoli instead of regular broccoli. Which is a different taste & texture than regular broccoli.

[@AndreaszTP]

Bittermelon straight up steamed is so bad but if you remove most of the bitterness it works really well with other strong tasting ingredients. My mom usually make a spicy bittermelon stir fry with a lot of dried anchovies it's surprisingly really good, it becomes almost like a condiment where you only take a little bit of it to eat with rice and other protein. I used to hate bittermelon in any form but this changed my mind 😂

[@danielcrafter9349]

Put it in Filipino Tinola or Tagalog Pinabek Or fry with tomatoes and garlic, then stir in mixed eggs - amazing scrambled eggs 😂

[@therenaissanceredneck8825]

Cold butter is one of mine too! I was raised on a farm in NC, USA. We always had room-temperature butter. Love cooking SE Asia and you give me great ideas. SEA has some wonderful SE Asian restaurants. What are some suggestions for people that visiting your lovely city?❤

[@lofiben]

I totally agree with taking a look at the menu to find out if a place is authentic or not but I do think the demographics of the area really do influence what you'll find on the menu. My parents owned several restaurants all in different areas and catering to different demographics. The first one was in a white-majority area so most of the food we served was basic Thai food with Americanized Chinese food to stay in business. The second one was in an Asian majority area and we served much more authentic Thai dishes like guay jub. I admire those who are brave enough to add more unique and less common Thai dishes to their menus but in the end, but it all depends on whether the people around there will want to eat them or not.

[@ratihcahyani9438]

Great AMA, Pai! I especially love your demonstration on prepping multiple foods at a time. I imagine this can be for those weekly meal plan thing.

[@palespectre]

Really appreciate you, Pai! Love Thai food and learned a few from courses in Thailand, your recipes are great and one of the ones I check when experimenting . Thank you for sharing so much.

[@OPSteel97]

Your energy is infectious! Makes me want to cook new things!

[@stormybear4986]

She seems to be a genuinely happy person. They don't call Thailand "The Land of Smiles"for nothing!

[@callahanv]

Great Q&A thank you!!! I learned so much in 15 minutes. And so excited to hear you and Kenji are doing an IRL event in Seattle, can't wait to hear more about it.

[@MichMichMe]

“Why do we grow these things?!” 🤣. Personally, I have a similar feeling about oysters. Love your channel❤️

[@padders1068]

Pai! Thanks for sharing, educating and entertaining! ❤

[@eldoradocanyonro]

I absolutely concur on the bread and butter issue--I'll take the butter and place it on top of something warm for a few minutes and get back to it later. Oftentimes the basket of bread is toasty warm and wrapped in a towel, which is a nice warm place for my cold butter....

[@nataliechongtai6430]

You are great. I 100% agree with you about serving cold butter! You always make me LOL. Keep telling it like it is!

[@phoenixr6811]

My favorite one stop favorite Thai expert🥰 when I started watch your channel, I have learned to love and appreciate Thai food.

[@nobeliefisok9174]

Good to know Pad Thai is a lot like Brisket in the USA. That's how I imagined it, a good tasty dish that people do really like, but they dont eat it all the time. And restaurants have to put extra effort to include on the menu.

[@PailinsKitchen]

Totally!

[@willowpitbull47]

While in school, I worked at a Thai restaurant. The owners told us to always recommend "Pad Thai". One day, I asked "why?" He said the ingredients are cheap, it was the most profitable food.😅

[@CameronsCookingChannel]

I'd imagined Pad Se Ew was the cheapest. A restaurant near me charges $19 for either Pad Thai or Pad Se Ew. One comes with tofu, onion/chives, egg, peanut, sprouts and lime... The other is just a similar portion of noodles with egg broccoli and sauce. @@willowpitbull47

[@rattapoomkotchapong1674]

Padthai is one of those thing that occupies half the kitchen. Too much work for something that peopel don't order too often. You want Padthai, you go to Padthai place.

[@marikawieliczko6902]

What a great video, like all your other videos! So glad I discovered your channel recently 😊

[@eralundberg928]

Lovely to get your personal opinions and views on a lot of great topics ✨️ interesting and a lot to learn from. Always loved your recipes 🎉

[@bobdavis1168]

Outstanding , Outstanding , Outstanding !!! Thank you so much !!! Your sense of humor is greatly appreciated !!!

[@ingfakirata2132]

I'm Thai but who wasn't a pad thai lover since I was born. One day, my life changed ever because I tried a bite of Pad Thai in Somtum restaurant at Mega Bangna, Bangkok. The restaurant's name is Tum Tum. It's my the best pad thai so far!

[@Ethan54136]

I loved when you mentioned using restaurant candle to either melt butter or toast the bread. Made me laugh but it's so true!

[@drypotatoandjam4180]

I love these types of videos ❤

[@jasminnat]

Thank you for the tips for cutting veggies. 😍

[@IrnBruNYC]

More videos like this, I learned a lot!

[@blackdog850]

Absolutely fantastic, perfectly delivered video! Love you channel! 😃

[@jhy8191]

I love what you said about disliking seeing one Thai dish at a non-Thais restaurant. I feel the same whenever I see any random Thai, Chinese, Indian, Japanese etc. dish at a Western restaurant, except I've never verbalize why I dislike it as well as you did.

[@Azshmo]

This was wonderful and I learned a lot! Thank you :)

[@joshdaniels2363]

I think part of what's behind those pad thai questions is that folks are wondering whether it's an "American" Thai dish in the way that most of what Americans find on "Chinese" menus isn't really "Chinese" but "American Chinese."

[@Maritime_Homestead]

So thoroughly enjoyed this video!!

[@dianahenderson]

I just discovered your channel...and I love your sense of humor! I can now see more Thai food in my future.

[@ficus3929]

Woo so glad you shouted out Siam sunset! Great place and I feel like LA is blessed with so many good Thai places.

[@-RONNIE]

Thank you for the Q&A video 👍🏻

[@JorgHinrichsen]

One thing missing from the 'How to know if a Thai restaurant is "legit"' was your comment from the Prik Nam Pla video. "That if I'm in a Thai restaurant here and I asked for it, and they don't know what I'm talking about. I am walking out." Something I have started to look out for, since I watched that video.

[@johnr1348]

Another great video! Thanks Pai!

[@mendex2006]

amazing video as always!

[@fajarsetiawan8665]

One of the best Pad Thai I've ever had was from a university canteen in Mahidol University's Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities in Salaya. And even though I'm foreigner, this Pad Thai was also madly popular between local students. The line was usually so long the vendor had to limit the order to 20 buyers with 1-2 orders of Pad Thai each.

[@damobdaking]

You inspired me to get a rice cooker, and life is so much better. So big thanks

[@brandon3872]

Great questions and answers! What's your favourite cuisine, or dish from another cuisine?

[@Peter-cm8vi]

Thanks Pai, great advice as usual. Regarding the first question, I was advised to just order yam woonsen and see if it was good. Anyone else have a benchmark dish suggestion?

[@PailinsKitchen]

If there was a benchmark dish it should be pad thai, because 95% of the time it's bad so if it's good, there is hope.

[@Peter-cm8vi]

I just had the worst pad Thai in the Bangkok airport. I had the best pad Thai in Karon Beach, Phuket.

[@shannijones4587]

I bought the cookbook! I love it!

[@ericilagan8697]

please do more thai desserts. 😊

[@zucchinigreen]

She has a playlist on dessert recipes in case you missed it.

[@davehobwest]

From a falang on the ground in Thailand (กรุงเทพ, ธนบุรี represent, yo!): Pad Thai is a little hard to find sometimes because, as you said, it's kind of a specialty item i.e. fried noodle stalls are not that common in smaller markets. Thais will definitely line up for it if one is there though. The go-to that everybody eats, and you can find a stall selling it in every market, is Pad Ga Prao. (Make mine หมูกรอบ please.) Although as a falang, it's really hard to get the vendors to make it spicy enough. Takes me about three trips to the same vendor to get them trained up. ;) A problem in กรุงเทพ, not a problem in อีสาน lol. Speaking of spicy, I've found it really difficult to find a true red curry. Prik Geng or Prik Geng Pao, no problem, but those are usually stir-fries, not true (saucy/soupy) curries. I even had one vendor at a curry table (you know: the ones where they'll have multiple trays of different curries spread out and just spoon you out a bag on order, with no chance to de-spice it to falang levels) *refuse* to sell me her red curry. "Too hot for falang, you have this," and gave me something else. Lol. This is Thailand, as they say.

[@jJ-yr7wj]

555 your comment gave me a good laugh. Cool! :)

[@AliciaGuitar]

You are so right about not trusting us to be able to tolerate spicy food 😂 i went thru the same with my Mexican family. You gotta prove yourself. Only Mexicans tend to think its funny to overspice foods... its sweet the Thais dont want to cause harm 🥲

[@davehobwest]

Oh no. The Thais will definitely bring the pain if you ask for it, then giggle and point at you while you suffer. But they only do that once they've gotten to know you, even then just occasionally. It's just for laughs and all in good fun. They're still sweet, but make no mistake; they can and will light you up sometimes.@@AliciaGuitar

[@CraigCruden]

@@AliciaGuitar Some yes, some no... I find Bangkok and tourist areas to be more problematic when ordering spicy food as there are too many tourists who think they can handle 'spicy food' and really can't. Up in the north east I find they don't really question whether you can or can't they make it as you order it... though I find for Papaya Salad just telling them how many chilies works well. When cooking Pad Grapao at a vendor where you interact with the cook - you can indicate more after they show you how much is going in as a default and it works out. When going out with Thais, I let them do the ordering anyway as I know my knowledge of what dishes complement others in a meal properly is lacking... and they know that I have no problem with tolerance (with the odd exception).

[@annettespradlin4945]

Yes. I am half Thai. My mom made papaya salad often and we loved it. In Las Vegas, I found a Thai restaurant that became my favorite Thai restaraunt in Las Vegas - Ocha. Better than Lotus Siam. So authentic. On my first visit, I ordered pad thai. Being smug, I asked for the highest spice level. It was so tasty, but almost unbearably spicy. I asked for a pitcher of water. The server thought it was so funny as did the white guy at the next table. He saw I was an amateur, lol. He was laughing and chomping on hot peppers while I was crying hot flames from my eyeballs. It didn't matter. I was hooked. They had beef jerky like my mom used to make. So tasty. I would still order papaya salad, but on a lower heat scale. Lol.

[@deniseferron3397]

Melting butter over the candle - now that’s creative.

[@ZeroFox0909]

YESSSS!!! I’m not alone in my hatred of bitter melons! I don’t care how you cut/cook/prep them, IT IS PURE NASTINESS 😂😂😂

[@Zebeeze]

YEEEEESSS! Worst vegetable ever 😂

[@MalReaver]

I loved all of the questions and all of your answers, but when bitter melon came up you made me laugh! I do like bitter melon and all I do before stir frying it is to slice it and sprinkle a bit of salt on then let it sit for 15 minutes and rinse it off.

[@clintj]

Fun video... and so many points are spot on

[@jerry11111]

Bitten melon is popular in some parts of china. We dont get rid of the bitter taste of it but lower it down so it combines well with other ingredients.

[@airreaper1]

Thanks for the answers!

[@ewq123ify]

I love Bitter Melon with soybean paste and chilis in a mushroom broth soup.

[@ewq123ify]

Also thai Lanna in canton ohio has a pork jungle curry

[@nicholasrv8834]

Hilarious. You are always so sweet and "Thai' and "sabai" in all your vids, and suddenly, you go off on hard butter. Loved it. Going to BKK on Wednesday, can't wait for some chicken rice with lots of ginger. yum. (maybe your grandma's? )

[@rainbowgeek3284]

Omg you’re planning to come to seattle!? I’m so excited already!!!!

[@davidfletcher4449]

Some really good tips!!!!

[@StewNWT]

Pai if you’re ever in Melbourne Australia I strongly recommend Yim Yam - best Thai/Laotian restaurant I’ve ever eaten at. So many unique things on their menu - my favourite is the duck crepe with Asian slaw and dill sauce

[@AdamHotThaiKitchen]

Thanks! I'll pass that on :) Cheers! Adam

[@StewNWT]

also the best waterfall beef salad I've ever had

[@billwatters4833]

I noted you were rather scornful about broccoli. I was reminded of the evenings when I sat at my favourite restaurant in Chiang Rai and watched the cook strip the skin of the Pak Kai Lan before cooking it. It was my favourite Thai vegetable. I thought I'd never be able to find it here in the UK but hey, we have long tender-stem broccoli which is almost the same as Kai Lan but not quite. Now I grow a selection of oriental herbs and vegetables my life has become more complete.

[@craznutz4427]

Always good to see someone with the correct take on bitter melon. I had it once in a Filipino dish that included cow bile as one of the ingredients. To this day, I suspect that the bile was in there to improve the taste of the bitter melon.

[@shank.7590]

There's another vegetable called "Chayote" (Thai: ฟักแม้ว, มะระหวาน), its texture is just like bittermelon but it isn't bitter at all. My mom always calls it kid-friendly bittermelon haha

[@thaigen]

7:45 About Pad Thai. For Thai (Local) people, the common / daily dish would be "Pad Ka Prao" (ผัดกะเพรา) and "Khao Man Khai (ข้าวมันไก่)". Also you will never go wrong with Som Tum (ส้มตำ / Papaya Salad)

[@stormybear4986]

Pad Kraprow was one of my favorites as well as Yellow chicken curry. I love it hot like for Thai, when I told them make it Thai hot they looked at me crooked until I assured them I cou8ld eat it super hot. I really learned to love hot spicy food in Thailand. I always especially loved Som dtum gup gai yang.

[@niamtxiv]

Moo tod kratiem or moo krob was my favorite.

[@Nico-vv4pb]

about khao ka moo? I love Thai food and i love khao man khai / som tum / khao ka moo

[@blasianking4827]

@@Nico-vv4pb I'd say Khao Ka Moo is common but a bit less ubiquitous, it's more along the lines of Pad Thai where you have places that specifically serve a set of similar rice dishes like the chicken rice, pork leg (ka moo) rice, etc. It's slightly more specialized, where as Pad Kaprao is very ubiquitous, any cart or place which makes regular Thai food will have it.

[@AndyL940]

I really enjoyed this chat 😂 I’m in Nakhon Phanom right now and enjoying all the food. There is a strong Vietnamese presence here too. My wife ( she is Thai ) and I think you’re videos are great ❤

[@energygal00]

Enjoyed this episode lots, all great questions and what fantastic answers by Pai Lin . Love your videos, Pai Lin. One of my favorite chef of all time. ❤ imagine this, I’m living in Thailand but I look for Pai Lin in Vancouver for my Thai or Chinese dish recipes 😂

[@user-ut4ce1fd8f]

Best instructional cook on Utube bar none, informative, fun, accurate, and authentic, something you see little of in Uk thai restaurant's unfortunately, red and green curry and spring rolls are not staples in thailand :-) Thanks Palin made my day :-)

[@writingraven3314]

This was very interesting. Thank you. Question(s): Is Pad See Ew an authentic Thai dish? And how do you feel about jarred Tom Yum sauces? I bought one at my local asain grocer and it almost tasted like water. Do you have any prepared Tom Yum sauce recommendations?

[@katsybo]

Thanks Pailin💙💙💙

[@ThePrescriptionable]

This color looks really good on you ka!!!!

[@domciancibelli]

Just watched your Q&A. Great. I am addicted to your vlog, your smile, your sense of humor and am jealous of your husband. You are as he knows a beautiful lady AND you cook Thai. Anyway have you ever thought of giving us an overall recipe for a complete Thai dinner for company? An assembling of “these go well together” as a complete meal? That would be killer. A frustrated old Italian man wanna be Thai chef, Dominic

[@AdamHotThaiKitchen]

Hi Adam here - and that's an excellent question! If you want to ask her that one directly rather that put it out to the community though (as she doesn't see the comments on here once the post is more than a week old), you can check out all the options to get hold of her at hot-thai-kitchen.com/contact . (If you send an email I'll see it as well, so say hi :))Cheers!

[@nobodycares112]

Love your cooking!! You gave me the courage to go to my local Asian market and purchase a pork belly with rind and will be following your recipe to a T for that. I know this is not Thai but I wanted to ask becase you are so extremely on point with everything you do. Do you have a recommendation for lumpia in the market? I have had so many let downs trying to purchase "good" ones and NO i am not rolling my own ;) Thank you so much!!

[@AdamHotThaiKitchen]

Hi Adam here - and good question! If you want to ask her that one directly though rather that put it out to the community (as she doesn't see the comments on here once the post is more than a week old as per her note above), you can check out all the options to get hold of her at hot-thai-kitchen.com/contact . Cheers!

[@user-cm8eu1vj2p]

Awesome questions and extremely helpful answers! I lived in BKK for five years and I miss the people and food every day! Your videos are extremely helpful for when I want to recreate legit Thai food in the States....kap khun ka :)

[@n.kirkevans6256]

We need a redo of the SNL "Blue Oyster Cult" sketch with Christopher Walken demanding, "More bittermellon!... I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more bittermellon!"

[@AdamHotThaiKitchen]

Lol - love it!!

[@erickfrago7224]

Hi Pai. I hope you get to meet someone from Okinawa, Japan so you can try an authentic Goya Champuru that uses also Okinawan Tofu. They will explain to you how to enjoy it, bitterness and all. It is an acquired taste yes, but as a Filipino, when i cooked Ginisang Ampalaya (sauteed bittermelon with eggs, quite similar to goya champuru minus the tofu),I prefer to leave the bitterness

[@jackienaiditch7965]

Very entertaining and informative. Oh, and funny! Thanks so much.

[@randyclary8635]

Life after the baby comes along. We all think our lives were full and busy, but after the baby arrived we looked at each other and said "What did we used to do with all the free time we had before?" Thanks for a great video Pai. Oh my, I do like bitter mellon seeded and sliced into half rounds then simmered in mung bean soup. YUM!!! 555

[@joncowley1]

You are amazing! If I want to cook Thai food, I check your videos first!

[@gwillis01]

Hello Pailin. There is a rumor that eating bitter melon helps a person deal with diabetes. Some people say their diabetes is much better after eating bitter melon on a regular basis.

[@greyecologyst4694]

Ugh shrimp paste fried rice 🤤 I would love more adventurous thai recipes like that.

[@lunarpollen]

hahaha 100% agree with the cold butter thing, also used the table candle method to melt the butter countless times!

[@danmccarthy4700]

OK... so I just discovered and subscribed to your channel and have been sort of binging your content over the past week or so. I have to say this is one of my favorite of your videos. The bitter melon rant is hilarious, especially the way you deliver "How about a zucchini???".

[@inspiringsmile]

thank you for all that you do!

[@juliajulia9987]

Bittermellon hater here as well! 🙌🏻 Sometimes I wonder why people even think to eat it. I tried it steamed with meat, stir fried, even my mom told me she already took the bitterness with salt. Nope, still bitter 😂 I rather have raw zuchinni lol

[@polaromonas]

For the second question, I get it. But we as a nation also invented 'American Fried Rice' and 'Kanom Tokyo' among many others. 🤣

[@jJ-yr7wj]

True! :)

[@aroundtheworldin80coffees79]

Thank you for your videos. I've turned a few co-workers onto your noodle dishes. For the next AMA: What regional Thai dish is hardest to find outside of its region? Can you make it?

[@kunkelyeet1738]

Restaurant candle hack is going in the books lol for sure going to use this

[@TulipsToKiss]

you could do an entire rant/vent video about food pet peeves and I'd soak up every second of it lol