What You Never Knew About Pad Thai

Pad Thai is not what you think... Thank you Surfshark for sponsoring this video. Go tosurfshark.deals/ANDONG and enter promo code ANDONG for 83% off and 3 months free.
When I hear Thai street food, my first thought is Pad Thai. But the history of this iconic Thai dish is not what I thought it was...
► Become a Patron and support this channel! ❤️
/ mynameisandong
► Andong on Instagram 📷
/ mynameisandong
► Twitter 🐦
/ mynameisandong
► Andong on Facebook 📘
/ mynameisandong
Written & Directed by Andong
Camera & Editing by Eypee Kaamiño
/ eypeekaamino
Research & Production Support by Grace Phan-Nguyen
/ phantagepoint
Spanish subtitles by Daniel González.
/ danielgonzalezlombardi
00:00 Intro
0:50 Chapter 1: Birth of the Thai Nation
4:50 Chapter 2: Noodles for The People
8:40 Surfshark Sponsorship
9:55 Chapter 3: Pd Thai Goes Global
14:00 Conclusion

[@draconbacon6395]

Honestly this cultural depth into food puts you into the top 1% of foodtubers on this platform ... Great job man very inspiring

[@robinvmars6191]

It really does. To my mind his approach represents the pinnacle of what deserves to be called Haute Cuisine as a discipline. Really puts all questions of traditional and modern, technique and enjoyment etc. into perspective

[@chanceDdog2009]

Tasting history with Max Miller is definitely a good compliment to andong...

[@Pontif11]

Foodtube is really great for those into it. Alex French Guy Cooking and Adam Ragusea come to mind as really great creators as well.

[@jeremyszpicki491]

Surely all good german food critics put this effort in?

[@dabbking]

Yeah I had to sub

[@soranuttwilawann8752]

A Thai dude here. I have been following you for a few years, I know the high quality of your content, but this video is just too good it just got my instant like. Very accurate, very well made, and very informative video indeed.

[@mynameisandong]

Much appreciated ❤️

[@omgwth7567]

AGREE. 👍👍👍

[@Cyberia398]

I scrolled down till I found the first endorsement by a Thai person. Wasn’t even going to bother watching unless it was vetted! 🙏 Thank you!

[@alexdee5341]

Dear Thai brother, Your ancestors' Pad Thai recipe made my family (especially my father) crave for Thai food almost everyday. (Thank you) From your Filipino brother.

[@experimentalprogramming1758]

@@mynameisandong Red Velvet Cake seems to have a surprisingly interesting story. I would love to see a video from you about that. This video is awesome 👏 Great Work! I am personally interested in the true story of the consumption of olives and olive oil as well, if inspiration for either of those subjects presents itself to you. Thanks! 🙏

[@Poohze01]

I was living in Sydney when Thai restaurants first started opening (sooo old...), and it really was a magical time for us foodies! Apart from the glorious new flavours and aromas we were blessed with, all the other restaurants in the city suddenly had to lift their game. I'd argue that the introduction of Thai food resulted in a renaissance in Sydney cuisine, and ultimately the whole country.

[@snuscaboose1942]

Not long after the success of Thai restaurants, we also got more Vietnamese restaurants that seemed to ride on the Thai wave.

[@Poohze01]

@@snuscaboose1942 Yes, that's right. It was a good time for tastebuds!

[@TekniCaliSpeakin]

I'm in Southern California and I can agree. We have cuisines from all over the world and Thai food is the most consistent. Finding a bad Thai spot is actually pretty tough.

[@XintaiBONG]

As a thai person who spend most of his life abroad, I can say that it’s almost second nature for us to work/open a restaurant. There are a lot of unofficial support networks of thai (legal/illegal) immigrants. Need a chef, have my aunt she used to work in one but now she is semi retired. Need a server hired an international uni student; they would always do it for a good meal and decent pocket money. Need a really specialized ingredient? It’s ok my uncle is going home to visit his niece he will carry it for you from Thailand.

[@timdella92]

Not Thai but have been working in a Thai restaurant for 6 years. This so so accurate, even for the most famous Thai restaurants.

[@trafsq]

Fun Fact : The name Plaek of Plaek Phibunsongkhram means “Strange” in Thai since his ears look strange when he was born. In other words, Thailand had “Marshal Strange” decades before Marvel had “Dr. Strange” :p

[@vorawanc5015]

I can confirm. Ever since I was a kid, I always think his name is weird... literally.

[@rexx23ify79]

Wait really? It's "Plaek" in Khmer too

[@agentorange5695]

Songkhram also means "War", Another Thai Guy here

[@mishtrong]

Mom, can we have Dr. Strange? No, we have Dr. Strange at home. Dr. Strange at home:

[@karebu2]

@@agentorange5695 what does phibun mean?

[@AyaraVanda]

Great work! I'm a Thai chef and restaurant owner. Biggest contribution of the Thai government in the mid-90's was providing loans to Thais opening restaurants overseas. I believe it was called something grand like, "Thai - the Global Kitchen to the World" - it was certainly responsible for the boom in Thai restaurants across the US. As for Thai Select certification, for restaurants to be approve - one has to commit to using Thai products and ingredients. This commitment comes in form of an application that gets renew every few years. There is no inspection. Simply, send an application, it gets reviewed, and you get certified.

[@fannyalbi9040]

your restaurant benefited from the grant?

[@susanaaragorn8606]

But how do they get the Thai ingredients?

[@freshandzestyfood5033]

A Thai restaurant opened up in my city a few years ago with no pad Thai on the menu. After about a year he added it to the menu, turns out with a few months he told us it was by far his best selling dish. He would tell the customers that it was the original 1939 recipe. Now you've given me the history! Thanks.

[@ddobefaest9334]

Phibun is also responsible for introducing the spoon and fork as the customary eating utensils for Thailand. (According to his son, that was to make it harder for the Japanese to amalgamate their chopstick using cooking culture into Thailand if they ever took over. But as usual, it could just be his idea of modernising.) Also, one of this twelve mandates was for people to stand to attention for the new national anthem his propaganda minister had designed, every 8 O'clock in the morning and 6 O'clock in the afternoon. This is the same anthem used today! In case you felt the lyrics were a liiiiiitle bit fascist sounding XD And yeah, even though he did lose power at the end of world war 2, he took power back again in a coup d'état years later until his subordinate took him out in a coup in 1957. XD

[@peterpansplayground]

@@ddobefaest9334 what interesting history! are you from there? :)

[@asortdcookie]

@@ddobefaest9334 They still play the national anthem in public in some places. Everyone stops and is silent for it. Happened when I was in Surat Thani about a month ago, but I've never seen it where I live.

[@peterandersson3812]

I had customers from Thailand visiting Sweden in 1993. They were polite and very nice, but extremely picky eaters. They hated the canteen lunch. At the time, my town (the second largest in the country) had three Thai restaurants. Two of them were deemed by my customers to be "not good at all" since they were run by Chinese, but they approved of the third. I later visited them in central Thailand and was blown away by the delicious food. I particularly remember the sticky rice that you dip in a hot sauce. Since that time, tourism from Sweden to Thailand exploded, so the demand for Thai food increased. Many male tourists married Thai women and brought them to Sweden where a good amount of them opened restaurants. Now there are Thai restuarants all over, although I feel the early 2000s was the peak with a lot of interest. There's no problem finding ingredients in the supermarkets either, except the fresh tropical fruit that sadly can't be brought to Europe. I really liked this video. You always do an amazing job in talking about the history of dishes.

[@cmbaz1140]

He wil be remembered as the Noodle (ein)führer

[@terryboyer1342]

c@mbaz No noodles for you!!!

[@stevenlk]

That's a good german joke lmao

[@cmbaz1140]

@@stevenlk 😂

[@psstimbatman6646]

I like my humor like my Coffee... Dark.

[@ninjalemurdude]

@@terryboyer1342 This joke is underrated.

[@danushkaaaaa]

I’m from Thailand and can confirm this is very detailed and accurate, at least more that what I expected. Good job, man! Totally impressed.

[@mikedrop4421]

I love food, motorsports and combat sports. You guys take all those things to the extreme! The foods amazing, long boat and scooter racing is insane and your fighters are world class.

[@devilhunterred]

Andong neglects to mention that Pad Thai is actually not purely the invention of the King or his royal chef, but a modification of a very common Southeast Chinese noodle dish that people routinely have for breakfast. If you deconstruct the Pad Thai into its ingredients, specifically tofu, dried shrimp, soy sauce, and the rice noodle, they are distinctively very common ingredients in Southern Chinese cuisine and virtually not used in any other Thai dishes, save for Pad Thai. The only ingredient in Pad Thai that is substantially Thai is the tamarind sauce.

[@D0N0H0]

Fascinating history lesson... wait, you're not actually going to make Pad Thai?

[@pablodelsegundo9502]

Given the militancy around pad thai, I think that was a tactical move on his part.

[@Emperorerror]

He probably will in the next video -- his history and cooking videos are usually separated but connected lately.

[@sanfran5607]

It's true history from Thailand.

[@mynameisandong]

Pad Thai recipe coming very soon! Thank you Surfshark for sponsoring this video. Go tosurfshark.deals/ANDONG and enter promo code ANDONG for 83% off and 3 months free.

[@penguiin12]

andong, i literally sat down with takeout Pad Thai THE SECOND this video went live. wow not even kidding

[@revolutionarycomrade]

Have you heard of Native American fry bread or ‘Indian tacos?’

[@unmanaged]

Hey so paying for a VPN does not protect your data... your just handing it off to someone else... the best way is to host a VPN at home....

[@AbdullaAmeer]

I worked at a Thai Resort in the maldives and we had an amazing Thai restaurant where we got Thai Select status. By going through the process, it’s quite “select” and they are different levels. Also the Thai ambassador to the country even came to the restaurant to award the certification which was very special. If you visit a Thai restaurant outside Thailand it’s worth checking out one which as the certification as it would mean the taste is at least “authentic” or ish as much as possible. Now I live in Thailand and moved here a little over a year ago, I have only had Pad Thai only maybe 2 or 3 times. Let’s just say there are way better options. Let me know if you would like some recommendations 🙏🏽

[@huibuh1966]

@@unmanaged and with your home VPN you can watch American Netflix. Or hide your suspicius surf behavior from your government?

[@sasi1117]

Fun fact : “Plaek” in Plaek Phibunsongkram literally means ‘strange’ or ‘weird’. His parents named him Plaek because when he was born his ears were located way below his eyes level, which considered abnormal compared to the majority of people. Btw you did very well on researching! Some facts I don’t even know even though I am Thai 😂 Subscribed. 👍🏻

[@chesthoIe]

This episode was amazing, Andong. More of this, please. Maybe one about the ancient history of noodles and how Galen's recipe for water and flour was most likely for glue? IDK, you are the boss.

[@sebastiangluck7793]

I learned all that in my studies at university. It's just incredible how you condensed all that stuff in such a short video. I believe the true depth of all this info will be known only later in time though. Very cool, very nice, very informative and needed imho. Thanks for yet another trophy of a video!

[@Sypruskung]

Thai here. This is absolutely accurate! You really did a great job researching and telling this story. Yes, the dish is kinda made up but who cares - it's delicious! Shitty 1usd pad thai is the best hangover food ever. Fun fact for anyone reading, Andong mentioned Phibun told the people how they should say hello, it's "sawaddee". The guy invented the word. We're still using it today of course. Absolute legend of a dictator lol.

[@dtanchayada1886]

true

[@ibec69]

Oh wow, I didn't know that. What was a common way to say hi before that?

[@Sypruskung]

@@ibec69 From what I've read it was more along the line of "how do you do", "what brings you here", "it's noon, have you eaten anything yet" type of question. More of a chit-chat kinda feeling. So Phibun popularize the concept of formal greeting word. These days we use both. In formal settings we use just greeting word 'Sawaddee'. Then in informal settings we stick the greetings before the chitchat question, kinda like "Hi there, how's it going"

[@ibec69]

@@Sypruskung ขอบคุณครับ 😀

[@CaptainSlowbeard]

@@Sypruskung gin Khao maybe? Is that "have you eaten?" My Thai is very rusty and was only very basic but I seem to remember reading in a book it was a phrase for hello but I never heard anyone ever actually say it

[@TheWhiteDragon3]

All of this is _really_ interesting. I'm half Zhuang Chinese, but my elders had been gradually migrating through SouthEast Asia. For example, my grandparents were born in Vietnam, and my father was born in Laos. My elders talk a lot about the shitstorm they left behind in the collapsing former colonial French Indochina, but they never mention the issues happening in Thailand. In fact, they often praise Thailand, since they were the first country that they stayed in that wasn't actively out to get them. Granted, they were kept in a refugee camp in the borderlands and weren't allowed into the heartlands, on account of the commies regularly using smugglers to get arms, saboteurs, and spies into the country, and it's from that refugee camp that they came to the United States. Always really interesting to see history from another perspective.

[@John77Doe]

They came in as Vietnamese refugees?? 🤔 🤔 🤔🤔

[@TheWhiteDragon3]

@@John77Doe Laos, that's where my grandparents married and had their children.

[@John77Doe]

@@TheWhiteDragon3 Laoatian refugee status. 😐😐😐😐

[@TheWhiteDragon3]

@@John77Doe I honestly don't know what refugee status they had specifically. I doubt Thailand had much in the way of paperwork for refugees on the border, and quite a bit of US paperwork has been lost. I do know that one of the former governors of my state funded quite a large effort to get SouthEast Asian refugees into the state, and a local Catholic Church personally funded my family's trip across the Pacific. I also know that my grandfather's social security application listed his birthplace as Sonla, Vietnam. Other than that, I don't know all that much about the details of my elders' refugee statuses.

[@John77Doe]

@@TheWhiteDragon3 I know a Laoatian refugee, who came here as a toddler with her parents and she now works as a nurse. Her family doesn't eat meat. 😐😐😐😐😐

[@reroyd]

The other famous dish "ผัดกะเพรา" (Pad Kaprao) where invented in the same era. Some said it derived from a Chinese stir-fried dish and some said the Dictator held a food competition and Pad Kaprao won the 2nd prize.

[@tthesweetestsinn]

If it's organically developed over time it's not invented

[@Rsama60]

32 years ago I spend a 4 week vacation in Thailand. I did not have Pad Thai a single time. There was so much food variation I never had the urge.

[@desadeleer11]

lucky you...I adore Thai food and in the 20 years I have been going to Thailand I tried Pad Thai once...it was simply disgusting...

[@omgwth7567]

@@desadeleer11 Maybe you've tried the wrong Pad Thai. 😁 (Fun Fact : The most famous Pad Thai restaurant in Thailand has the bad Pad Thai.)​ 🤭

[@mickbotcast]

Pad Thai is hard to find the good recipt as a Thai-Chinese myself I do love Pad-Thai but 70-80% of the street Pad Thai is bad... plainnnnnnn bad

[@studentism]

my mom immigrated here from Thailand in her 20s. it's still one of her favorite dishes. it's not like you're doing an inherently "clueless foreigner/tourist" thing ordering Pad Thai in Thailand (unlike, say, seeking out General Tso's Chicken while visiting China). but yes, it is very difficult to find quality Pad Thai, as @@mickbotcast stated. sometimes, especially with street vendors, seasoning is left to the customer to finish. being able to balance the ingredients in Thai food (here, specifically, sweet, sour, and salty--not all Thai food is meant to be spicy) is non-trivial and easy to mess up.

[@desadeleer11]

Mick,after having the luxury to eat so many amazing Thai-Chinese disches near Yaowarat road Pad Thai would be the last thing I would order.....

[@ovh992]

I am from NYC and can give you the nyc perspective. NYC was famous for its Chinese food - from mediocre to incredible. But in the 90s Thai cuisine came onto the nyc restaurant scene. Thai food really put Indian food out of business in NYC. Indian cuisine was the hip food in the 70s and 80s. It was flavorful but heavy. Thai food was found to flavorful but light! No indigestion for two hours after like with Indian food. Chinese food in response to the Thai invasion, really had to up it's game. Now you see a lot of Chinese restaurants serving obscure food from regions other than Hunan or Canton. The American palate discovered stronger flavors and loved them. Chinese people went from being forced to serve bland food to appease their white customers (oh please no msg!) -to finally being able to bring out their home cooking. Now Thai restaurants are everywhere in nyc because the food is always delicious. My friend and I have a saying "have you ever had bad Thai food?: The answer is no! Even $1 pad Thai sold at summer street fairs in nyc is delicious! Your video editing skills are the bomb by the way. BEYOND professional!

[@Ehrentraud]

What I really like about your channel are these unexpected fascinating stories. Not the 407th instruction how to cook a steak or Lasagna. Keep up making this excellent very original content.

[@zmollon]

I could eat Thai food for breakfast lunch and dinner and never, ever get tired of it.

[@DuelScreen]

I'm waiting for you and Alex to do a crossover. He's currently doing a series on Fried Rice. I can't imagine a better time.

[@mynameisandong]

We already did! Check the Croissant video on my channel.

[@resena7234]

With all the respect, Alex is kinda the embodiment of what is called "food nationalism", the precise thing that Andong is trying to alert and in a way criticize: this idea that some kind of recipe is "authentic" (that is to say the "true version", true from a generic past, from some sort of immutable Tradition of "the people") is not only compatible with fascists regimes, but it is per se dubious and problematic. Andong is not only a food enthusiast, but a Chinese studies scholar (from Germany, in addition), and knows all this very well.

[@stevenkravitz6377]

@@resena7234 Indubitably good sir.

[@heroino89]

@@resena7234 Ah yes, comparing a foodtuber to fascist regimes. That's exactly what I come to the comments for.

[@resena7234]

@@heroino89 Ah no no no, sorry, I really didn't mean that! I was trying to say that they show a different, opposed attitude: Andong is very concerned about historicising the food culture, while Alex at least seems (I don't know him, and so I couldn't know what's behind the persona) much more a traditionalist worried about authenticity. So, in a way, the attitude of the second is way closer to food nationalism than the other. Btw, 'food nationalism' isn't a political ideology. It's just a expression used in anthropology, cultural studies and sociology that indicates the way in which the discourse on food is used to construct a presumed "national identity". I came from Italy and here is just a fact: something as a un-historical 'gastronomic tradition' is used to suggest some national pride by ultra-right wing politicians like Salvini and Meloni, but also to boost a 'cultural pride' (and, in my opinion, the two are dangerously close together) by the generic press and television, first and foremost to develop ideas for tourism. That's it, I wasn't trying to accuse Alex, that I love sooooo much (Im so hyped by his new series on fried rice and I can't wait to see is next try!). I was just suggesting that Andong and Alex, the passion for cuisine aside, they might have little in common in the attitude. Sorry for the confusion!

[@alaskasu9264]

In Fairbanks and North Pole in Alaska, where I'm from, there were 23 Thai restaurants as of a few years ago. The towns and cities in this borough are very small. Fairbanks, the bigger of the two, had, as of 2019, a population of just over 31,500. We love our Thai food and I especially love Pad Thai.

[@gom5799]

My mum told me it was invented so people had food to eat during WW2. Keep up the good work mate, as a British Thai-Chinese I'm loving this food hjstory series and really appreciate you shining a light on thai food. Or rather questioning what could be considered as authentic thai food. Personally for thai noodle dishes I'd rather have a yen ta fo noodle soup or pad si ew with wide noodles for stir fry noodles. Also the meaning of the word "thai" in thai is freedom. So "meuang thai" or Thailand means "land of the free". Which in turn makes pad thai mean "freedom stir fry"

[@tossawatcheng]

Stir-fried, Tofu (Thai ca''ed Taohu it's Chaozhou dialog for tofu),dried shrimp and fish are Chinese also

[@jpallen6523]

The first dish that came to mind for me was Panang curry. That stuff is amazing, although it is very standardized in my area. Thanks for explaining why! Any chance you could do a video about the Scandinavian "meatball rivalry "? Swedish meatballs are the most popular in the states, but Ikea has a lot to do with that I suspect.

[@izaskuncaro5662]

I also think first in curry...despite i cook more often the pad Thai. But the curry was first....

[@fnordpojk]

We also originally stole them from the Turks, apparently, so they're not even particularly Scandinavian. /swede

[@tospolpure7938]

I'm​ Thai.​ Thank you​ for​ great​ padthai history.​ It​ is​ a​ lot​ better​ than​ media we​ have here​ in​ Thailand.​ Heard from​ my​ father​ the​ dish that​ inspired​ padthai​ is​ Cha​kuaytiaw(Chao​ chow dialag)​which​ Thai​ people called​ PadJean or​ Chinese​ stir-fried at​ that​ time.

[@jefflindeman]

Excellent video! Second viewer - first Like! I’ve been the cook for my family for 30 years and started delving into various Asian and Indonesian cuisines a many years ago. Thai is my favorite and I’m fortunate enough to have a long established local supply shop run by a Thai lady (that I swear hasn’t aged a day in the 30 years I’ve been going there!). She has been instrumental in helping me get that “authentic” taste in my own kitchen. Thanks for the video! I will be sharing it on my Facebook page where I often post my gastronomic concoctions for friends. Cheers from Washington state, USA

[@katelynmaylee6633]

Amazingly well produced and super interesting video, Andong!! I love learning recipes AND history from you! One thing I like especially is that you don’t use too many of the same clips/animations multiple times throughout a video... nothing wrong with creators who do that per se, but your originality, effort and breadth of content-within-the-content is impeccable. Thanks and keep up the great work!!

[@RangKlos]

A middle age Thai man and I am amazed by the quality of your research and presentation. My grandfather was the biggest fan of Phibun, so much so he moved his family to the province he planned as a new capital. I remembered my mom telling stories about her life there over our dinner of the famous Thip Samai's Phad Thai she bought on the way home from her office. The dictator was surely loved by many ;D

[@wakjagner]

Andong, I absolutely love your history deep dives. Your production quality on these is always so good! Come for the recipes stay for the histories. Thank you for the quality content, my dude.

[@EthelmiaNoZero]

I'm from Indonesia, and to be honest I've almost never heard of Pad Thai here. At least in my hometown (which is a major city). The most popular Thai food here is Tom Yum, maybe because there's already a lot of noodle based dishes here. Funny thing is, when I went to Thailand for business trip, I don't remember being served Pad Thai... The fish dish and the salad are superb tho.

[@NickPilmeyer]

Just found the channel and loving it. I'm a history nerd and I love to cook, so you giving these cultural backgrounds on these foods really hits the spot.

[@e21big]

Phibul actually held a competition to select a recipe for his Pad Thai so while even though it may started out some where in the dining room, the actual recipe itself was actually made by someone else I think. Also it isn't true that he eliminated Kuey Teow culture overnight, he was actually promoting it but assimilated that aspect of Chinese dishes into Thai mainstream culture (eating Kuey Teow was highly encouraged because it's cheap, nutritious and thus help the people save some money.) This was also applied to a Chinese diaspora in Thailand in general. I am a Thai-Chinese myself and my dad used to tell me about how the government had pressured him to give up our Chinese and clan name and adopt Thai title and practice (it works out for him in the end though, for some reason he was very anti-China modern China that is, far more so than the government today) Fun Fact: Pad Thai wasn't that popular in Thailand :P

[@zainiikhwan9405]

Malaysian here, funny enough the most popular Thai food here imo is Tom Yum 😅

[@motorpolitan8884]

It still isn't popular.

[@confach]

@@zainiikhwan9405 as a Russian I've never heard about Pad Thai, I assume most Russians would also call Tom Yum the magnum opus of Thai cuisine

[@RaccoonGrrrl]

This is accurate. And yes Pad thai isn't that popular in Thailand. More popular food are Kaprow Rice, Kao Mun Gai and some local's favorites (Like in northern thailand people still eat sticky rice with larb/namprik nuhm/herbal veggie soup more than Pad Thai) and even Noodle soup itself is more popular. If someone stroll around the food stall market in Thailand chances are you will find 10 noodle soup stalls to 1 Pad Thai stalls. You might not even find Pad Thai in some market.

[@John77Doe]

Most people of his generation hate Mainland China. They came into contact with the Chinese refugees fleeing the PLA mass executions at the end of the Chinese civil war. 😐😐😐😐😐😐

[@JayVounter]

Thai person here. I was expecting the food thingy on the first minute, then Andong just hit me with a whole semester of Thai history of Plaek Phibunsongkhram for a third of the video. 🤣😂

[@jonasidas]

My mama is thai. Growing up eating what my mother cooked versus going to the food places, wasn't too much different. Of course, mom has her own flare to it. Living in Texas, I've come to learn that majority of americans are picky in what the food look like and smells like. Sometimes you just gotta trust the cook, and taste it. It also seems that it is sought after by the higher class folks. Like.... what I grew up eating at home on the daily, is some sort of rich peoples food now. As a kid, I was considered odd or strange. Now suddenly, thai food is cool, and girls find me interesting. lol Great video. Thailand needs all the love it can get!

[@jannis3600]

Amazing Andong! I absolutely loved this one! I have been living in Thailand for many years now and actually once wrote part of my bachelor thesis on the whole construct of "Thai-ness" (very disturbing). As for Pad Thai itself, I maybe have had it about 2-3 times within the last few years, as there is definitely a whole palette of more exciting food out here

[@lukej7856]

This is the craziest video ive seen in a long while. In my small english town there are 3 thai restaurants - despite having so few thai people (or immigrants in general). My favourite dish was always pad thai, and every restaurant used exactly the same packaging and the taste was IDENTICAL. Id heard of food diplomacy and I thought something like this was happening but the scale of it is really amazing. [Though the food is amazing and almost everyone I know says thai food is their favourite, so I cant complain 😄]

[@MutheiM_Marz]

4 horsemans of Thai food. 1. Massaman curry (famous among foreigner but Thai people didnt eat it that much. expensive and hard to make much like Sushi. i was study abroard Japan and i only eat it twice. then Udon,Ramen and Chahan or Japanese fried rice much like thai one and Toriyaki) 2. Pad Krapao (the REAL Thai people every day food. it's good, Cheap easy to makehave many variant that's never be the same) 3. Larb (North Eastern Thai food that's dominate the whole country and went global. GOD DAMN DELICIOUS ! it's also in Spiderman) 4. Pad Thai (You already told this. but god i am lucky that's there are a Pad Thai vendor near my house that's very good only 2 dollar can fill the whole day. a big one is 2 dollar normal one is 1 dollar or 35 baht)

[@seattlegirl28]

I see Andong, I see Pad Thai, I click. I am VERY distantly related to the Thai royal family- thanks to a Thai prince (Rangsit Prayurasakdi, who served as Prince Regent from 1946-51), who studied in Germany, but I have not yet been to the country! Another fantastic and well-researched video, vielen Dank!

[@penguiin12]

you arent related to the royal family lol chill

[@seattlegirl28]

@@penguiin12 ha! Tell that to my Dad, whose parents got married in the Royal Palace and who was also born in Bangkok! I’m only related by marriage, not by blood, hence the VERY distantly. Do you feel that people only exaggerate and/or lie on the internet?

[@user-ho1kd5yh4u]

@@seattlegirl28 hä wenn dein Vater ne Nachfolge ist dann bist du ja gleich blut-verwandt statt ehe-verwandt oder🤷🏻‍♂️ das ist verwirrend

[@seattlegirl28]

@@user-ho1kd5yh4u ha, ich hab es auch erst mal durchschauen müssen: die Mutter meines Vaters war die Cousine 1. Grades von Elisabeth Scharnberger, die der Prinz während seiner Studienzeit in Heidelberg kennen gelernt hat! Daher durften sie sich im Palast aufhalten, war während des 2. Weltkrieges sicher ein bisschen angenehmer als in Deutschland (mein Vater ist 1943 geboren). Ist also sehr entfernt aber trotzdem ganz cool, vor allem, weil wir noch Kontakt mit einer Enkeltochter von Elisabeth und Rangsit haben :)

[@TheSimplyCooking]

Was ist das mit Thai Prinzen und Deuschland? :D Vor ein paar Jahren bin ich hier in München im Möbel Höffner in den damaligen Prinzen und seine Entourage reingelaufen, komplett in Hotpants und bauchfreien Top (er, nicht ich) 😆

[@misssukyi]

Came over from The Food Theorists, ended up watching 3 videos in a row 🙈 definitely subscribed now!

[@Linh.19]

Great video as always. Those historicalish food videos are really why I love you and I watch your content so religiously. Keep the amazing work man !

[@toficusman1063]

My brain grows more than my skills to cook when I watch Andong' Videos😂

[@gozerthegozarian9500]

"That's the classic Führer playbook, right?!" 😲😨😂🤣😅 OMG Andong!

[@LegitFUry]

He's German AND Russian. Surely he can say that, haha?

[@gozerthegozarian9500]

@@LegitFUry Of course he can! It's such a Mel Brooks type of line, I literally laughed out loud...

[@EwgenijBelzmann]

@@LegitFUry He's neither German nor Russian I believe. He's a Russian born Jew living in Germany. As I am btw. We're being called Jews by Russians, and Russians by the Germans mostly :-)

[@Azaghal1988]

@@EwgenijBelzmann To me everybody who lives here and at least tries to speak our language is german, no matter where they were born. But overall you're propably right, theres still way to much latent "racism" (feels like a too strong word, but i don't know one that fits)

[@p.d.crayfish9607]

Im always impressed that Andong (and his team) manage to find such wild and interesting food stories

[@heroino89]

Hey Andong, you outdid yourself this week. Three questions though: 1) How do you find inspiration for such amazing topics? 2) How did you make those energetic transitions? 3) How are you just such an awesome person? :D Lots of love from the Ukraine!

[@mynameisandong]

1) I am subscribed to all podcasts and spend way too much time listening to them 2) My editor & videographer @eypeekaamino knows the answer better than me :D 3) My mom knows the answer better than me!

[@heroino89]

@@mynameisandong Thanks so much for your reply! And that totally makes sense. Your mom and grandma seem just delightful in your videos, so I guess it must be a family secret 😄 Thanks to you and Eypee for your amazing work!

[@thisguy916]

thanks for the thai select website, this is a treasure trove of recipes

[@robinvmars6191]

You know it's a great vid when you don't realize he didn't make the dish till you check the comments. For real though, very grateful. I've been studying cuisine for the past year and you bet I'm bookmarking your stuff. So good

[@ibec69]

I've been enjoying Thai food for 30 years. I remember restaurants in Sydney in the late 80s like Thaitanic and of course the good stalls in Chinatown. And yet Andong still has something new to teach me about Thai food. Thank you.

[@firenter]

Man I love these random documentary videos, good work as usual!!!

[@TF_NowWithExtraCharacters]

Hey Andong, if you'd like ideas on other foods with interesting backstories, around my part of the world Curry Fish Head and Yu Sheng (or "lo hei") are the 2 big ones. You've already done a fantastic job on Hainanese Chicken Rice the last time you dropped by :)

[@Zacky703]

Love this. My parents are from Sydney Australia and lived in Thailand for years and even they were amazed by the history

[@alifaan595]

Funnily enough in neighbouring Malaysia, the most popular Thai food here is Tom Yum and Thai Steamed Fish. Heck I haven't even heard of or tasted Pad Thai until I went to Thailand.

[@shutingzhou4613]

awesome storytelling and video editing, as usual! thank you, Andong!

[@DocFumachu]

Your videos are just amazing. So well researched and really well edited. And this might explain what happend over a decade ago, when suddenly so many Thai Restaurants opend up in Berlin. With nearly similar menues and style.

[@DebuDebuYT]

This is akin to KZbin Red production quality. The amount of effort here is astounding

[@muzaaaaak]

The frankfurter deserves a historical review. It has a diverse and rich history. And wursts too.

[@alexalika4618]

Wursts?!? 🤣🥴

[@thomasfrederiksendk]

Cue the obvious “that idea is the wurst” variations.

[@muzaaaaak]

@@alexalika4618 ya. Are you confused?

[@muzaaaaak]

@@thomasfrederiksendk in the US, the food illiterate don’t know a frankfurter is a wurst. Sometimes being more expansive is also being more inclusive to the less aware. However you like to play with your meat is none of my business. 🌭

[@zalibecquerel3463]

Doktor's sausage crushes them all. The rest aren't worth considering.

[@Getpojke]

Brilliant stuff. My two favourite subjects; history & food. I'm probably with the majority of Westerners in that I had no idea about the history of pad Thai. Unfortunately there's a dearth of Thai restaurants in Scotland [only 5 I can see on the map] & none near me. Some places have a few Thai dishes on their menu but I often wonder how authentic they are. Still with some books & brilliant KZbinrs like yourself I can educate myself a bit more, so thank you.

[@pablodelsegundo9502]

I think a collaboration with Tasting History would be awesome.

[@ca44444]

Oh my God yes that would be so good

[@Default78334]

That actually reminds me of the story of Japanese curry rice as a dish that was intentionally created to both foster nutritional goals as to create a shared experience and identity among disparate peoples. The Navy needed to improve the nutrition of their sailors to deal with the scourge of beriberi so they took Anglo-Indian curry, adapted it to the Japanese palate, and propagated it to their sailors. Two important benefits of the dish are that preparation was easily scalable and fairly inexpensive, but also that it was a dish entirely foreign to the sailors of the time so it didn't favor people from one particular region of the country or another. It was, in many ways, a shared, novel experience for sailors of disparate backgrounds that in some small way helped the Navy build its esprit de corps.

[@LeZouave]

That's why japanese curry block are sold the the western food aisle in japanese supermarket.

[@tobacco118]

Fun fact: Historically there's no dish called curry in India. It's actually invented in Britain, spread across the globe as British expand their empire.

[@L4busaures]

Great video Andong!! Love these food history videos

[@EurotrashDrock]

Love all your videos, but more culinary historical context like this would be super cool if it was a series within your channel!

[@mariegoetz5168]

Hi Andong, thanks so much for this great foodie history lesson. As an American living in Germany, I have often gone to "Thai" restaurants (i.e. an Asian restaurant with Thai food on the menu), where there is no Pad Thai on the menu! When I ask about this, they say that they don't know the dish! I was beginning to think that Pad Thai was an American invention, so I was happy to get this background. It would be great if you could give us a recipe to go along with the historical information. Thanks for your great videos !

[@Adarnazzz]

Man, I remember following you many years ago (I think it was years ago, it might be not that long ago lol) because Sp4zie recommended your channel and oh boy, what a great journey. Thank you for the videos!

[@lowcarbforlovers]

Fabulous! Love the historical perspective. Looking forward to your upgrade to Pad Thai.

[@zetsuboublogger]

Holy Andong! That's impressive history information. I'm a Thai native, and I'd like to say your information is very spot on (even better than in Thai Education, lol) However, there is some trivia for everyone. First, the Flag "Kingdom of Siam" was used from Red Flag with White Elephant until WW1 which switched to the Tri-Color, but the changing from Siam to Thailand is still using the same Tri-Color flag. Second, there was another reason for the creation of "Pad Thai" (this is very rare, as not seen in Thai Education) is the xenophobia toward the Chinese. Yes, even one of the 12 cultural mandate has "encourage" to rename the family name from Chinese style (in Thai, most of the Chinese diaspora uses "Sae" in front of the actual family name. My family is also Chinese diaspora too, which renamed in that time), also the creation of "Pad Thai" was to replace "Chinese Noodle". I'm sorry for unable to recall the source just yet since it is very rare and much historic information is "obscured" from Thai media (strange but true).

[@nandinos]

Fascinating history of a dish I've never really thought about, but eaten a lot in my life, in Thailand and as far away as in Canada (tasted completely different there though 😂). Thanks for this video, Andong!

[@MrRugaan]

If you want a rags to riches story, you should definitely check out south korean budae jjigae. I think you might be surprised by its history and where it is today.

[@TsunamiWombat]

doesn't the name literally mean army stew because it was something made of leftover mil. surplus tossed into a pot?

[@MrRugaan]

@@TsunamiWombat the stew has a complicated history and is today considered one of the most important dishes in south korean cuisine.

[@MrRugaan]

But I am not the best person to tell that story. I myself am polish-swedish and I know about it through my travels to South Korea, my personal connections to the country and because it has a similar history to the polish zapiekanka( which is not a stew but a form of grilled sandwhich).

[@slllloraxxx]

Budae jjigae has been covered in several videos. Now Chinese-Korean might be the one, especially the food culture in the dwindling Chosonjok areas of China, but that might be too niche...

[@MrRugaan]

@@slllloraxxx has it? I can find a lot of recepies but nothing on the history and cultural impact it has had on the korean food.

[@James-ct4lz]

I love your deep dive into the history of dishes! More plz!

[@jatuwit012]

สิ่งท่ีคนต่างชาติไม่รู้เกี่ยวกับ "ผัดไทย" ก็คือ โดยปกติผัดไทยจะปรุงมารสชาติกลางๆ คุณต้องมาปรุงเพิ่มเองตามใจชอบ คนไทยจะนิยมปรุงเพิ่มให้รสชาติจัดขึ้น คือเปรี้ยว หวาน เค็ม เผ็ด และกินคู่กับผักท่ีจัดมาให้ โดยเฉพาะปลีกล้วย(ดอกกล้วย)จะเข้ากันสุดๆ และอย่าลืมถั่วงอกกรอบๆ อีกด้วย แต่คนต่างชาติไม่รู้วิธีกินท่ีถูกวิธี ก็กินมันไปทั้งอย่างงั้น ไม่ปรุงเพิ่ม มันก็เลยไม่ถูกปากไม่อร่อย เพราะรสชาติมันจะกลางๆไม่เปรี้ยวไม่เผ็ดไม่หวานไม่กลมกล่อม มันเลยไม่อร่อย ไม่เหมือนสมัยนี้ท่ีแต่ละร้าน ปรุงนรสชาติให้อร่อยปรับปรุงตามความต้องการของนักท่องเที่ยว อย่างร้านดังๆทั้งหลายในตอนนี้ไง

[@amarug]

This was more interesting than I expect and I didn't expect it to be boring :) Plz more of these!!

[@Mrsurna1234]

man this format of video is awesome! keep up the good work!

[@SirLoinOfsteak85]

Being deadly allergic to peanuts, I have most definitely heard of Pad Thai! My biggest Thai food memory was walking into a Thai restaurant in London (a friend's choice, not mine), asking them what I can eat as I'm allergic and seeing their terrified faces at the idea of serving me food. I basically ended up with boiled rice. My exploration of Thai food pretty much stopped there. I did make my own Pad Thai (without peanuts) many years later as my partner loves it, and she said I got fairly close, but of course I have no idea having never eaten the real thing.

[@cloverhighfive]

Having been to Thailand (and I'm sure some Thai ppl are in the comments) I had Pad Thai... once. lol The rest of the time menus were mostly some curry (a protein in a sauce - those varied a lot) and then you order rice on the side. I also had other things like soft crab and jellyfish and duck and soups, but most meals were a curried protein + rice. Food in Thailand is SO GOOD. And this video! omg I wish I could have watched before going! Loved it!!!!

[@emmettmaximilianhelmich808]

I am speechless. Talking about in-depth research with a fun and eye-twinkling approach. All my love!

[@phillipcharles-sweeting7677]

As a note about "authentic" Thai food, I've never outside of Thailand found a Thai restaurant selling these dried and deep fried strips of pork that you'll find at vendors by the side of the road. It's so simple, but absolutely delicious.

[@devilhunterred]

Andong, you neglect to mention that Pad Thai is actually not purely the invention of the King or his royal chef, but a modification of a very common Southeast Chinese noodle dish that people routinely have for breakfast. If you deconstruct the Pad Thai into its ingredients, specifically tofu, dried shrimp, soy sauce, and the rice noodle, they are distinctively very common ingredients in Southern Chinese cuisine and virtually not used in any other Thai dishes, save for Pad Thai. The only ingredient in Pad Thai that is substantially Thai is the tamarind sauce.

[@LopesIsamara]

I'm so thankful for this mindblown that make us think about what the so often used "authentic" actually means aaaand I had no idea about the origin of Pad Thai, that was a wild ride

[@natjirapatbuntawatsineekul7596]

นั่นแปลว่าผัดไท เป็นคนคนไทย 100 % อย่างสมบูรณ์. ต่างประเทศเอาเส้นสปาเก๊ตตี้มาทำก็ไม่ได้รสชาติของผัดไทอย่างแท้จริง. ส่วนผสมคือมาจากประเทศไทยล้วนๆ ถึงแม้ว่าเราจะใช้เส้นก๋วยเตี๋ยวที่พิ้นฐานจากจีน เราก็ให้เครดิตจีนทุกอย่าง ทั้งก๋วยเตี๋ยวทุกอย่างที่พื้นฐานมาจากจีน แต่เรามาดัดแปลงเป็นเส้นก๋วยเตี๋ยวแบบไทย แต่ไม่มีใครลืมว่าพื้นฐานนั้นมาจากจีน ประเทศไทยไม่เคยลืมบุญคุณและไม่เนรคุณใครเหมือนบางประเทศ เราเป็นคนไทยเชื้อสายจีน ถ้าอยากทานก๋วยเตี๋ยวแบบจีน ก็จะใช้เส้นจีน ซึ่งไม่ใช่ทั้งเส้นใหญ่ เส้นเล็ก หรือเส้นหมี่ เราเรียกว่าหมี่เตี๊ยวค่ะ ผัดแบบจีน เน้นผักหลายชนิด แถมทานคู่กับส้มตำด้วยอีกตะหาก. ทานด้วยกันอร่ยมาก บ้านเราทานกันบ่อยมากค่ะ

[@chayadol]

As Thai, I'd say you really really nailed everything in this video lol Very very well research! If only I have you as my historical teacher, I'd pay attention in my class more lol PS. I can't say for other Thai people, but IMOP The food that represent Thai the most is Pad Kra Pao, its basically a no brainer food, everytime when we have no clue what to eat, we mostly end up with Pad Kra Pao lol

[@-septimus]

While I was a little sad to not see your take on Pad Thai, I loved the video. Thank you Andong.

[@lammy6806]

For living in a country bordering Thailand, my first thought and introduction into Thai cuisine has always been Tomyam. I've never heard about Pad Thai until I read it online.

[@firstletterofthealphabet7308]

Good to see some true uncensored versions of our history being presented for once, in a beyond watchable, amazing production quality.

[@Emperorerror]

Amazing as always! I really enjoy your historical, theoretical, etc videos.

[@chm825]

Between Wil Yeung's beautiful preparations and photographs of his food and Andong's amazing reserach into the origin of foods and pleasant presentation of both history and food, I should be Asian, but I am very German. Great program!

[@shikagami6493]

Im loving these vídeos, bring more food history!

[@SuperCaptainMoney]

Great video Andong! Thank you for the great information! But the very first Thai dish I can think of is Thai Curry... :D But I am really curious how you make your Pad Thai! Would love to see a video!

[@sarahbea1951]

This is why I subscribed in your channel. Food history and indepth understanding of food and culture itself. I love every minute of this one..

[@alvinmercado6305]

Dude I know its more difficult I cant imagine, but please pivot all your content this way more often. Insanely interesting.

[@TonInter]

Great video! Learning about the origin of these dishes is a really cool way of learning a bit about the culture of the country of origin of said food.

[@radiak2973]

Excellent background information! I learned a lot :)) Love Thai food, fortunately, in Amsterdam we have Thai food since early '80s

[@adamchurvis1]

Andong, you without a doubt are the single most entertaining cuisine-content author on KZbin! I really love your videos, sir. Keep up the great work!

[@shanene3145]

Never ate pad Thai until I moved to USA. Ended up only eating pad Thai that we made in our restaurant. Loved pad Thai won sen more than regular pad Thai. Had noodle less pad Thai here in Nan, Thailand, which is actually really good! Great job Andong!! Very informative.

[@nolanpeale6472]

Thanks. This does explain why so many Thai restaurants I’ve been to seem to have the same items. Even the “chef specialties” dishes seem to be the same.

[@notsure7011]

I love these food education videos. Great job Andong.

[@1cobra12]

Superb video, excellent research Andong!

[@PowerYoutuberViewer]

Those cookie cutter Thai restaurants are the only reason a little kid in rural Texas like me knew about Thailand back in the day! Thanks to them larb gai and Thai curries have become a pretty frequent cast member in our home cooking over the years. I really want to try and make a good Pla Pad Cha some day. I love the spice!

[@GIMMETHEWRISTBAND]

I just realised Grace does research and production support for your videos! Hi Grace, we were castmates in a show back in Canada :^) Small world!

[@Phantagepoint]

Hey Friend! Glad to see you on this little corner of KZbin! Hope that you're doing well and that you're staying healthy and safe! 💛

[@GIMMETHEWRISTBAND]

@@Phantagepoint I am! I hope you are too :) Next time you’re in town or if I ever go back to Germany, let’s catch up!! (It’s Andrew btw)

[@Kriskaligator]

Keep up the historical and cultural references Andong! Very nice