Basic HTML Version
61
{ }
O O D L E S O F N O O D L E S
Pad Thai
Thailand
Champion of politics
“Fried, Thai style” is what
pad
Thai
translates to, and the style of the
Thais, it seems, is complex, varied and
balanced. Thailand’s spicy national
noodle dish is warm yet fresh, sweet
and sour, delicate yet robust. Like
the fish sauce it incorporates, pad
Thai has its direct origins in Vietnam.
Its earliest version was brought over
by Vietnamese traders centuries
ago, although the dish only became
widespread in the Land of Smiles in
the 1930s and ’40s — maybe due to
the prime minister at the time utilizing
it as a political tool. He made it part
of his campaign for nationalism and
centralization, and used it to bring
attention to the rice shortage in
Thailand. The meal was the champion
for this cause: its rice noodles and ease
of preparation meant it could appeal to
both the underprivileged and top dogs
in society. Pad Thai was soon found
everywhere, from homes to street carts
and small cafés.
Bakmi ayam
Indonesia
Multicultural strands
Though anti-Chinese laws were
widespread from the 1960s to ’90s in
Indonesia, expression via food was not
to be stifled. This Chinese-Indonesian
dish of
bakmi
— noodles topped with
diced chicken, cooked in soy sauce and
served with a bowl of chicken broth —
is at the forefront of blurring cultural
lines. The noodles were imported by
Chinese merchants and served with
pangsit
(wonton-like dumplings) and
bakso
(meatballs). The flavors have
been tweaked to suit local tastes: at
the base of the bowl you have cooking
oil, soy sauce, garlic and monosodium
glutamate (MSG) — the latter a favorite
flavoring of the Indonesian masses.
Eaten with chopsticks, this dish is sold
by street vendors as well as restaurants
— proof that noodles are the strands
that cross all cultural boundaries.
PHOTOS
LESTER LEDESMA (PAD THAI), PETER CHANDRA ALAM (BAKMI AYAM)
Bakmi ayam is made even
more delicious by adding fried
shallots, salted preserved
vegetables, chili sauce and
tomato ketchup
The pad Tahi’s
yumminess comes
from eggs, shrimps,
fish sauce, tamarind
juice and chili pepper