Food & Drink ( Noodle)

Pad Thai

It shouldn’t take too long in Thailand before you get your tongue around gŏo·ay đĕe·o, the intimidating and all-encompassing word for noodle soup. Despite being an import from China, noodles have been entirely integrated into the Thai repertoire of foods, and for most Thais, a day hardly passes without a bowl or two.
You’ll find four basic kinds of noodle in Thailand. Hardly surprising, given the Thai fixation on rice, is the overwhelming popularity of sên gŏo·ay đĕe·o, noodles made from rice flour mixed with water to form a paste, which is then steamed to form wide, flat sheets. The sheets are folded and sliced into sên yài (flat ‘wide line’ noodles 2cm to 3cm wide), sên lék (‘small line’ noodles about 5mm wide) and sên mèe (‘noodle line’ noodles only 1mm to 2mm wide). At most restaurants or vendor stands specialising in gŏo·ay đĕe·o, when ordering
you are expected to specify which noodles you want.The simplest and most ubiquitous dish is gŏo·ay đĕe·o nám, a bowl of noodles served most commonly with pork stock along with meatballs and various vegetables, including a garnish of pàk chee (coriander leaf). This dish is eaten around the clock as a quick snack before work, after shopping, post-clubbing or in between the real meals. The most famous gŏo·ay đĕe·o dish among foreigners is undoubtedly gŏo·ay đĕe·o pàt tai, usually called pàt tai for short. Taking the form of thin rice noodles stir-fried with dried or fresh shrimp, bean sprouts, tofu, egg and seasonings, the dish is traditionally served with lime halves and a few stalks of Chinese chives and a sliced banana flower.Another kind of noodle, kà·nŏm jeen, is produced by pushing rice-flour paste through a sieve into boiling water, much the way Italian-style pasta is made. Kà·nŏm jeen is a popular morning market meal that is eaten doused with various spicy curries and topped with a self-selection of fresh and pickled vegetables and herbs.The third kind of noodle, bà·mèe, is made from wheat flour and egg. It’s yellowish in colour and is sold only in fresh bundles. After being briefly parboiled, the noodles are mixed with broth and meat, typically barbecued pork or crab, and you have bà·mèe nám. Served in a bowl with a small amount of garlic oil and no broth, it’s bà·mèe hâang. Restaurants or vendors selling bà·mèe typically also sell gée·o, a square of bà·mèe dough wrapped around
ground meat.Finally there’s wún·sên, an almost clear noodle made from mung-bean starch and water. Sold only in dried bunches, wún·sên (literally ‘jelly thread’) is prepared by soaking in hot water for a few minutes. The most common use of the noodle is in yam wún sên, a hot and tangy salad made with lime juice, fresh  sliced prík kêe nŏo (tiny chillies), shrimp, ground pork and various seasonings. Other uses include Ъoo òp wún·sên, bean-thread noodles baked in a lidded clay pot with crab (or sometimes shrimp) and seasonings,
or gaang jèut, a bland, Chinese-influenced soup containing ground pork, soft tofu and a handful of the noodles.