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The “Thaimerican” food I’ve eaten tends to have a touch of sweetness. Do Thai people put sugar in savory foods?
They do. Generally speaking Thai food is a blend of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty. Those elements come from various ingredients depending on the dish but the sweetness if often palm sugar.
Just in case people don't realize how the whole western world keeps calling the dish "Pad Thai" when in fact there's nothing Thai origins about the dish at all.
Except the whole part of created in Thailand by Thai people...
Pad Thai was created during and after WW2 in response to rice rationing. Traditional Thai cuisine is rice heavy, and where there is no rice, how are you supposed to eat it? So the Thai government incentivized noodles, and Pad Thai was born. It's the national dish of Thailand. Every Thai family has their own take on it.
"Chinese" food is a different story. Go to a hole in the wall restaurant in a Chinatown and you'll get something more authentic for a specific cuisine, but most American Chinese restaurants are bastardized Cantonese foods developed in the 50s in certain markets in the US and spread by Chinese-American business groups across the country. Especially in the 60s, Chinese/Taiwanese immigrants would move somewhere proposed by a Chinese-American social club, with their backing to open either a dry cleaner/laundry or a restaurant. There are some good documentaries about the whole setup
Except the whole part of created in Thailand by Thai people...
Pad Thai was created during and after WW2 in response to rice rationing. Traditional Thai cuisine is rice heavy, and where there is no rice, how are you supposed to eat it? So the Thai government incentivized noodles, and Pad Thai was born. It's the national dish of Thailand. Every Thai family has their own take on it.
....
You beat me to it, Pad Thai originated in Thailand when the King organized a nationwide contest during WWII for a new tasty dish that would be economical & use ingredients easily available then. It caught on and has remained a staple food there. Noodles are a major part of northern Thai cuisine, once a separate ancient kingdom from the southern region and very connected to Lao culture.
Thais generally only use chopsticks with noodles, perhaps a nod to the northern region's closeness to China, a fork & spoon are the typical utensils.
As far as "authentic" cuisines I don't think there really aren't any except perhaps among very isolated tribal cultures. Chiles aren't native to India or SE Asia, pasta came from China, wine seems to have originated in Georgia (country) & coffee from Ethiopia; tomatoes weren't native to Europe & not "authentic" for Italian food, yada yada....
They do. Generally speaking Thai food is a blend of sweet, sour, spicy, and salty. Those elements come from various ingredients depending on the dish but the sweetness if often palm sugar.
It surprises people to learn that Asian cuisines include sugar in savory dishes. Japanese cooking, for example, adds sugar to meat dishes; it's considered an essential seasoning. People also eat a lot of highly-glycemic white rice and noodles, and the generally available bread is extremely highly processed.
What Japanese cuisine traditionally lacks is a wide variety of very sweet desserts, so overall, the sugar consumption is lower than in the West. Food portions also tend to be quite small.
Just in case people don't realize how the whole western world keeps calling the dish "Pad Thai" when in fact there's nothing Thai origins about the dish at all.
That's why it is not known in the Asian countries at all. Just like many Asian named dishes in America have no origins outside of America.
Chop Suey, Egg Foo Young, Po-po platter, and even egg roll. It's all Americanized or improperly named.
This isn't even what the link you posted said. Pad Thai is NOT an Americanized version of Thai food. It may not be an historical dish in Thailand but that is where it was invented and popularized. And then, when Thais immigrated to the US, they brought this dish from their homeland.
That's not even remotely the same thing as having no origins outside of America.
As for the name, take it up with the Thai prime minister who popularized the dish IN THAILAND, long before it became a popular food in America.
Most ethnic dishes we get in America aren't true to their ethnic origins. But yes, when I was in Thailand, I saw no pad thai, which wasn't surprising. But on the other hand, I didn't see ALL the food available.
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Filipino Sio pao similar to pork buns are also Chinese , Hopia cakes are also from China adapted to Filipino cuisne , Pancit Canton is a direct copy of chow mein.
Pancit noodles and the famous "Balut" are also Chinese origin
Thai Drunken noodles are also a copy of Chinese "Chow fun" and many other dishes
most of these are more like adapting foods to their cuisine from other countries and simply renaming to sound like something new or different
I thought the po-po platter got its name because police liked to eat it.
I have no idea what po-po is. Pupu platter? Appetizers.
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It surprises people to learn that Asian cuisines include sugar in savory dishes. Japanese cooking, for example, adds sugar to meat dishes; it's considered an essential seasoning. People also eat a lot of highly-glycemic white rice and noodles, and the generally available bread is extremely highly processed.
What Japanese cuisine traditionally lacks is a wide variety of very sweet desserts, so overall, the sugar consumption is lower than in the West. Food portions also tend to be quite small.
at least at Japanese restaurants in the USA , I noticed they offer very little variety in fresh vegetables?
maybe a little cabbage , bean sprouts , Daikon , pickeled vegetable as a side dish
compared to other asian cuisines that have a much larger variety of fresh vegetables in their dishes
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Japanese cuisine lacks vegetable dishes
