In Thailand, it's mostly Joe Average street food. But when it immigrated to the United States, pad Thai morphed into a coast-to-coast culinary heartthrob teasing the palate with its balanced blend of salty, sweet, tangy and spicy.
But what looks so easy on the street or at the noodle bar usually gives way to platters of gummy, greasy noodles at home.
The problem: not following the basic tenets of stir-frying, which include using a smoking hot pan with a good amount of oil and cooking in small batches.
"You want the oil to be smoking or right on the verge of smoking, which keeps the noodles from sticking and getting greasy," says Mai Pham, chef-owner of Lemongrass Asian Grill and Noodle Bar in Sacramento, Calif.
"You are moving all the time and the dish takes you no more than three minutes to make," says Pham, who was raised in Thailand.
Ready to dish out some authentic street food for dinner? Here's what you need to know:
The rice noodles
Literally meaning "Thai-style stir-fried noodles," Thailand's national dish probably came to modern day Thailand via China, which food historians say introduced the rest of the Asia to rice noodles and the art of pan-frying them.
Pad Thai is made using rice noodles (noodles made from rice flour and water) the thickness of linguini. Use any other style of noodle and you're not making pad Thai, says Pham. And they must be prepared properly.
That's partly because in Thailand, the noodles generally are used fresh. But those aren't common in the U.S. The dry rice noodles that are common here have a higher starch content. If they are prepared incorrectly, they will be sticky.
In Thai restaurants, the noodles are soaked in warm water until pliable, then blanched and left to rest in a colander until used later in the recipe. They shouldn't be fully cooked when they come out of the water because they will cook again during frying.
The sauce
Most pad Thai found stateside has been Americanized, usually with the addition of ketchup and sweet-and-sour sauce.
"Years ago, that was all that was available," says Corinne Trang, author of Essentials of Asian Cuisine. "It was an easy way to get the sweet and sour and salty flavors into the dish. It was also a familiar flavor.
"A lot of Asian restaurants cut corners because they think that's what Americans like better," she says.
But it's no longer necessary to resort to such measures. Today it's easy to find traditional ingredients once considered obscure, such as palm sugar and tamarind paste.
A perfectly cooked pad Thai should have a balance of flavors -- tangy, sweet, spicy and salty, Trang says. This comes from a blend of tamarind paste, palm sugar, crushed red chili peppers and fish sauce.
Traditional pad Thai sauces follow a basic formula of a third each of palm sugar, tamarind paste and fish sauce. The peppers can be added to the sauce or fried in the oil. Frying them gives the peppers an added smokiness that complements the noodles.
The classic ingredients
Order pad Thai in America and you probably will get your choice of chicken, beef, pork, tofu or shrimp.
On the streets of Thailand, standard pad Thai starts with meaty pressed tofu, minced garlic and pungent dried shrimp, then is finished with bean sprouts, garlic chives and crushed peanuts. Fish sauce, lime wedges and green chilies are served on the side.
Dried shrimp -- baby shrimp that are salted and fermented -- can be found at any Asian grocer. They add a wonderfully authentic chewy and salty texture that makes it worth hunting them down.
"When you are selecting dried shrimp, you want them to be plump and pink," Trang says. "If they are gray, they are too old."
Pressed tofu usually is found along with the refrigerated Asian ingredients and is vacuum packed. This is not the variety packed in water.
The technique
Pad Thai is a stir-fry, and a stir-fry moves hot and fast, taking no more than 3 minutes to make.
Having everything ready to go before you start cooking is key. Note: A well-seasoned wok works best, but a stainless steel skillet or a seasoned cast-iron skillet works, too.
Make the sauce ahead and leave it near the wok so you can add it to the noodles when the frying begins.
This is not a dish that can be made in large batches because too many cold noodles crowding the pan will cool down the oil and cause them to steam and stick instead of fry.
Pad Thai is not meant to be a healthy dish, so don't be afraid to use the oil. You'll need 2 tablespoons per two-serving batch.
As for the egg, it is intended to add color as much as flavor. Once the noodles are cooked, crack the egg directly into the pan and let it sit for a few seconds and then swirl for a few seconds before tossing with the noodles.
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