Food and drinkPad thai in Thai
Pad thai, ผัดไทยpàt-tai, is stir-fried rice noodles: literally “Thai stir-fry”.
pad thai (stir-fried rice noodles) noun
- pàt low
- tai mid
- Low: flat and lower than your normal voice, dropping a little at the end.
Classifier: จานjaan · plate; a plate of (food)
How to use it
Thin rice noodles stir-fried with egg, tofu, dried shrimp, bean sprouts and Chinese chives, seasoned with tamarind, fish sauce and palm sugar. It comes with lime, crushed peanuts, chilli flakes and sugar on the side, so you can finish it the way you like it. Wrapped in a thin omelette it becomes ผัดไทยห่อไข่pàt-tai hàw kài.
If you don't eat seafood, ask for it without the dried shrimp: ไม่ใส่กุ้งแห้งmâi sài gûng-hâeng.
Other spellings you'll see
There's no single official way to write Thai in English letters. We mark the tone of every syllable; online you'll also find:
- pad thai
- phat thai
- pad tai
- phad thai
- pat thai
- padthai
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More food and drink in Thai
All food and drink- ข้าว kâao Rice
- ข้าวเหนียว kâao-nǐaw Sticky rice
- ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง kâao-nǐaw má-mûang Mango sticky rice
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones