The Thai street-food dish combining stir-fried rice noodles with tamarind, egg, and peanuts is pad Thai.
Pad Thai is made by stir-frying rice noodles with ingredients that commonly include egg, tofu, dried shrimp or fresh shrimp, bean sprouts, and crushed peanuts. Its characteristic sweet-sour flavor usually comes from a sauce containing tamarind, palm sugar, and fish sauce. Vendors often serve extra lime, chili flakes, sugar, or peanuts so diners can adjust the balance.
Although noodles existed in Thailand earlier, pad Thai became strongly associated with Thai national identity during the 20th century. It is often linked to cultural and economic campaigns under Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram in the 1930s and 1940s, when standardized Thai cuisine and rice-noodle dishes were promoted. The dish is now sold by street vendors and restaurants worldwide.
Pad Thai is sometimes confused with pad see ew, another Thai stir-fried noodle dish. Pad see ew generally uses wider noodles and dark soy sauce, giving it a deeper, less tamarind-forward flavor.