The History of Thai Food in America

Asian American History 101

Welcome to Season 2, Episode 47 with special guest host Dr. Trang Lai! We’re always excited to talk about food, so here we are to talk about Thai Food in America. We love Thai cuisine because it’s such a great balance of fresh herbs and punchy flavors. And we’re not alone. Thai cuisine is among the most popular in the U.S. and across the world. When we think about Thai food, we think about how so many dishes balance salty, sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and umami. Do you know the various qualities of the five regions of Thai cuisine? How about the different reasons that Thai food accelerated in popularity in the last half century? You can learn all about that as well as the origin of Pad Thai in this episode. And if you want to learn more about Thai food after listening, then go out and read Flavors of Empire: Food and the Making of Thai America by Mark Padoongpatt. Also, we have an announcement in the second segment… we’re taking a break while we sell our house and move to our new one. So for the next month or so, we’ll be featuring some of our favorite season 1 episodes and sharing them as an encore release. For previous episodes and information, please visit our site at https://asianamericanhistory101.libsyn.com or social media links at http://castpie.com/AAHistory101. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, email us at [e-mail].

Segments

• 00:25 Talking About Our Favorite Thai Dishes
• 02:05 A History of Thai Food in America
• 18:05 Taking a Break While We Move