OFFLINE

‎Every Thai place I've been to on the mainland proudly serves this palatal monstrosity.

So I'm curious: Why do Asian people think white people like ketchup-noodle pad thai?

OFFLINE

The answer to this is multifaceted:

> The high viscosity of ketchup -- which is so viscous it's in a category of substances called pseudoplastic -- binds the pad Thai into a conglomerated glob that's easy to gobble down (and difficult to digest, as the combination of tomatoes and rice noodles hinders digestion). It's heavier, which Americans tend to prefer. The original recipe yields a relatively light dish with distinguishable components. You could compare this to fried rice at Big City Diner versus Panda Express: sticky versus loose.

> Some cooks substitute ketchup for tamarind to once again appeal to the American palate, which favors a simpler kind of sweet rather than the bittersweet-tart profile of tamarind.

> Other cooks claim that the flavor of ketchup, with its combination of tomatoes, vinegar, onions, garlic and allspice, mimics that of tamarind, which is naturally acidic. But as we both know, it does not.

>>> And it helps that ketchup is more readily available than tamarind juice.