Pad Thai

Thailand's national dish -- stir-fried rice noodles with egg, bean sprouts, tofu or shrimp, crushed peanuts, and dried shrimp, finished with lime and chili flakes -- was promoted by Prime Minister Plaek Phibunsongkhram in the 1940s as a nation-building dish to reduce rice consumption and create a Thai culinary identity. Bangkok's best Pad Thai, at Thip Samai near Wat Saket, has been operating since 1966 and draws a daily queue of 200 people waiting for noodles cooked in egg omelette wrappers over high charcoal flame.