Thai netizens discover a cursed Pad Thai recipe

If you’ve been on the internet in the past couple of years, then you’ve probably seen YouTube star Uncle Roger roasting feeble attempts to cook Asian cuisine. Famous chefs frequently find themselves in his crosshairs as he hilariously points out the absurd deviations from authentic recipes.

So when Thai netizens found a TikTok chef cooking an alleged “Pad Thai”, they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Here’s why this particular rendition of the iconic dish drew the ire of netizens. 

More news in Thailand:

Cursed recipe for Pad Thai featured in viral TikTok video

A TikTok clip posted by @scubeskitchen back in September raised plenty of Thai netizens’ eyebrows when it recently became viral for a wide array of reasons.

As a Thai, it’s hard to even know where to begin to describe where this recipe goes wrong but you can view the full clip here, and we’ll try to give you a painless summary of what occurs within the video.

Introducing the dish he’ll be making today as “Pad Thai”, the national dish of Thailand, the social media chef begins by breaking what appears to be spaghetti into a boiling pot. We’re not sure which was worse here, the act of breaking the noodles or the use of pasta as the choice carbohydrate in the recipe. 

Image credit: @scubeskitchen

Next, he adds chicken to a hot wok, to be stir fried with large sliced onions. This might raise a few eyebrows since Thais generally use shrimp but chicken is an okay substitute. He even uses a wok just so we’ll let down our guard a tiny bit. But of course, this false sense of security is probably a trap. Because he proceeds to add bell peppers and uncut baby carrots into the stirfry. 

Image credit: @scubeskitchen

It doesn’t end there. He substitutes fish sauce by blending sardines and soy sauce to create an absolutely vile looking gooey paste. He adds it wholesale to the noodles and gives the dubious mixture a stir.

Image credit: @scubeskitchen

 He then combines everything he’s fried so far into a plate to be served. TBH, one might argue that the final product looks a lot more like a mutant sibling of yakisoba than Pad Thai. 

Image credit: @scubeskitchen

But there’s more to this recipe than what meets the eye. 

Pulling back the curtain

Thai netizens made their way onto his channel and left comments. One commenter said that the only thing he got right was the anthem. 

Screenshot: @scubeskitchen

One user felt offended on our behalf, though they were not Thais themselves.

Screenshot: @scubeskitchen

One might be wondering how a famous recipe could go so wrong in this day and age. The answer lies in the concept of the channel, which upon careful scrutiny, you’d notice that this isn’t the first time he’s made a video like this. In fact, this TikTok user specifically makes “cursed” recipes of national dishes that are hilariously wrong. 

We should’ve known better when he said “Thighland”. 

All in good fun

Most of the responses from Thai netizens to the video has been humorous. And fittingly so, considering the intent of the content. Some Thais even think they’ll try making the dish but probably won’t be calling it Pad Thai.

We’re glad that Thai netizens found the video hilarious but can’t help but wonder if it’d be the same if it were a dish we hold a bit closer to our hearts – and mouths. Guess we’ll have to activate Uncle Roger for a collab and verdict on this one.

Cover images adapted from (Clockwise from Top Left): @scubeskitchen, @scubeskitchen

Enjoying The Smart Local Thailand? Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for more stories like this.

Drop us your email so you won't miss the latest news.