The simplest and most overlooked Thai dish — vegetables stir-fried with garlic, fish sauce, and oyster sauce.
Any vegetable (morning glory, cabbage, baby corn, broccoli, bean sprouts) stir-fried rapidly over high heat with garlic, oyster sauce, and fish sauce — a side dish or a meal over rice.
The most popular pad pak — hollow stems of morning glory (water spinach) are the classic; Pak Boong Fai Daeng is the famous 'flying vegetable' version where chefs toss it dramatically.
Order alongside a protein dish to balance a meal; excellent for vegetarians (ask for no fish sauce, no oyster sauce — 'jay'); the simplest indicator of a cook's wok skill.
40–70 THB at street stalls; always cheap; a plate of pad pak with a bowl of rice is one of Bangkok's most satisfying cheap meals.
A good vendor works fast over screaming-hot heat, the vegetables barely touching the wok before they're plated — the speed and technique are part of what separates a great pad pak from a mediocre one.