A few weeks after I got to Bangkok, I ordered Pad See Ew (Soy Sauce Fried Noodles) for the first time at a food stall in a cozy soi (alleyway). I loved the food vendor’s quaint wooden benches and how it was under a little building so there was some shade.
After the server brought me my Pad See Ew on a plastic blue plate, I started at its simple beauty for a moment before digging in: the long, flat, wide, rice noodles that are nothing like spaghetti noodles I ate growing up, a crisp green veggie (Chinese broccoli), chicken and scrambled egg bits all mixed up in a dark sauce.
I smiled at how blessed I was to get to eat this masterpiece for only $1.00 and placed some on my spoon with my fork, and took a bite.
My tastebuds eagerly waited for the Thai spiciness to attack, but they were deeply disappointed—the spiciness never showed up.
I quickly added some chili flakes that are always on every Thai street food table, and a bit of sugar and fish sauce, mixed it up, took a bite, and tastebuds and I were happy and in Thai food bliss.
Not all Thai food is spicy! So if you can’t handle the heat, or just aren’t in the mood for spicy, this dish is a perfect, easy meal.
But even if you want spicy, feel free to add your own chili flakes or Thai chili sauce like I do.
I recently taught a class on how to make Pad See Ew, and then as I looked back at this recipe I had written almost 5 years ago?! I realized I’ve changed my recipe up a bit since then. I’ve made some slight revisions to it that make the noodles come out even better! Hope you enjoy!
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Pad See Ew Recipe
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 2-3 1x
Description
Pad See Ew is a quick and easy Thai noodle dish, and perfect if you’re feeding those who might not like spicy or those who love it.
Ingredients
- 3 cups of flat, wide rice noodles, dry or fresh
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 eggs
- 2 tbsp cooking oil you prefer
- 2 chicken breasts sliced into thin bite sized pieces (or tofu or pork)
- 2 cups of Chinese broccoli, broccoli florets or kale
- 2 tsp of Thai sweet dark soy sauce
- 2 tsp of oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp of Thai light soy sauce
- 3 tsp of sugar
- 1 tsp white pepper
Instructions
- Boil the dry wide rice noodles for 4-5 minutes or so, until soft, and drain them. Or if you were lucky and found fresh rice noodles that are bagged, microwave them in the bag for a few minutes until the noodles are soft. Then gently pull the noodles apart, trying to keep them in long pieces if possible. If you can’t, it’s ok, it will still taste great, but just look different from traditional Pad See Ew.
- Peel the Chinese broccoli stalk. Then slice the Chinese broccoli into 2 in. pieces, cutting the stalk at an angle, and keeping the stalk pieces separate.
- Turn the heat to medium high. Fry the garlic until the aroma makes you smile with delight.
- Add the egg and scramble it a bit until it’s set.
- Turn the heat to high, and add the protein and keep stirring, until it’s almost cooked through, but not quite.
- Then add the Chinese broccoli stalk pieces since they take a little longer to cook than the leaves. Cook for about a minute or two until it softens some.
- Add in the noodles, soy sauces, sugar and white pepper and stir very gently, so the noodles don’t fall apart. Cook until you see the noodles have absorbed the sauce, should just be a minute or two.
- Add the Chinese broccoli leaves, and stir until wilted, should only take 30 seconds or so, and turn off the heat.
- Taste! Add more soy sauce if you like it saltier, more sugar if you like sweet.
- Have chili flakes or chili sauce, sugar and fish sauce on the table so everyone gets the perfect taste they love.
- Enjoy!
Notes
I only cook two servings at a time at most in the wok because if you cook more than that the noodles don’t cooperate and become a pile of mush.
With the soy sauces, to tell the truth, I don’t measure and instead add in a little until it tastes how I like. You can do the same, or stick by the rules.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
I made a vegetarian version of this and it was YUMMY!!!!!
I only had one kind of soy sauce and used fish sauce in cooking as well. I also added single fresh tiny red chilly that are often found in SE Asian chilly vinegar. It added a good amount of heat for such a chilly addict like myself!! Fish sauce and oyster sauce is definitely worth getting to make authentic flavor work!
Thanks for the inspiration girl!!
Great! Thanks for leaving your comment Dawn! I love it vegetarian as well. Fish sauce is an awesome substitute if you don’t have the soy sauce in this recipe. Thanks for pointing that out! Glad you thought it was YUMMY!!!
This recipe is wonderful! I came across your blog and decided to try this dish last night-my first attempt at Thai cooking. It turned out great and my boyfriend and I loved it. Thank you! Keep up the good work 🙂
That’s awesome Christina! I’m so glad your first attempt at Thai cooking turned out great and that this recipe helped you out. Thanks so much for sharing! We appreciate it 🙂