The name Pad See Ew (ผัดซีอิ๊ว) literally translates to “fried soy sauce” and as the name would indicate, the primary seasoning of this rice noodle dish, is soy sauce. The key to getting the rich brown hue on the noodles is to use dark soy sauce. Unlike East Asian soy sauce, Thai dark soy sauce is nearly black in color, with a viscosity comparable to maple syrup and a sweet fragrance reminiscent of molasses.
You can use any protein you want to make Pad See Ew, but be sure to marinate it with some soy sauce and potato starch. The soy sauce seasons the protein while the starch helps hold in its juices, keeping it moist and tender. Because all the ingredients have different cooking times, it can be a bit tough to time everything right. That’s why I like to simplify things by cooking the chicken separately before I cook the noodles.
Aside from the soy sauce, the other key flavor component to this dish is not listed in the ingredients. That’s because it’s the smoky flavor you get from a high temperature wok (I like to call it “burnt wok flavor”). Unfortunately not all of us have a high BTU wok burner in our homes and there’s nothing worse than using a wok over a weak flame, so I’ve adapted this to work in a frying pan. Just be sure to use a frying pan that is big enough for the amount of food you put in it. This works great in a 12-inch pan. Because Pad See Ew goes very quickly, it’s important to have all your ingredients prepared and ready to go into the pan one after the other.
While fresh sen yai (or ho fun) rice noodles work best, they can be hard to find, which is why I’ve written the directions for dried noodles. I used some dried noodles that come in 2-inch-wide square “flakes”. Be sure to rehydrate them completely before using. They take about 2 hours to rehydrate with room temperature water, or about 10 minutes if you use boiling water.
Pad See Ew doesn’t have any chili peppers in the dish, but it’s usually served with chili peppers pickled in vinegar. The chilies and vinegar make for a spicy condiment that not only brings a bit of heat to the noodles, it provides a refreshing tang. You can make this buy slicing up some of your favorite chilies(I used serrano chilies) and then soaking them in vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar) for a few days.
Ingredients
for stir-fry
-
150
grams
dry wide rice noodles (or 350 grams fresh, sen yai)
-
2
tablespoons
vegetable oil
-
12
grams
garlic (2 large cloves finely chopped)
-
2
eggs
-
100
grams
gailan (or other green vegetable)
for chicken
-
200
grams
chicken (thinly sliced)
-
1
teaspoon
soy sauce
-
1
teaspoon
potato starch
pad see ew sauce
-
1
tablespoon
Thai dark soy sauce
-
1
tablespoon
oyster sauce
-
2
teaspoons
evaporated cane sugar
-
1/8
teaspoon
ground white pepper
to serve
-
pickled chili peppers
Steps
-
Rehydrate the noodles.
-
Put the chicken in a bowl and stir in the 1 teaspoon of soy sauce. Add the potato starch and mix to combine, set aside.
-
Make the Pad See Ew sauce by combining the dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar and white pepper in a small bowl and set aside. Prepare all the other ingredients.
-
Heat a large frying pan over high heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and fry the chicken until cooked through. Transfer the chicken to a clean bowl and set aside.
-
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan and fry the garlic until fragrant.
-
Add the eggs and break them up with a spatula scrambling them.
-
When the eggs are mostly (but not fully) cooked, add the gailan and stir-fry until it is bright green and wilted (but not fully cooked).
-
Add the rehydrated noodles and sauce and stir-fry, tossing to coat evenly. If you notice the noodles sticking together you can add a bit more oil to help free them up.
-
When the sauce is evenly distributed, return the chicken to the pan, stop stirring and let the noodles brown for a bit on one side before tossing to redistribute and brown some more.
-
Plate the noodles and serve with pickled chili peppers.
Hannah Cho says
Hi there! This looks so tasty. My mouth is watering. When does the meat get added back in the pan?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Hannah, thanks! The chicken gets added in before you let the noodles brown. Thanks of the catching that!
Toby Corn says
This looks so good. Just another of my favorite dishes come home to roost. I haven’t had much success in the past getting the pan hot enough, I had been tempted to put the wok under the broiler to get it screaming hot.
KimNB says
This looks good and is very much in the group of Thai recipes that i like, namely any of them without coconut milk. You don’t specify but since you used a non-stick pan I assume you used something like medium high heat? Finally any chance of you tackling a recipe for pad kee moa (drunken noodles) for us at some point?
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Toby, yea it’s hard to heat the full surface area of a wok on a normal western burner. That’s why I think it’s actually better to use a frying pan if you don’t have a very strong stove. If you have a large seasoned cast-iron skillet that will work as well since they retain a lot of heat.
Marc Matsumoto says
Thanks Kim. The heat should be on high. As for Pad Kee Mao, I did it a few weeks ago: https://norecipes.com/pad-kee-mao-recipe
KimNB says
Hurray! Pad Kee Mao. I don’t know how I missed that one as I check here pretty regularly. I am glad I asked. I like that this doesn’t use golden mountain sauce like many recipes I have looked at. It tastes good but oh my it is so salty.
Vivian Chan says
Hi Marc, thanks for another great recipe that is easy to prepare in under 30 minutes. This dark soy sauce mixture is versatile and can go with different types of fried noodle/meat and veg.
Marc Matsumoto says
You’re welcome Vivian! It does work with all kinds of stir-fries. I’ve even been known to use it with Italian pastas when I don’t have any rice noodles on hand.