Pad See Ew – the popular Thai stir fried noodles straight from the streets of Thailand made at home! While Pad Thai is sweeter and nuttier, Pad See Ew is salty, balanced with a touch of sour and a wonderful chargrilled flavour which you can create at home!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Pad See Ew
Pad See Ew, which means “stir fried soy sauce noodles”, is an extremely popular Thai street food meal and one of the most popular noodles dishes at Thai restaurants here in Australia.
Making a great Pad See Ew at home simply comes down to two things:
The right sauce. Basic recipes online will instruct you to use little more than just soy sauce and sugar. It takes a little more than that!
Caramelising the noodles – Getting a little caramelisation on the noodles makes all the difference between an “ok” and “wow, it’s JUST like you get at restaurants!”.
The trick? Remove the stir fry ingredients. Cook the noodles with sauce separately. Less stuff in the wok (or skillet) = easier to caramelise the noodles. At least, at home. If you’ve got a giant restaurant wok burner, you don’t need to do the noodles separately!
What goes in Pad See Ew
I can’t remember where I originally got the recipe from. Probably from David Thompson, the famous Australian chef who has dedicated his life to mastering the art of Thai cooking. I’ve made it so many times over the years, I can almost make it with my eyes closed. (Not really….but you know what I mean!)
So I had to actually measure the ingredients properly to share the recipe!
1. Pad See Ew Sauce ingredients
Pad See Ew has a sweet-savoury-touch-of-sour flavour, and this is made with a combination of the following ingredients:
Dark soy sauce – For flavour and staining the noodles a dark brown.
Ordinary or light soy sauce – For seasoning (salt) and a bit of flavour. Most of the flavour comes from the oyster sauce and dark soy sauce. More on different soy sauces and when you can substitute with what in this About Soy Sauces post.
Oyster sauce – Key ingredient, it’s like 10 difference sauces mixed up in one bottle!
Vinegar – To balance the sweet and savoury. Some form of sour is a key ingredient in South East Asian cooking!
Sugar – For sweetness.
2. Pad See Ew ingredients
And here are the other ingredients for Pad See Ew:
Noodles – Pad See Ew is traditionally made with Sen Yai, which are wide, thin fresh rice noodles that are not easily accessible. Even most Asian stores in Sydney do not sell them – you usually need to go to a Thai grocery store.
So it is perfectly acceptable, and just as delicious, to make them with any wide flat rice noodles. I use dried rice noodles labelled as “Pad Thai” Rice Noodles (pictured below) because they are the widest available at the supermarket.
Once rehydrated, they’re essentially Sen Yai Noodles – just not quite as wide.
Chinese Broccoli / Gai Lan – This is a key authentic ingredient in Pad See Ew. Otherwise known as Gai Lan or Kai lan, it’s leafy and looks quite different to broccoli, but you’ll notice a similarity in the texture of the stems (hence the name).
If you can’t find it, just sub with other Asian greens, or a combination of broccoli or broccolini + spinach.
Chicken and egg – Feel free to use other proteins if you wish. But chicken is by far the most popular.
How to make Thai Stir Fried Noodles
Usually when making stir fried noodles, we toss everything together in one big pan or a wok.
But for Pad See Ew made at home, I do things differently to best replicate a restaurant flavour and minimise noodle breakage:
Cook chicken and vegetables first, then remove
Add noodles and sauce, toss to caramelise (just 15 seconds), then add chicken and vegetables back in.
Reason: A signature flavour in Pad See Ew is the caramelisation of the noodles. Restaurants and street vendors achieve this with super powered gas stoves with fiery heat that you’ll never find in a home kitchen. The only way to replicate that caramelisation on the noodles on a home kitchen stove is to declutter the wok and cook the noodles separately – the noodles will caramelise in 15 seconds.
The other reason is that rice noodles break if you toss them too much. Doing the two-stage toss makes it much easier and faster to disperse the sauce and bring the Pad See Ew together.
Trust me on this point. I’ve made a LOT of Pad See Ew at home in my time, and the two-stage toss it the easiest and most effective technique!
Garlic, chicken and Chinese broccoli STEMS first – Using either a wok or large skillet set over high heat, heat the oil then sauté the garlic until it goes light golden. Add the chicken then once it mostly changes from pink to white, add the Chinese broccoli stems which take longer to cook than the leafy part.
Once the chicken is cooked (it should only take 2 to 3 minutes), toss the Chinese broccoli leaves in and cook for 30 seconds or so just until wilted.
Push everything to the side to make room to scramble the eggs on the side. This is the traditional Thai way of scrambling eggs in Pad See Ew!
Crack egg straight into the wok.
Scramble egg – Then mix to scramble it. Speed is of the essence here – we want scrambled egg not a sunny side up egg!
Empty wok – Remove the chicken and vegetables onto plate. As mentioned above, the best way to cook Pad See Ew at home is to cook the noodles separately so we can get some nice caramelisation on them. If we don’t do this, then the noodles just stew instead of caramelising.
Add noodles and sauce into the wok.
Toss quickly for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes until the sauce is dispersed throughout the noodles and you see some caramelisation on the edges.
PRO TIP: You want to be quick here because the longer and more you toss, the more noodle breakage you have. You’ll notice restaurants typically toss the noodles in the wok without using a wooden spoon or other tool for stirring – this too helps to minimise noodle breakage.
A note on Noodle Breakage – That said, you WILL get some noodle breakage, and that is normal / perfectly acceptable. Ever notice how the wide, flat noodles in Pad See Ew served at Thai restaurants are not long strands? That’s just the way it is. In fact, traditionally, Pad See Ew is served in Thailand with a FORK or spoon instead of noodles for ease of eating.
Add chicken and veg back in – Once the noodles are caramelised, add the chicken and vegetables back in. Give it a quick toss just to disperse, then serve!
As with all stir fries, once you start cooking, it moves very fast! So have everything prepared and ready to throw into the wok because there’s not time to be scrambling around the kitchen!
If you want to add a fresh side, try this Asian Slaw – it’s a great all rounder that goes with all Asian foods. – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Pad See Ew – Thai Stir Fried Noodles
Ingredients
Noodles
- 200g / 7 oz dried wide rice stick noodles , or 15 oz / 450g fresh wide flat rice noodles (Sen Yai) (Note 1)
Sauce
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 2)
- 1 1/2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce (or all purpose, Note 3)
- 2 tsp white vinegar (plain white vinegar)
- 2 tsp sugar (any type)
Stir Fry
- 3 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil , separated
- 2 cloves garlic cloves, very finely chopped
- 1 cup / 150g / 5oz chicken thighs (boneless, skinless), sliced (Note 4)
- 1 large egg
- 4 stems Chinese broccoli (Note 5)
Instructions
Preparation:
- Chinese Broccoli – trim ends, cut into 7.5cm/3" pieces. Separate leaves from stems. Cut thick stems in half vertically so they're no wider than 0.8cm / 0.3" thick.
- Noodles – Prepare according to packet directions and drain. Time it so they’re cooked just before using – do not leave cooked rice noodles lying around, they break in the wok.
- Sauce – Mix ingredients until sugar dissolves.
Cooking:
- Heat oil: Heat 1 tbsp oil in a very large heavy based skillet or wok over high heat.
- Cook garlic and chicken: Add garlic, cook 15 seconds. Add chicken, cook until it mostly changes from pink to white.
- Chinese broccoli STEMS: Add Chinese broccoli stems, cook until chicken is almost cooked through.
- Chinese broccoli LEAVES: Add Chinese broccoli leaves, cook until just wilted.
- Scramble egg: Push everything to one side, crack egg in and scramble.
- REMOVE chicken from wok: Remove everything in the wok onto a plate (scrape wok clean).
- Caramelise noodles: Return wok to stove, heat 2 tbsp oil over high heat until it starts smoking (HOT is key!). Add noodles and Sauce. Toss as few times as possible to disperse Sauce and make edges of noodles caramelise – about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.
- Add chicken back in: Quickly add chicken and veg back in, and toss to disperse. Serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published 2014, updated 2016. Updated over the course of the years with improved photos, the addition of ingredients and process photos as well as a recipe video. Recipe also updated with a more effective cooking method – cooking the ingredients in two batches. No change to ingredients, but yields a better caramelisation and easier to cook – read in post for explanation.
MORE THAI TAKEOUT FAVOURITES
Love noodles? Me too! See my entire Noodle recipes collection.
Life of Dozer
When Dozer ate a VERY spicy piece of chilli biltong!!
So good I made it in food tech
I would have to say meh. My husband loved it though. My noodles were not dark like the photo. Some said you should double the sauce and that might have helped. It didn’t have the depth that I wanted and probably because the noodles didn’t caramelize enough. The recipe said to caramelize the noodles for 1 1/2 minutes, but I think it should have been a lot longer and that is probably where it went wrong. I would also add a lot more vegetables. Nagi, how do you know it’s caramelized enough?
I had the exact same issues
WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT JUST WHY, YOU DONT DESERVE THE RIGHT TO SPEAK EVER AGAIN, I HOPE YOU GET GROOMED BY NAGI,
DIE NOW
Oh Nagi, my timer didn’t make a sound for my noodles… so they were so overcooked. Not the recipes fault though, the flavour was really good and i’ll definitely make again.
This recipe is very good! I added a cut up Serrano pepper and still needed Sriracha, but the flavor is bomb. Made with shrimp and Chinese broccoli.
Great recipe, entire family loved that! I cooked noodle al dente and added a tea spoon of oil to prevent them sticking. But tossing noodles separately with the sauce avoided them from breaking. Thanks Nadi!
My weeknight try at this recipe used some mods due to what I had on hand, but the result was so tasty. Thank you, Nagi for another win!!!
This was delicious. I used wide egg noodles. I used stir fry vegetables, and I used beef instead of chicken. Me and thkids loved it. Will definitely make again. I paired it with cucumber salad
So so good, so easy, no fuss
Thank you, Nagi. This is delicious and I cook lots of asian food, Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Japanese, and Thai. I used dried wide rice noodles (get the widest ones). The noodles need to soak in warm water for about 40-60 min. Don’t rush it by boiling. If you do that noodle will end up in small pieces after you stir fry them. I live in the US and lived in an area with lots of asian stores for multiple decades and had Chinese broccoli often. However, I recently moved to an area with almost no asian stores. I could not find Chinese broccoli and substituted collar green. I separated the stem and leaves and cooked them separately. Collar green takes longer to cook compared to Chinese broccoli so I switched the steps a bit. Heat the pan, add oil, cook garlic briefly, add stems, cook for 2 min, add some water and cook till stem is a bit soft. Then add the leaves and cook for 2 min, then add some water. Cook till leaves are a bit soft. Remove all from pan. Clean pan and then heat it. When hot add oil and some more garlic, then add chicken. When chicken is not pink anymore, add the veggies back into the pan. I also added one serrano pepper because we like a bit of heat. Then remove all and follow the direction for caramelizing the noodles. Make sure you follow the instruction for that. It is so good.
excited to make this recipe.
If I have Kecap- can I replace any of the other ingredient and use that instead?
love this recipe,, ive made it multiple times already and it’s become a regular in my household. love topping it with chili oil
So quick and easy! Taste is very similar to our favourite Thai takeaway, didn’t realise it’s such an easy dish to make. Made it with prawns, really tasty, thank you!
Sooo good and so easy. Better than take out 😋
Delicious and very tasty but I used the wide rice stick noodles and they completely fell apart even after soaking them for a few hours as suggested in the comments. Not sure I will make it again.
I loved this recipe! I used shrimp instead of chicken and I also doubled the sauce. 10/10
A few hours?!?! Where does it say that?!
Nagi, you are such an inspiration to me, you are the reason i still strive and live this life. please never stop making these gorgeous unfathomably amazing recipes of yours, sincerely tyler
Fantastic recipe, the sauce tastes amazing!
Such an amazing recipe! Have made this so many times now. Even my 4 year old loves it so much. He’s so excited for dinner tonight 🍜. Thanks for another great recipe, Nagi!
Fabulous. I made it tonight as part of a Thai dinner, and the sauce was PERFECT. Fortunately I can get fresh rice noodles quite easily here in Southern California. I highly recommend this recipe!
Another fabulous recipe! I used coconut aminos instead of the soy sauces and konjac noodles and it still tasted amazing. I might try doubling the sauce next time – it is very moreish!
So simple but so much flavour and the way you write the recipes makes all the difference. Clear and concise! I’m hoping you’ll have a competition soon with the prize being a shopping and cooking afternoon with you?
Thanks for making cooking fun and flavourful. YOU ROCK!!!!
This is so so good! I would definitely double the sauce next time. It’s going to be a regular in our house!