A real restaurant quality recipe for Pad See Ew, the popular Thai stir fried noodles straight from the streets of Thailand. 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!
Street food classic Pad See Ew
Pad See Ew, which means “stir fried soy sauce noodles, is an extremely popular Thai street food meal and probably the most popular noodle dish at Thai restaurants in Western countries. You may have tried and been disappointed by other recipes in the past. It all comes down to the sauce. You have to get the sauce right!
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!
How to make Thai Stir Fried Noodles
The unique technique with Pad See Ew is the cooking of an egg in the wok. Bits of scrambled egg gets stuck to the other ingredients and the char it creates adds to the authentic flavour of this dish.
Pad See Ew is traditionally made with Sen Yai, which are wide, thin fresh rice noodles which you can get from Asian grocery stores. But it is perfectly acceptable, and just as delicious, to make them with any wide flat rice noodles. I make this with dried Pad Thai Noodles or other fat, flat rice noodles because supermarkets in my area don’t sell Sen Yai and I didn’t have the energy to make the trek to the closest Asian store.
You can really make this with any noodles you want, fresh or dry, such as Hokkien, Singapore or other egg noodles suitable for stir frying, but I don’t recommend making this with vermicelli noodles, because they are too thin for the strong flavours of this sauce.
Here are the noodles I used for this recipe that are sold at supermarkets and grocery stores like Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and Harris Farms (as well as Asian stores of course, but if you are ate Asian store, get the fresh noodles!). It is really similar to Sen Yai, except that it’s dried, not fresh, and not quite as wide.
The other key authentic ingredient in this is Chinese Broccoli, 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.
You can substitute the chicken with other proteins that are suitable for stir frying, and you can substitute the Chinese broccoli with other vegetables – preferably similar leafy Chinese greens such as pak choy or bok choy. But I’ve also been known to make this using whatever vegetables I have leftover at the end of the week, such as sliced carrots, onion and bean sprouts.
The 3 components to this dish are the noodles, the sauce, and the ingredients to stir fry. Have all of them ready to toss into the wok as once you start cooking, it only takes a few minutes so you don’t want to be scrambling around the kitchen.
Hope you enjoy it! – Nagi x
* Originally published June 2014. Updated with fresh new photos because my photography has somewhat improved since then! 🙂
MORE THAI TAKEOUT FAVOURITES
- Pad Thai – truly just like takeout!
- Thai Red Curry and Green Curry
- Massaman Curry
- Thai Fish Cakes
- Thai Fried Rice
- Pad See Ew – Thai stir fried noodles
- Browse the Thai recipe collection
AND MORE GREAT NOODLES!
- Chow Mein
- Pad Thai
- Pad See Ew (Thai Stir Fried noodles) – this recipe
- Singapore Noodles
- Char Kway Teow
- Browse the Noodle recipes collection!
Also, don’t miss these popular quick one pot stir fried noodles! Quick Beef Ramen Noodles and Chicken Vegetable Ramen Noodles.
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Thai Stir Fried Noodles (Pad See Ew)
Ingredients
Noodles
- 6 oz / 180g dried wide rice stick noodles , or 15 oz / 450g fresh wide flat rice noodles (Sen Yai) (Note 1)
Sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce (or sub with kecap manis) (see notes for substitutes)
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 2 tsp soy sauce (normal all purpose soy sauce)
- 2 tsp white vinegar (plain distilled white vinegar)
- 2 tsp sugar (white or brown)
- 2 tbsp water
Stir Fry
- 2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic cloves
- 1 cup / 150g / 5oz chicken thighs (boneless, skinless), cut into bite size pieces
- 1 large egg
- 4 cups (packed) Chinese broccoli, leaves separated from stems (cut stems vertically into thin sticks)
Instructions
- Prepare the noodles according to packet instructions. Some just require soaking in boiling water for 5 minutes, others require cooking in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes. For fresh noodles, soak in boiled water in a bowl for a few minutes - do not boil in a pot. Drain when ready.
- Meanwhile, combine sauce ingredients.
- Mince the garlic straight into the wok with the oil. Place wok high heat. As the oil is heating, the garlic will gradually heat too and infuse the oil with flavour.
- When the oil is hot and the garlic is starting to turn golden, add the chicken and Chinese broccoli stems and stir fry for 1 minute.
- Move the chicken and Chinese broccoli to one side and crack in the egg, and scramble it. Don't worry if some of it sticks to the wok, it will char as you continue cooking - you want that chargrilled flavour!
- Add the noodles, Chinese broccoli leaves and the sauce. Fold gently to combine, for the sauce to coat the noodles evenly and to caramelise, and the leaves to just wilt. They only need to be just wilted because they will continue to cook while you are plating up.
- Serve immediately.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition
If you enjoyed this recipe, I think you’ll also love my Pad Thai recipe!
Very good with simple ingredients that is always vailable in my kitchen except for the chinese bok choy. I used romaine lettuce instead, it was just as good. Thank you for sharing! Can’t wait to try your padthai, another favorite in my household.
I’m so glad you loved it Mae!
Super easy, super tasty. Not more needs to be said.
Terrific, thanks Peter!
Amazing recipe – as per usual! I never even considered making pad see ew at home. Game changer!
You’ll never look back! So much better than take out!
I made this last night for my husband and I – pad see ew is my all time favorite restaurant dish. I easily found all of the ingredients at my local international grocery (Except the dark soy sauce… it had several other aliases, I bought Healthy Boyfriend Black Soy Sauce A) I made the recipe exactly as is and it was beyond delicious. I bought enough ingredients so we could have it again tonight! I found that spritzing a little bit of lime on the dish really livens it up, otherwise no adjustements at all. I’m going to try to reduce the oil by half and see if it makes a difference, so I can cut some calories. Thank you for the great recipe.
I’m so glad you and Hubby loved it Jamie!!! 🙌
Can you use olive or avocado oil instead of vegetable?
I’d stick with something with a mild flavour – avocado or coconut oil would work ☺️
So delicious and so easy! Definitely a winner in my house. My girls loved it!
Wahoo!!!! Great stuff Jessie!
The first time I made this recipe, I had just started university and it was the first time I cooked a tasty meal by myself. Now I’m in my final year and have probably made this 100 times at least!! And the sauce is still incredible when I play around with the other ingredients. Thank you 🙏🏽 😊
This is the best!! I’m so glad you love it!
Just branching out into Thai cuisine. This recipe was a hit with my most picky Asaian food eater. Thanks for such reliable, tasty, and easy to. Prepare recipes.
I’m so glad it was a hit!
Hi
Absolutely love your recipes and reads! You have reignited my love of cooking as leading such a busy life i quickly packed away my love of cooking such tasty meals as i find myself very time poor.
Your style of cooking is very easy to understand and isnt over complicated.
I just have one pressing issue if i may,my beloved carbonsteel wok is in need of much TLC,ive tried many times to re season it but food just sticks no matter what, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Nares from Australia.
Hi Nares, thanks so much for the great feedback, I’m so glad you’re loving being in the kitchen! ☺️ In regard to your wok, if it has been seasoned properly and food is still sticking, try cooking at a higher heat and using a decent amount of oil!
I made this tonight. Didn’t really have any sauce once I made it, but the flavor was still great. Seconds were had by all! Still will be looking for one with the thick, brown sauce I get at the restaurant.
this is super good!! made a veggie version using 4 cups of shredded carrots, cabbage and spring onion. the sauce tastes just like the one at my fave thai takeaway in auckland. thanks Nagi!!!
Yes! Winning! So happy you loved it Blake!