Pad See Ew Noodles

Pad See Ew is a street food noodle dish found all over Thailand, featuring flat rice noodles stir fried in a savory soy-based sauce with a hint of sweetness, tossed with some greens and an egg.

This homemade Beef Pad See Ew recipe is a quick and simple way to recreate the delicious Thai classic right in the comforts of your own home in under 30 minutes!

What is Pad See Ew

Pad See Ew is a popular noodle dish in Thailand, sold by restaurants and street vendors alike. You’ll see it commonly offered alongside other Thai noodle dishes like Pad Thai and Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Maw). Its popularity has spread all over the world today, and you can find it in many Thai restaurants outside of Thailand as well.

Rice noodles, Chinese broccoli (sometimes broccoli is used), and a protein are stir fried on the stovetop under extremely high heat. They are tossed in a savory sweet homemade sauce made using a few simple Thai soy sauces and other Asian sauces, producing a delightful combination of flavors in the overall dish.

We have a deep love for Pad See Ew in our household, so I took on a challenge – make the Pad See Ew magic happen in our kitchen!

I quickly learned that, believe it or not, Pad See Ew is actually fairly simple to make at home. I’m not trying to brag, but after I started making my homemade pad see ew, we don’t really go out to order it anymore!

I have all the tips and tricks list on here, along with ingredients and step-by-step methods, to help you make the best pad see ew ever. So buckle up, and let’s get cooking!

Appliances Needed

I highly recommend using a wok for making pad see ew. A wok has a large surface with slope sides to move the noodles freely when cooking, and it can withstand really high heat. However, if you do not have one, a large non-stick skillet that can withstand high heat will be your next best thing.

Ingredients

The good news is, even though pad see ew is a traditional Thai dish, we can find a lot of the ingredients here in the U.S. today. Most of them can even be found in the mainstream grocery stores!

Here are what you need:

• Wide rice noodles: you can find them in mainstream grocery store in the Asian aisle. They come in dry form, packed in a see-through plastic package most of the time. These dried rice noodles will need to be softened before use by soaking or boiling in water. Some Asian grocery stores will carry fresh wide rice noodles which can also be used.
• Beef: sirloin, strip steak, even skirt steak (it’s slightly tougher) can be used. Cut into strips or smaller pieces; slice cross grain so that the cooked beef is more tender. You can also use other protein such as chicken, shrimp, pork or tofu. For best results, bring it to room temperature 30 minutes before cooking.
• Chinese broccoli (Gai Lan): you can typically find this in the Asian grocery store. The authentic version of Pad See Ew uses Chinese broccoli. However, if you really cannot find it, regular broccoli is the next best thing.
• Bean sprouts: you can get this fresh at the Asian store as well. Rinse thoroughly before use.
• Vegetable oil: any stir fry will require a decent amount of neutral oil. Canola oil can be used as well.
• Soy sauce: this is what we would consider the regular, everyday light soy sauce. If you can find it , Thai thin soy sauce works the best for this, but it is not necessary to use Thai soy sauces.
• Dark soy sauce: this is a thicker, more viscous soy sauce. It also has a lower salt content than regular soy sauce. Use Thai black soy sauce if you can find it.
• Fish sauce: do not be intimidated by the initial fishy smell, this produces amazing flavors and is an important ingredient in many Thai dishes.
• Oyster (flavored) sauce: another common sauce in Asian cooking that is crucial in bringing umami flavors to this dish.
• Garlic: mince fresh cloves into small pieces. For best flavor, do not substitute with garlic powder.
• Eggs: For best results, you can bring it to room temperature 30 minutes before cooking, this will prevent significantly lowering the temperature in your skillet/wok.

How to make Pad See Ew

Step 1: Prepare ingredients

Just like any other stir fry scramble, first prep your ingredients because the actual stir frying process goes fast, and you want to make sure you have everything at arm’s length once you heat up that pan.

Note that there are a few things you want to start working on ahead of time (at least 30-45 minutes prior to stir frying pad see ew):

• preparing the sauce
• marinating the meat
• soaking the rice noodles (or you can boil it)

Sauce

Combine all the sauce ingredients , which are the (regular) light soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, dark soy sauce, and sugar. Mix well.

Part of this sauce will go into marinating the meat, and the other part is for the actual stir frying of your pad see ew.

Beef

Bring 2 tablespoon of the sauce to the sliced beef and let it sit for ~30 minutes. You can marinate for longer if you have the time. If you are really short on time, skip the marinating! It will still be delicious.

We are using beef for this recipe but feel free to use chicken, pork, shrimp, tofu, or another protein.

Flat Rice Noodles

I use wide flat rice noodles sticks (dry version) to make my pad see ew because they are easier to handle than the fresh ones. This is basically wider rice noodles than the ones used for Pad Thai.

Soak the noodles in warm water for ~30 minutes (or see the package instruction for soak time, as it may vary).

At the end of the soak time, drain the water and make sure the noodles are separated (not clumped together) before cooking. You can use a paper towel to dab away additional moisture.

Alternatively, you can also boil the rice noodles to soften.

You can a;sp use fresh rice noodles, and it will most likely need to be softened and separated too. Follow package instruction on how to do so.

Chinese broccoli (Gai Lan)

Wash and slice the vegetables. If you are using Chinese broccoli, thinly slice the stalks as it will take a long time to cook if it is not thinly sliced.

If the stalk is very large and bulky, slice the stalk slightly slanted to maximize cooking surface area (see picture below).

Garlic

A small but incredibly powerful spice, garlic is a super important part of this dish.

Mince the garlic, lots of it!

Step 2: Fry Beef

Line all the ingredients next to the stove before you start cooking, as the process will go really fast, and you want your ingredients within arm’s reach!

Make sure you have your meat, rice noodles (drained), sauce, garlic, Chinese broccoli, eggs, and vegetable oil.

First, add vegetable oil to wok and heat up wok under high heat. Once the wok is heated up, add all the beef, stir fry until it is done, then remove promptly and set aside.

Step 3: Fry Noodles

Next, we’ll cook the rest of the dish. I highly recommend cooking one serving at a time (so you’ll make multiple batches if needed), because this will enable the noodles to move around freely in the wok, and they taste so much better that way.

Again, get the wok to high heat, add vegetable oil and garlic.

Stir fry for 30 seconds or so, then add Chinese broccoli. Stir fry till the veggies turn darker green. Do not overcook – vegetable will look wilted if overcooked.

Next, add softened rice noodles and prepared sauce.

Move the ingredients around constantly (it’s called stir fry for a reason!), then add bean sprouts.

Immediately after that, move everything to one side of the wok and crack an egg onto the other side.

Break the yolk and let the egg cook for a few seconds, then move all the noodles onto the slightly runny egg.

Let it sit for a few more seconds, stir the noodles around to mix the egg into it.

Step 4: Recombine to finish

Add the cooked beef to the noodles, stir, then remove promptly.

Do not overcook or the rice noodles will turn soggy!

Phew – stir frying is a sprint! If you take too long you will overcook the dish, but at the same time you want to make sure everything is cooked.

It’s a balancing act, and one that takes practice to perfect it. But when you do, it’s so yummy and rewarding!

So keep practicing and you will get there! It definitely took me a little while to perfect my stir fries. 🙂

And here it is – the gorgeous, delicious end product. Say hello to your own homemade beef pad see ew.

I love the chewy texture of the rice noodles, combined with crunchy veggies and tender slices of beef.

The sauce is savory, with hints of sweetness, and has a slight punch from the fish sauce, which I love. What can I say – I love me some Pad See Ew Noodles!

Skip takeout and make this Pad See Ew today right in the comforts of your own kitchen! It is completely doable, and taste so darn good!

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