Thai Pad See Ew Recipe: A Flavourful Family Favorite
Thai pad see ew is a flavourful stir-fry featuring wide rice noodles, tender chicken or tofu, and crisp Chinese broccoli, all coated in a rich, savoury soy sauce blend. This quick and easy dish balances sweet and salty flavours with a smoky char from high-heat cooking. Perfect for busy weeknights, pad see ew offers a taste of authentic Thai street food right in your kitchen. Whether you’re a seasoned cook or a beginner, this recipe will satisfy your craving for bold, comforting flavours.
Equipment
- Wok or a large heavy based skillet
- Wok turner or a spatula
- Large bowl
Ingredients
Noodles:
- 200 g dried wide rice noodles or 450g fresh wide flat rice noodles (Thai Sen Yai)
Sauce:
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce
- 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 vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic cloves finely chopped
- 200 g chicken thighs boneless, skinless, sliced into bite sized pieces
- 1 large egg
- 4 stems Chinese broccoli
Instructions
Preparation:
- Trim the ends of the Chinese broccoli and cut into about 3 inch pieces.
- Separate the leaves from the stems.
- Cut the thicker stems in half vertically.
- Prepare the noodles according to packet directions and drain the excess water. (Time it so they’re cooked just before you need to use them. If you overcook the noodles, they will likely break in the wok.)
- Combine all the ingredients for the sauce until the sugar dissolves.
Cooking Method:
- Add 1 tbsp oil and heat for a few seconds.
- Once oil heats up, add chicken, and stir fry until it changes in colour from pink to white.
- Add garlic, and stir fry for 15 seconds.
- Add Chinese broccoli stems, and stir fry until the chicken is almost cooked through (about 2-3 minutes).
- Add Chinese broccoli leaves, and stir fry until the leaves are just wilted.
- Using your wok turner (or spatula), push everything to one side of the wok.
- Crack the egg in the wok, and scramble using your wok turner (or spatula) in a circular motion.
- Remove everything (chicken, eggs and vegetables) from the wok and onto a prep bowl (i.e. scrape the wok clean).
- Return the empty wok to the stove.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil over high heat until it starts smoking. HOT is key to this dish!
- Add the noodles, and the prepared sauce.
- Toss as few times as possible to disperse the sauce and make the edges of noodles caramelise (about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes).
- Quickly add chicken, egg and vegetables back into the wok, and toss to disperse.
Serve:
- Serve on a platter to enjoy immediately!
Notes
- Pad see ew is traditionally prepared with Sen Yai. These Thai fresh rice noodles which are wide and flat. These are a little difficult to handle. They are also hard to find. (Try every Asian grocery store you can think of until you track it down!) As an alternative, you can use Pad Thai noodles, the widest you can find at your local grocery store.
- The dark soy sauce gives the pad see ew it's strong dark, caramalized colour. Dark soy sauce has a bolder flavour than your regular, all purpose, light soy sauce. You can substitute the light soy sauce in place of the dark. Having said that, your noodles won't have the rich colour and strong flavour.
- Warning: Don't substitute more dark soy sauce for the light soy sauce. The flavour will overpower the rest of the ingredients.
- An alternative to Chinese broccoli are other leafy greens such as pak choy and bok choy. I usually like to use baby bok choy when I can't find Chinese broccoli.
- This dish is versatile that you can use other proteins instead of chicken. You can try it with beef, tofu and shrimp.