pad see ew & pad kee mao (aka drunken noodles)

two recipes for the price of one!? amazing.

What’s this? Two recipes in one blog post? It must be your lucky day! I recently started cooking twice a week for my family, and as a way to plan ahead and to keep grocery costs at a manageable minimum, I thought it would be fun to make two dishes that have a big crossover of ingredients. And the first thing that came to my mind was Pad See Ew and Pad Kee Mao (otherwise called Drunken Noodles).

PAD SEE EW

Serves: 5

Ingredients:

• 1.5ibs. steak (doesn’t super matter, a lower grade one will do fine. I personally used strip steak), chopped (also, feel free to swap out the protein for whatever else you want: chicken, shrimp, pork, or vegetarian options too like tofu)

• 1/2ibs. of dried rice noodles

• 1/2tbsp. baking soda

• 6 cloves of garlic, minced

• A big bunch of bok choi

• 2 shallots, chopped finely

• 4 - 5 eggs, whisked

• 1 Thai green chili (or more if you like it spicy), chopped finely

• 4tbsp. oyster sauce

• 1tbsp. fish sauce

• 4tbsp. tamari, separated into 2tbsp. portions

• 3tbsp. rice wine vinegar

• 1tbsp. sugar

• Vegetable oil (or some other kind of neutral oil)

• Red chili flakes (I used gochugaru, personally)

• White pepper to taste

• MSG to taste

• Lime wedge for garnish

Directions For Sauce:

• In a small bowl mix oyster sauce, one portion of tamari, fish sauce, and white pepper together. Add sugar if needed. Set aside

Directions For Prik Nam Som:

• this can also be found in some grocery stores, but I chose to make it myself

• Mix the Thai green chili with rice wine vinegar. Set aside.

Directions:

• Cut beef, and mix in a bowl with the other 2tbsp. of soy sauce and the baking soda. Set aside to marinate for 30min.

• Cut, dice, mince all the vegetables

• Make noodles: follow the instructions, but remove the noodles a minute early and strain while running under cold water, and then put in a bowl of cold water and then set aside

• Pour vegetable oil into wok, then add meat. Cook meat until brown on medium-high / high heat, remove and let sit

• Add more vegetable oil, then add garlic, shallots, and bok choi, stir fry until bright, aromatic, and the bok choi has wilted slightly (roughly 30 - 40 seconds)

• Push bok choi to one side of the room, and add the whisked eggs, stirring and mixing in the pan to scramble then until cooked through and looking dry (roughly 1min.)

• Add noodles back into pot, with a tablespoon of sugar tossing and stirring them occasionally, add the sauce, and the prik nam som, mixing together

• add a pinch of red pepper flakes, white pepper, and MSG to taste

• Taste a noodle and see if the dish needs more tamari, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, red chili flakes, or white pepper until it’s perfect

• If noodles get dry while cooking, add a teaspoon of water at a time until it’s properly moist

• Cut lime wedges for garnish

Serve & Enjoy

Drunken Noodles ( or pad kee mao)

Serves: 5

Ingredients:

• 1ibs. beef tip, chopped

• OPTIONAL: 1ibs. bacon (this is not traditional in any way, but Drunken Noodles are a sort of “toss what you have into the dish” kind of meal, and I happened to have bacon. So, into the wok it went!)

• Vegetable Oil

• 1/2ibs. thick rice noodles

• 1/2tbsp. baking soda

• 4 cloves of garlic, minced

• 1 shallot, diced finely

• 1 red pepper, diced

• 2 broccoli floret, chopped

• 1 carrot, diced

• 4 eggs, whisked

• 1 bok choy, rough chopped

• 2tbsp. oyster sauce

• 2tbsp. tamari

• 2tbsp. fish sauce

• 1tbsp. sugar

• 1-3 thai green chilis, minced (the more chilis, the spicier, so this is to your preference)

• 3tbsp. white rice vinegar

• 3tsp. sriracha

• Handful of thai basil

• Red chili pepper flakes

• Lime wedges

• MSG

• White pepper

Directions:

• In a bowl, mix oyster sauce, tamari, fish sauce, sriracha, white pepper, and sugar

• Make prik nam som (which the instructions are given in the recipe above this one)

• Mix beef with tamari and baking soda, mix until evenly coated, and let sit on the side, marinating, for 30 min. or more (though letting it marinate overnight works best)

• Follow instructions on the packaging to cook noodles, pull them a little early, and rinse them under cold water, and then place in a bowl of cold water until ready to cook them again

• Add bacon to wok, put to the side when done cooking

• Cook beef until brown, put to the side when done cooking’

• Add garlic, shallots until aromatic (around 1min.)

• Add broccoli, carrots, red pepper, bok choi and cook until soft (roughly 3min.)

• Push vegetables to the side of the wok, add more oil if necessary, and pour eggs in, mixing until solid and only a little runny, then mix together with vegetables

• Add both meats, and noodles back into the wok

• Pour the sauce you made at the beginning, and prik nam som into the wok

• Add white pepper, MSG, chili flakes into the wok to your liking

• Toss in some thai basil and mix everything together, until leaves are just wilted

• Lime on the side for garnish

Serve & Enjoy