Pad See Ew
Published March 22, 2022
Johnny Miller for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Rebecca Jurkevich.
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
FOR THE NOODLES
8 ounces sen yai or other dried wide rice noodles
8 ounces beef, chicken or pork, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
4 garlic cloves, minced
6 gai lan (Chinese broccoli) or broccolini, thick stems trimmed off, or steamed broccoli, cut into 2-inch-long pieces with stems attached
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon granulated sugar, plus more to taste
2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for cooking eggs
Thai black soy sauce or Chinese dark soy sauce, to taste
FOR THE SAUCE
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
½ teaspoon ground white pepper
Nutritional analysis per serving (2 to 3 servings)
90 grams carbs; 172 milligrams cholesterol; 655 calories; 10 grams monosaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 18 grams fat; 10 grams fiber; 2909 milligrams sodium; 37 grams protein; 10 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare the noodles: Place dried noodles in a large bowl and cover with hot tap water. Let soak while you prepare the remaining ingredients, allowing the water to cool, and stirring and separating the noodles occasionally with your hands. (This will take 30 to 40 minutes, depending on the brand.) When ready, noodles will be white, limp and bouncy, almost soft to the bite. (They will cook a little more later.) Pour off and discard all the water, fluff noodles with your hands and set aside.
- Step 2
Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, mix the meat with the soy sauce and let stand at room temperature.
- Step 3
Prepare the sauce: In a bowl, whisk the oyster sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce and white pepper to combine.
- Step 4
Place the remaining noodle ingredients in bowls and line them up in the order they’ll be added to the pan: garlic, gai lan, eggs, noodles and sugar, then the sauce. When ready to cook, put 1 cup of hot tap water near the stove, and drain and discard any liquid in the bowl with the meat.
- Step 5
Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 14-inch wok or a heavy 12-inch skillet or a large Dutch oven over high heat until just starting to smoke. (If using a smaller pan, cook in 2 batches.) Add the meat to the hot pan in a single layer. Let cook, undisturbed, until well browned, about 1 minute, then stir-fry until just cooked through, about 1 minute more, pressing it against the pan to sear. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Step 6
Wipe out the pan and heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium until shimmering. Stir in the garlic, then immediately add the greens and stir-fry just until bright and beginning to wilt, 30 to 45 seconds.
- Step 7
Push greens to one side of the pan, add just enough oil to lightly coat the other side and add the eggs. Use the spatula to scramble the eggs, stirring and scraping until cooked through and just dry, about 1 minute.
- Step 8
Raise the heat to high. Add the noodles, spreading them around the pan, then tossing and separating them with a wok turner, tongs or both. When noodles are sizzling, add the sugar and 3 tablespoons sauce, and toss to coat and cook through. Keep cooking, leaving noodles undisturbed for 20 to 30 seconds at a time, so they sear and caramelize.
- Step 9
Add the meat back to the pan, along with any liquids in the dish, and toss everything together.
- Step 10
Add a few dashes of black soy sauce, and taste for doneness and seasoning. Keep cooking, adding more sugar, black soy sauce or pad see ew sauce a little at a time, until the dish is very savory and a little sweet. Add hot water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if noodles are not quite soft.
- Step 11
When the noodles have absorbed all the liquid and the flavors are balanced, serve immediately.
Private Notes
Comments
I've been making this for years; the recipe is on the chef's blog, Hot Thai Kitchen. Notes on sauces: Pearl River Bridge Chinese Dark soy sauce is a good substitute if you can't find Healthy Boy black. Three Crabs fish sauce gives a more mellow umami than Squid Brand, or splurge with Red Boat. Lee Kum Kee's Premium Oyster Sauce is decent if you can't find Maekrua Brand. If you can find it, Healthy Boy Mushroom soy sauce shines in this recipe. This is fast, simple, and delicious.
Unfortunately, this recipe lacks any instruction on how not to eat the entire thing by oneself in minutes. Wow.
Pailin has a great online site with lots of in-depth tid-bits for those of us unfamiliar with the wide array and branding of SE Asian sauces. She goes into great detail of her favorite fish sauce brands for use in particular dishes or how to chose the best palm sugar puck or how to properly brew your own tamarind. It’s been so helpful to me!
I used fresh wide rice noodles and it worked really well! I was concerned because I saw some comments about fresh noodles not working well, I wonder if they used a different kind of noodles?
tasty, I think I would need to have hunted down fresh rice noodles to get the texture of my local takeout place. still I'll make it again, not just because I had to buy quadruple the amount of gai lan called for in the recipe
@MCB I made it with fresh rice noodle and it was a killer! I was surprised how easy it was
Is it me or did anyone else need to read the recipe a few times over to understand what needed to happen. I especially struggled with the sentence about the ‘hot tap water’ then in the same sentence ‘drain meat liquid.’ Great recipe but could have been written in a more clear and concise manner.