Pad see ew

Pad see ew is a traditional Thai street food which has become popular in America. It's one of my personal favorite Thai dishes. It's surprisingly easy to make at home, so I thought I'd share the recipe for anyone who is interested.

The key to really good pad see ew is the fresh rice noodles. You should be able to find them in most Asian markets and they are a big upgrade over dried noodles. In the DC area I usually go to the Bangkok 54 market for the noodles and Chinese broccoli. Bangkok 54 is a great spot to pick up items you might not be able to get at your regular supermarket, like Chinese broccoli or bok choy.

I'm making this version with chicken, but you can just as easily make it with beef, pork, shrimp or tofu if you want. For this recipe you'll need both light and dark soy sauce. Light soy sauce similar to the standard soy sauce you'll find at sushi restaurants. Dark soy sauce is much thicker and has a molasses-like texture to it.

I've experimented with a bunch of different recipes for pad see ew and I've settled on a combination of two of them. The recipe for the marinade comes from Chezpim.com and really adds a lot of flavor to the chicken or whatever protein you choose. The recipe for the rest of the dish comes from Thaitable.com. This recipe will make about two servings, but can be easily doubled. Pad see ew is a fairly mild dish, but you can spice it up with chili sauce or hot sauce. I recommend doing this at the table so everyone can have it to their desired heat.

Ingredients:
For the marinade:
1/2 tbsp fish sauce
1tbsp oyster sauce
a splash of dark sesame oil


For the rest of the dish:
1 tablespoon sugar  
1/2 pound chicken, thinly sliced  
2 tablespoons light soy sauce  
2 cloves garlic, chopped  
1 lb fresh flat rice noodles  
1 egg  
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce  
1 lb Chinese broccoli


Directions:
1. If your fresh flat rice noodles are not pre-cut, cut them into strips of 3/4 inch wide. Cut Chinese broccoli into 2 inch long pieces. Halve the stems lengthwise because thick stems take longer to cook. You are going to want to cook them at the same time.
2. Heat a wok to high heat and then add 2 tablespoons of oil. Drop in the chopped garlic and stir. 
3 .Add the sliced chicken. Stir to cook the chicken. 

4. When the chicken is somewhat cooked or turned from pink to light brown, add rice noodles. Stir to break up the noodles. 
5. Add light and dark soy sauce and sugar. Stir to mix the seasonings into the noodles and chicken. 
6. Open a spot in the middle of the pan, and drop the egg in. Scramble the egg until it is almost all cooked (not watery any more). Fold in the noodles and mix them all. 

7. Add the Chinese broccoli, stems first. Add half of the Chinese broccoli and stir until it wilts and then add the rest. If you have room in your wok, you can cook all the Chinese broccoli at once. As soon as the Chinese broccoli is cooked, turn off the heat. 

Results:
I was pleased with how this recipe turned out. Its a relatively simple recipe, so its hard to mess it up too bad. Pad see ew has a great savory taste that you can kick up with some chili sauce or sriracha. The prep time is bit long if you use the fresh noodles and slice them yourself, but they are worth the effort. Pad see ew is a pretty easy recipe and you can actually get restaurant-quality results at home. Definitely worth a try for any one who's a fan of this dish.