Pad See Ew Recipe (ผัดซีอิ๊ว)
Pad See Ew is an easy-to-follow recipe that uses readily available ingredients.
Pad See Ew is an easy-to-follow recipe that uses readily available ingredients.
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oil for frying
- 3 cloves garlic
- 300 grams (10.5 oz) fresh wide rice noodles (sen yai)
- 200 grams (7 oz) chicken (alternatively you could really use any meat of your choice)
- 1 handful of chopped chinese broccoli (kailan) i use about 2 stalks
- 1/2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- chili flakes for garnish
- black pepper for garnish
- vinegar for garnish
- Carbohydrate 3.66115278252353 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 168.057311540081 g
- Fiber 0.287492313534281 g
- Protein 1.86634286253543 g
- Saturated Fat 13.4930442694089 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (191g)
- Sodium 1270.62262893653 mg
- Sugar 3.37366046898925 g
- Trans Fat 7.28135723122272 g
- Calories 1506 calories
Step-by-step
- Comb through the fresh wide rice noodles, making sure any clumps are separated.
- Peel then mince 3 cloves of garlic, slice the chicken into small bite sized pieces, and slice the Chinese broccoli into 1.5 centimeter strips.
- Heat the wok (or frying pan) on a medium heat and add about 2 tablespoons of oil.
- Wait until the oil is hot, and then fry the garlic for about 10 seconds or so, making sure it sizzles in the hot oil.
- Add the chopped chicken to the wok and stir fry for it about a minute until the chicken is nearly all the way white in color and cooked pretty well though and through.
- Now, turn down your heat (or if you are using an electric stove you can even move your pan off the burner for a moment).
- Toss in the rice noodles, the Chinese broccoli, 1 tablespoon of light soy sauce, ½ tablespoon of dark soy sauce, and a ½ teaspoon of sugar.
- Still on low heat, start to fold the noodles gently by picking them up with the spatula from the bottom, and folding them over (If you stir fry too hard, the stickiness from the noodles can make them turn into a big noodle blob - believe me, I have done this too many times and it is not pretty!).
- Cook the noodles for about 1 -2 minutes. If it gets a little dry, you can drizzle in a tiny bit of oil.
- After the noodles are well mixed, scoot the noodles to one side of the wok, and proceed to crack an egg into the empty side.
- Now it is time to crank up the heat on your stove - for the final step we want a little char on the noodles and egg for great flavor.
- Scramble the egg, and then fold the noodles onto the egg, sort of when it is half cooked. Let the heat sear the egg for a few seconds and then start folding the noodles and egg together. With a hot flaming fire, you should get a little char to both the noodles and the egg.
- Fry for about 30 more seconds, making sure to be gentle with the noodles, and then turn off the heat and dish it out.
- Sprinkle a little freshly ground pepper on the top of the noodles. You can also eat pad see ew with a bit of chili flakes on top and some vinegar for taste.
Unlike pad thai, which relies on a tamarind and fish sauce base dominated by sharp tang and acidity, pad see ew depends entirely on the deep, caramelized notes of soy sauce and sugar. Achieving restaurant quality at home requires understanding how ingredients react in a hot pan. Fresh wide rice noodles, known scientifically as sen yai, behave completely differently than their dried counterparts. Dried noodles require rehydration and often turn gummy under high heat. Fresh rice noodles arrive already gelatinized, meaning they absorb sauces instantly without breaking down structurally.
The Importance of Noodle Preparation and Wok Control
Comb through fresh noodles by hand before cooking to eliminate clumps. If noodles enter the pan stuck together, the interior strands will steam instead of searing. Maintain medium heat when introducing the soy sauces and sugar to prevent scorching the natural sugars instantly. Use a spatula to gently fold the noodles from the bottom up rather than stirring vigorously, protecting the delicate starch bonds.
Developing Char and Flavor Balance
Crank the burner to its maximum output only during the final stage. Pushing the ingredients aside to cook the egg directly against bare metal generates Maillard reactions, creating savory compounds that contrast with the sweet dark soy. The chemical interplay here relies on balancing the salinity of light soy sauce with the bitter-sweet profile of dark soy and the sharp acetic acid of table vinegar added at the table.
