Drunken noodles (pad kee mao ผัดขี้เมา) is one of our favorite Thai restaurant dishes. While you can enjoy it with beef, chicken, pork, shrimp or tofu, it is the slightly charred, perfectly textured salty-spicy-sweet rice noodles that make the dish. After trying to recreate this dish at home over the past 7 to 8 years, I recently discovered the absolute best brand of dried rice noodles for homemade pad kee mao!
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| Drunken noodles using two bundles of the Guangdong dried rice noodles, chicken thighs, broccoli, carrot and frozen holy basil leaves. |
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| Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao) with chicken from Red Orchid, our favorite Thai restaurant in the greater Pittsburgh area. |
Whereas General Tso's chicken may very well be the most popular Chinese-American restaurant dish, pad kee mao, or drunken noodles, surely ranks as one of the top two Thai dishes in America. While the dish has no alcohol used in its preparation, pad kee mao literally translates to stir-fry (ผัด, pad) of the drunkard (ขี้เมา, kee mao). Holy basil, chilies and a salty-sweet, umami-rich brown sauce comprise the main flavor elements of this delicious dish.
Whereas my son's favorite restaurant dish is General Tso's chicken, my daughter has always loved drunken noodles with beef. So it made sense that after posting recipes for our own versions of General Tso's chicken, tofu, and cauliflower, I would try my hand at perfecting home cooked pad kee mao.
Seven Years to Find the Perfect Noodle...
Over the years, I have tried recipes from several websites, and an array of dried rice noodles including Asian Best and Erawan Brand (with the three elephant heads). I quickly found that recapitulating the wonderful flavors of the sauce is easier than getting the proper, sumptiously supple mouthfeel for the noodles.
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| 2018 batch of pad kee mao made using Asian Best rice flakes and the Woks of Life recipe. |
In general, the large (wide) size of noodle, variously labeled as báhn phở, rice sticks or flakes, pad thai noodles, or flat rice noodles, worked better than thinner noodles. But even so, despite soaking in hot water or warm water long enough for noodles to become fully softened, the texture of the drunken noodles would end up a tad stiff, lacking a certain elasticity, even when the noodles were soft enough to start falling apart.
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| 2019 batch of pad kee mao made using dried pad thai rice noodles and the Omnivore's cookbook recipe - notice how the noodles are fragmenting into smaller pieces. |
We had much better luck using homemade Chinese wide rice noodles, or héfěn (河粉), the key ingredient in stir-fried Beef Chow Fun or, in its uncut sheet form, used as the soft, slightly chewy wrappers of dim sum rolls cháng fěn (腸粉).
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| Our first attempt at making fresh rice noodles in 2020; not pretty, but delicious. |
It is not difficult to make these delicious noodles, but each one has to be steamed, and then cut, which is a bit time consuming.
The Mala Market
So I was excited to learn of a new dried rice noodle, sourced by the mail-order Mala Market, run by a mother-daughter pair that travel to China to find the highest quality ingredients.
The first time I tried making pad kee mao using these noodles, I was surprised at how wonderfully supple and delicious these noodles were. They absorbed the sauce into themselves beautifully, and were slightly chewy. I knew instantly that I had completed my search for the perfect dried pad kee mao noodle.
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| The best dried rice noodles I have tried - very similar to fresh. Available at the Mala Market. |
This large pack of Guangdong wide dried rice noodles comes with 12 individual bundles of dried rice noodles, each weighing a bit more than 80 grams. Using Google Translate to translate the directions, the noodles can be soaked in hot water for 5-10 minute, and then transferred to room temperature water to prevent overcooking.
Alternatively, I found that the noodles can be soaked and held in warm water while the other ingredients are being prepped (at least 20 min). Then prior to stirfrying the chili-garlic paste, they can be drained shortly before being added to the wok.
Holy Basil
Last year, I grew my first batches of holy basil (kaphrao), Ocimum tenuiflorum is also known as tulsi or tulasi, and features a warm flavor profile with hints of clove, anise and a peppery tingle. The plant is characterized by somewhat furry stems and leaves, in contrast to smooth sweet Italian basil.
According to the experts, if you cannot find holy basil, Genovese or Italian sweet basil (O. basilicum) is a better substitute than the purple leaves of Thai basil (horapha, O. basilicum var. thyrisflora). To be honest, I enjoy the flavor of all the basil varieties I have tried, and do not believe the specific variety makes that much of a difference.
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| Holy basil growing next to my Chinese chives |
To my surprise, holy basil was not only very easy to grow, but it also self-seeded and spontaneously came back to my garden the following year. These volunteer plants grew so luxuriously that I ended up placing a single layer of washed and towel-dried leaves in plastic wrap, rolling it up and freezing them.
To use, I simply unroll the coil and remove the leaves I want, before recoiling and placing back in the freezer.
Basic steps to "use what you've got" drunken noodles
Fried rice, japchae, quesadillas and many Asian noodle dishes or soups are fantastic ways to use little bits and ends of quality ingredients that may be leftover from other uses, or reflect a too small harvest from your garden.
There are two elements of flavor in drunken noodles, the aromatics (garlic, chili, pepper, basil) and the brown salty-sweet sauce that coats and permeates the noodles. The key features to keep constant are the noodle to sauce ratio.
But if you only have 4 oz of meat, no problem. If you want to mix in some leftover veggies, no problem. Anything that does not have a super strong flavor of its own that might conflict with the sauce can be used.
The first time I tried using my new Guangdong rice noodles, I made a vegetarian version with extra firm marinated tofu, leftover Thai-inspired tomato-cucumber-corn salad, a few asparagus and baby bok choy, as shown above and in this reel.
This was so good that within the month, I was making pad kee mao with flank steak for my daughter before an exam. I had one last yellow carrot in the refrigerator, some baby bok choy and leftover cooked zucchini and onions. As it was summer time, I also had an abundance of fresh holy basil.
For my most recent batch, I had some green tomatoes that I removed from the vines before they froze. Despite common wisdom, some of these actually did turn red even though harvested while green.
So I cut up wedges from 2-3 different colored tomatoes and added it to a large stalk of broccoli, and a carrot for the vegetables.
The general steps are:
1. Soak and separate noodles, if using dried or store bought fresh noodles.
2. Cut and marinate bite sized proteins
3. Prep spices, veggies, and sauce
4. Cook the protein until it is 75-80% done and set aside. Cook tougher veggies such as broccoli to your preferred texture, set aside.
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| Take out the chicken when there is just a bit of pink left. It will finish cooking with residual heat to stay tender. |
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| Veggies that need longer cooking times should be steamed until tender using a tablespoon or two of water added to a hot wok before covering. |
5. In oil, cook chili-garlic paste briefly before adding drained noodles and about half the sauce. Toss to coat.
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| Dry the wok if necessary, heat up some oil and add the chili-garlic paste. |
6. Add veggies, protein, and remaining sauce back to wok, and toss until well coated. Turn up heat and allow noodles on bottom to brown slightly without stirring. Toss, turn off burner and top with fresh basil to serve.
Love2Chow Pad Kee Mao Base Recipe
Ingredients
Wide rice noodles, three 80 gm bundles of dried [8-9 oz (w) total]. See below for making fresh noodles.
8-12 oz protein (tofu, chicken, beef, pork, shrimp
4-5 cloves of garlic
3-4 pickled Thai chilies, fresh or fresh-frozen
1/4 red or orange bell pepper
1 medium carrot (2-5 oz)
Optional veggies - decrease amounts if using more than one
1-2 stalks of broccoli, depending on size of head, and/or
2-3 small green or red tomatoes, and/or
8 pieces canned baby corn, and/or
2 oz asparagus
Pad kee mao sauce (below)
1 Tbs sugar
1-2 cups holy basil or italian basil leaves, and/or optional green leafy greens like 1-2 oz bok choy
Additional soy sauce, sugar for protein marinade
Pad kee mao sauce
3 Tbs oyster sauce
2-2.5 Tbs soy sauce
2 1/4 tsp
Prep:
1. Place rice noodles in a bowl with warm water to cover. Soak at least 5-10 min until soft.
2. Marinate protein in 2-3 tsp soy sauce, 1/4 tsp sugar for 15 min. For tofu, after marinating, toss with a sprinkle of momofuku seasoned salt and some starch to lightly coat. Shallow or air fry until browned.
3. Smash chilies in mortar and pestle. Add garlic and pepper and pound into rough paste
4. Prep optional veggies: Cut carrot into small sticks. Peel broccoli stalk, trim off tough end, and cut into bite sized pieces. Cut smaller stems off base of florets, split florets into bite sized pieces. Slice tomatoes into thin wedges. Cut baby corns in half lengthwise. Trim off tough end of asparagus and slice on the bias into thin slices. Take basil leaves off of stem. Wash and coarsely chop greens.
5. Mix sauce ingredients in a small bowl
Cook:
1. Heat 1-2 Tbs vegetable oil in a wok or large frying pan. When hot and shimmering, spread protein out in a single layer. Sear for 1-2 min until brown, and then toss until nearly done. Remove to a large plate and set aside, retaining oil in the pan. OR skip this step and airfry the tofu.
2. Place back on heat, add a bit more oil if necessary, and quickly add broccoli stems, if using. Stirfry for about a minute and then add rest of broccoli. After tossing to coat in oil, add a small ladleful or broth or warm water, cover and steam for 3-5 min until cooked to taste. Remove to the same plate as the protein.
3. Heat wok until mostly dry. Turn off heat. Add the chili-garlic paste. Heat at medium until sizzling. Add noodles and drizzle on half of the sauce. Toss until noodles absorb sauce and transition to a softer texture, adding a spoon or two of hot broth or water if needed to prevent sticking.
4. Add protein and cooked veggies back, along with remaining sauce, and toss until well mixed. Add tomatoes, corn, asparagus, sprinkle on sugar, and toss to mix. Allow mixture to sit in pan undisturbed for up to a minute to char some of the noodles.
5. Stir in basil and optional leafy greens and turn off the burner. Toss to wilt, and serve hot.
Making Fresh Rice Noodles
This recipe was modified from Grace Young's website; the original post has since been taken down.
Equipment: Grace suggests using a 10 3/4-inch bamboo steamer in a wok and two 9.5-inch pie pans. You can also use a 8-inch metal cake pan, but it is easier to get the noodle out of the sloping pie pan once its cooked. Not having a steamer, I used a trivet to hold up the pie pan above the boiling water in a wok with a lid. Having multiple pans allows you to have have one dish steaming, while the other one cools.
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| The 10 inch rice noodle tray is self-supported in a wok and can be used to steam a variety of foods. |
I have also found these fantastic metal trays from the K. K. Discount store. These are designed for making rice noodles and are held up by the inward sloping sides of the wok without needing a trivet . They also sell several types of inexpensive dough scrapers to help roll up the steamed noodles. Finally, a plate lifter tool is very helpful for moving steaming hot pans.
Broad Rice Noodles (Haw Fun)
1.5 cups plus 3 Tbs rice flour (150 g)
3 Tbs cornstarch (15 g)
1/4 tsp salt
1.5 cups cold water (300 g)
3 Tbs peanut or vegetable oil (30 g)
Oil for greasing pan
In a large liquid measuring cup, whisk together rice flour, cornstarch and salt. Add the cold water and 3 Tbs oil. Whisk until batter is smooth and lump-free.
Prepare steaming equipment for steaming the rice noodles. Bring water to boil over high heat. Brush 1/2 to 3/4 tsp oil only on the bottom of the pan. Ladle about 3 Tbs of batter in the oiled pie plate. Tip the plate from side to side to spread the batter over the bottom. Turn off the heat to prevent getting a steam burn. Then, carefully place the pan into the steamer, making sure it is level. Return heat to high. Cover and steam 3-4 minutes or until crepe is formed. Carefully remove from steamer. Let set for a few minutes to cool. Use a flexible fish spatula, butter knife or dough scraper to loosen the rice noodle crepe and roll it up. Remove the rolled noodle to a cutting board.
Wipe used pie plate clean, re-oil, and repeat until all the batter is used. Make sure to monitor the water level in the wok between each batch. It will definitely need to be replenished several times. If there is any sticking in the pan, wash and dry before oiling. The steamed rice noodles are now ready for stir-frying or to be stuffed with fillings. For stir-frying, cut the rolls into 1/2 to 3/4-inch wide streips.
Makes about 1 pound of noodles.
🐾 Love2Chow Tips - Pailin Chongchitnant in hot-thai-kitchen.com recommends 1 lb fresh extra wide rice noodles, or 6 oz of dry noodles, but I did not think 6 oz dry yielded enough noodles.
🍃 Green Tips - Red Thai chilies often come in a large pack. You can either freeze or pickle the excess for later use.
To freeze, clean and dry the chilies in a dish towel, spread out on a sheet pan, freeze and transfer to a container.
To pickle, clean and pat dry. Pack in bottom of glass jar with optional smashed garlic clove. Bring 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 2 Tbs and 2 tsp (1/6 cup) sugar, and 0.5-1 Tbs salt to a boil until sugar is dissolved. Pour hot over peppers. Make sure peppers are submerged. Boil more pickling liquid if necessary. Refrigerate when cool.
You can also rehydrate dry chilies in pickling liquid.
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