Pad See Ew. Chewy rice noodles with a savory flavor stir fried with chicken, leafy greens, garlic, and red chili. These Thai stir-fried noodles truly hit the spot! Ready in 20 minutes or less!
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What is Pad See Ew?
Pad See Ew is a popular Thai noodle dish in Thai cuisine. These soy sauce noodles are a Chinese-influenced dish originating from China making its way to Thailand. The name of the dish means "stir fried with soy sauce". The key ingredients to Pad See Ew noodles include chewy pan-fried rice noodles seasoned in a savory sauce with green vegetables and tender chicken. It is accented with garlic, red chili for spice with a hint of acidity from the vinegar. Everything is cooked over medium high heat creating that signature smoky flavor from the "wok hei".
Thai Pad See Ew is one of my favorite noodle dishes in Thai food! I always order this stir fry dish at the Thai restaurants because it's just so good. I decided after ordering it so much, I had to make my own version of it. This is one of the best recipes that is a complete meal for a busy weeknight if you're craving Thai cuisine. It's a delectable dish that will hit the spot as it satisfies all your taste buds!
Ingredients
Please scroll down to the recipe card below for exact measurements.
Note: Most Asian grocers will carry these ingredients. You may get lucky and find them at your select grocery store by checking the international aisle or finding them online, like on Amazon.
- Fresh rice noodles: Wider rice noodles are highly recommended. Or you can sub with dry rice noodles and prepare according to package instructions.
- Chicken thighs, or chicken breast (skinless boneless). Or substitute with your choice of protein, such as shrimp, beef, pork, or crispy tofu.
- Eggs
- Gai-Lan aka Chinese Broccoli: or sub with bok choy or yu choy sum
- Garlic
- Red chili pepper: large red chili peppers are recommended for mild spice. For more spice, replace with bird's eye red chili. You can also use green chili peppers too.
- Neutral oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil or canola oil. Avoid olive oil or coconut oil
- Oyster sauce or sub with vegetarian stir fry sauce
Noodle Sauce
- Dark soy sauce: different than regular soy sauce as it's thicker and darker.
- Regular soy sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce. If you’re gluten-free, substitute with tamari sauce, coconut aminos or a gluten-free soy sauce of your choice.
- Oyster sauce: or vegetarian stir fry sauce
- Fish sauce
- White vinegar
- White granulated sugar: brown sugar, palm sugar or cane sugar all work
How to Make Pad See Ew
Marinate Chicken
Marinate sliced chicken with oyster sauce. Set aside to marinate as you prepare other ingredients.
Prepare Greens
Wash gai lan in cold water and trim the ends. Cut gai lan into 2-inch-long pieces. If the stalks are very thick, slice them into thinner pieces or only use the leafy parts.
Make Noodle Sauce
In a small bowl, combine Noodle Sauce ingredients.
Prepare Rice Noodles
Microwave or steam fresh rice noodles for 2-4 minutes on high heat until softened and pliable. Let them cool.
Horizontally slice into 1 inch rolls. Gently separate. Then unroll the rice noodles into strands.
Using dry rice noodles?
Follow package directions or soak them in lukewarm water for 30 minutes or in hot boiling water for 1 minute, until limp but firm to touch. Strain, gently separately them. No need to cut them.
Cook & Remove Chicken
In a large wok or large skillet on medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Fry sliced chicken until cooked through, 2-4 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Fry Aromatics
Reduce to low heat, add ½ tablespoon of oil. Fry minced garlic, red chili for 10 seconds.
Toss in Greens
Add in gai lan. Fry for 1 minute. Sweep everything to the side.
Cook Eggs
Add ½ tablespoon oil, pour in eggs. Break the yolks, let them cook and then break apart. Toss with other ingredients and sweep everything to the side.
Mix in Noodles with Sauce
Increase to high heat, add ½ tablespoon oil into the empty space. Toss in rice noodles and noodle sauce. Mix until noodles are coated in sauce and most sauce has evaporated.
Add in Chicken
Add back in chicken and toss. Optional: Let the noodles char a bit in the pan for smoky flavor. Serve and enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
This dish will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container. To reheat, microwave until hot (3-4 minutes) or pan fry on the stove.
Expert Tips
- Use fresh rice noodles if possible. They are so chewy and softer than the rehydrated dried kind.
- Thinly slice the chicken. This reduces the cooking time.
- Opt for chicken thighs over chicken breast. Thigh meat offers more flavor.
- Char the noodles for extra smoky flavor. After the noodles have mixed with the sauce, allow them to char a bit in the pan by letting them sit for 30-60 seconds.
Other Thai Recipes You May Like!
- Thai Glass Noodle Stir Fry
- Chicken Pad Thai
- Shrimp Pad Thai
- Pad Kee Mao
- Thai Spicy Basil Fried Rice
- Thai Garlic Shrimp
- Pad Woon Sen
📖 Recipe
20-min. Easy Pad See Ew
Ingredients
- 1.21 lb fresh rice noodles or dried wide rice noodles
- ½ lb chicken thighs skinless boneless or sub with chicken breast
- 1 cup Gai-Lan aka Chinese broccoli (or sub with bok choy, yu choy or normal broccoli florets)
- 2 large eggs
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 red chili pepper sliced (optional)
- 2 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce to marinate chicken
Noodle Sauce:
- 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon regular soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 2.5 tablespoon white vinegar
- 4 teaspoon fish sauce
- 2 teaspoon white granulated sugar or sub with brown/cane sugar
Instructions
- Marinate sliced chicken with oyster sauce. Set aside to marinate as you prepare other ingredients.
- Wash gai lan in cold water and trim the ends. Cut gai lan into 2-inch-long pieces. If the stalks are very thick, slice them into thinner pieces or only use the leafy parts.
- In a small bowl, combine Noodle Sauce ingredients.
- Microwave or steam fresh rice noodles for 3 minutes (or more) on high heat until softened and pliable. Let them cool. Gently separate fresh rice noodle rolls from each other. Then vertically split each rice noodle roll into half so they're easier to eat. (Or you horizontally slice the rice noodle rolls into 1-inch wide pieces and then unroll them like in the pictures/video but this takes more time).Using dry rice noodles? Follow package directions or soak them in lukewarm water for 30 minutes or in hot boiling water for 1 minute, until limp but firm to touch. Strain, gently separately them. No need to cut them.
- In a large wok or large skillet on medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of oil. Fry sliced chicken until cooked through, 2-4 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Reduce to low heat, add ½ tablespoon of oil. Fry minced garlic and red chili for 10 seconds. Add in gai lan. Fry for 1 minute until greens are tender. Sweep everything to the side.
- Add ½ tablespoon oil, pour in eggs. Break the yolks, let eggs cook and then break apart. Toss with other ingredients and sweep everything to the side.
- Increase to high heat, add ½ tablespoon oil into the empty space. Toss in rice noodles and noodle sauce. Mix until noodles are coated in sauce and most sauce has evaporated.
- Add back in chicken and toss. Optional: Let the noodles char a bit in the pan for smoky flavor. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
Storage
This dish will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container. To reheat, microwave until hot (3-4 minutes) or pan fry on the stove.As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Lilly
Extremely tasty and shockingly easy to make. This is probably the best pad see ew I’ve made. Thanks for the recipe!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
Your photos speak volumes about how amazing this Pad See Ew is. The chicken marinade is totally perfect and those noodles are just begging to be gobbled up!!
Charmaine
I made this last night and it was so tasty and quick! Substituted the vegetables for just what I had in the fridge and it still turned out great. Thanks for the recipe!
christieathome
Thank you so much Charmaine for making another one of my recipes! I'm so happy to hear you enjoyed it using what you had in the fridge!
Steffany
Amazing!! I followed the receipe to a "t" but I went with the fresh noodles because the ones in your picture aren't the true wide rice noodles I get when I go to a Thai restaurant. I have to say I wont cook it any other way. The flavor was amazing and this was a super easy recipe to follow and cook. I must admit, I ate 1 1/2 servings because I was so excited and it was so delicious so next time I may make a little more. Thank you SO MUCH for posting this easy and most importantly delicious recipe!!
christieathome
Thanks so much for making my recipe Steffany! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and it's awesome that you substituted with the authentic noodles! Haha I ate quite a lot of it too so I always like making double the portion so I don't have to fight over the food lol. Have a great day!
Jasmine
I was so excited to try this recipe out because it looked great!! I didn’t have chicken on hand so I substituted it with tofu, and it was absolutely delicious! My favourite thing about pad see ew is the combination of sweet and salty flavours, probably my favourite Thai dish!
christieathome
Thank you so much Jasmine for trying my recipe! I'm so glad you enjoyed it with tofu! And yes that's one of my favourite things about this dish too!
Carolyn Conrad
I used what I had-broccoli, spaghetti noodles and chicken tenders cut up. I didn’t have dark soy but sweet soy sauce and doubled the ingredients since I was feeding our family of 4. It was great! Thanks for the recipe!
christieathome
So happy I could share this recipe with you Carolyn! Thank you for making it!
Hilary
Family loved it and I will definitely make this again! I only had pre-cooked ramen type noodles on hand and chicken tenderloins and they both held up beautifully. I did add mushrooms, bell pepper, and carrots per my family’s request. What they really loved was the flavor and that it wasn’t too sweet like some dishes can be. Thank you for the inspiration!!
christieathome
I am so happy to read this Hilary! Glad that this worked with pre-cooked ramen noodles 🙂 Happy that I could share this recipe with you and thank you for making it 🙂 Have a lovely day!
Olivia
Loved this recipe! Simplistic to make but the flavor is spot on! I think I must have gotten an extra salty batch of soy sauce because mine did turn out on the salty side. I added a bit more sugar to balance it out and it tastes great! I used rice flakes as my Asian grocer was out of fresh noodles. The flakes are good and chewy but definitely like to stick together. All in all, very tasty and satisfying. Will definitely make again!
christieathome
So happy to read this Olivia and thank you so much for making my recipe! Feel free to reduce the amount of soy sauce by 1/2 tbsp if needed 🙂 I will have to google rice flakes! They sound so interesting.