Pad See Ew

Pad see ew is a thai noodle dish that is often overshadowed by her more popular sister, pad thai.  For those who are willing to branch out from ordering pad thai in restaurants, I think you'll find that pad see ew is a surprisingly great alternate noodle dish.  While it shares  rice noodles as a base, pad see ew noodles acutally tend to be the big fat noodles and uses a sweet soy sauce to get its distinctive flavor.  I love using fresh noodles for this dish and while I had some in my fridge to make this dish, it seems I had them in my fridge for too long to make this dish.  I threw out the molded fresh noodles and grabbed a bag of dried rice noodles.  These are the skinnier ones that I use for pad thai, but aside from that similarity, the flavors are all pad see ew.

I will say that if you've had pad see ew in a restaurant or from a street vendor in Thailand, there is a flavor that is almost impossible for the home cook to replicate unless you are super duper brave or don't have an entire assortment of smoke detectors ready to go off at the slightest hint of smoke.  When they make this in restuarants there is a slight charred flavor that is so absolutely yummy that I watched a street vendor carefully to see what it was.  She actually set the entire pan of noodles on fire for a minute.  I would like to go on record stating that I don't advocate anyone set anything on fire in their kitchen.  But oh how pad see ew loves to be set on fire.  Yum.

Pad see ew traditionally uses chinese broccoli as a veggie.  I happen to always pick this up at the asian market when  I know I want to make this, but my mom used an alternative leafy green (collard greens?) from the regular grocery store when she was in a pinch.

Chinese broccoli...

The other key ingredient is this sweet soy sauce available at any southeast asian grocers.  I found out recently, that it was not at my local Korean grocer.   This brand comes in a couple of options...I always grab the bottle with the blue top.  The ingredient lists soy sauce and sugar, so it could probably be made at home. 

I had some lighting issues with the preparation photos unfortunately, but it's very similar in process to many stir fries....make a sauce, cook chicken over high heat until browned, remove from pan, cook veggie, then egg, return meat to pan and add noodles and sauce. While it's missing the slight charred flavor, the sauce makes it rather close to the restaurant style noodle dish.

Not sure why it cracks me up each time I look over to see this whenever I'm cooking, but this one LOVES to sit at the table.  All the time.  I think she likes to read on the computer which is why I got her a NOOK for Christmas.  And really I love to write things like that just so my father's eyes will roll back each time he reads things like that. I think the response that goes with it is "I wouldn't doubt it Mary."  C'mon dad--you know you just said that.

It's nature and not nurture that has her believing she's human I'm sure. 

Pad See Ew

8 ounces fresh wide, flat rice noodles (or half a bag of dried noodles)
coconut oil
3 garlic cloves chopped
1 chicken breast, sliced thinly
1 lb coarsely chopped chinese broccoli
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sweet dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons vinegar

1. If using dried noodles soak for 15 minutes in hot tap water and then drain.  In large pan, boil  water and cook drained noodles for 4-5 minutes until tender but al dente.   Drain and rinse well with cold water and set aside.  If using fresh noodles, add to bowl of warm water to separate noodles, drain and set aside.
2. Heat 1 tsp coconut oil and 1 clove of minced garlic in wok until garlic begins to sizzle.  Add chicken and cook until chicken is cooked through.  Remove from pan and set aside.
3. Make suace by whisking together sweet soy sauce, oyster sauce, low sodium soy sauce and vinegar
4. Add 1 tsp of coconut oil and another glove of minced garlic until hot and add chinese broccoli.  Cook for 4-5 minutes until stalks are tender crisp (I know it's not traditional but I sometimes add a few tbsp of hot water periodically if it seems the pan is gettiing so hot it begins to smoke my poor little smoke detector infested kitchen) 
5. Push to side of walk, add one 1tsp of coconut oil and last clove of garlic and let cook until garlic is light golden brown.  Add lightly beaten egg and scramble in pan
6. Return chicken to pan, add noodles and sauce and toss, continuing to cook until all items are heated through (about 2-3 minutes).