Nona’s Beef Pad See Ew
Servings
2
Prep Time
10 minutes
Cook Time
10 minutes
Pad See Ew is one of our favorite fast food dishes. The name translates to fried with soy sauce and this Thai street delight weaves together a whole range of delicious flavors and textures to make a delicious plate of noodles that is completely comforting. The salty tang of the soy sauce, the tender hunks of juicy beef, the chewy noodles, the charred vegetables, and the soft silky eggs go together like a dream.
While Pad Thai tends to have a sweeter and tangy flavor and Pad Mee Kao goes wild on the spice, Pad See Ew is richer and darker and has more chew thanks to the wider flatter rice noodles. The noodles are a big deal in this dish which is why Nona Lim’s Pad See Ew noodles are a perfect match. You want noodles that have a wider surface area as this means that the noodle can soak up more sauce and balances out the flavor and texture that comes with every bite.
Pad See Ew is awesome and it’s also super easy to make. One of the things we love about Pad See Ew is that it can be made from Asian cupboard staples so once you have purchased the different kinds of soy sauce, oyster sauce, and fish sauce, etc you can re-use these ingredients in a ton of awesome Asian inspired and stir fry dishes. This recipe is perfect for two (date night dinner) or you can make it for your solo weeknight treat and have the leftovers for lunch the next day.
Pad See Ew takes some influence from China but is adapted to fully embrace the flavors of Thailand. Noodles made their way into Thai culture with Chinese immigrants and became hugely popular. Those who are familiar with Malaysian and Singaporean cuisine may also find that Pad See Ew shares similar features to Chaw Kway Teow. Although this latter dish tends to be made with seafood. Pad See Ew can be found in Thai restaurants across the world.
Ingredients
6 oz. flank steak, skirt steak, or sirloin, sliced into bite-sized pieces
¾ tsp regular soy sauce
1 tsp vegetable oil
½ tsp cornstarch or flour
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp sugar
1½ tsp regular soy sauce
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
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1 box of Nona Lim Pad See Ew noodles
1 strip of bacon, sliced into half inch pieces (optional, substitute 1 tbsp vegetable oil)
1½ tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, sliced
3 cups Chinese broccoli, broccoli rabe, collard greens, kale or mustard greens, cut into 2 inch strips with tough stems removed
2 large eggs, beaten
Steak Marinade
Pad See Ew Sauce
Stir Fry Ingredients
Directions
To marinate the steak, add soy sauce, vegetable oil, and cornstarch, and mix until the beef is completely coated. Set aside.
For the sauce: Combine the oyster sauce, sugar, regular and dark soy sauce, fish sauce, and cracked black pepper in a small bowl and stir to mix well.
For Nona Lim noodles: Cut a small slit in the pouch and microwave noodles in their pouches for about 45 seconds. Leave noodles in package - this will help steam and separate the noodles.
Increase heat to high and spread 1 teaspoon of oil in skillet or wok to coat. Add bacon pieces and saute for 2 minutes or add 1 tablespoon of oil if not using bacon. Add marinated beef to the pan and cook for 2 minutes until the beef is partially cooked. Reserve bacon and beef in a separate bowl.
Stir in garlic and chili pepper to the same skillet for 10 seconds and add the Chinese broccoli or substituted greens. Stir-fry greens for about 30-40 seconds until slightly wilted, stirring constantly to prevent garlic and pepper from burning. Greens should reduce in size enough to leave room for remainder of the ingredients.
Add noodles, making sure noodles are separated. Pour Pad See Ew sauce over the noodles, and gently toss all ingredients until noodles are fully coated, about 30-40 seconds. Add the beef and bacon mixture back to skillet and toss all ingredients until fully incorporated about 30 seconds.
Push all ingredients to one side and drizzle the remaining oil on the empty side of the skillet. Add the beaten eggs and scramble, tossing and chopping up the egg mixture with your spatula or wooden spoon until completely cooked.
Add bean sprouts if using, and stir fry all ingredients together for 2 minutes, tossing carefully so as to not break up the rice noodles but making sure everything is coated in stir-fry sauce. If you notice any sticking, add more oil to the pan as you stir-fry. You should notice your rice noodles caramelizing, indicating that the dish is ready. Plate noodles, serve with your favorite chili oil or any add-ons. Enjoy!
Recipe Note
We named our wide, flat rice noodles after the popular Thai street food dish, Pad See Ew, which translates to “stir-fried soy sauce noodles.” When it comes to creating Pad See Ew at home, Nona follows some simple cardinal rules of stir-frying to achieve deliciousness while using whatever ingredients that are already in the fridge.
Nona
has some simple DO’s and DON’Ts to produce a delicious, foolproof stir-fry
noodle dish every time. As long as you follow these basic rules of stir-frying,
you can always substitute your favorite ingredients to make the dish your own!
Swap the beef for chicken or seafood or make a veggie version.
- DO prep the vegetables, proteins, sauce, and noodles beforehand. When cooking with harder vegetables like broccoli stems, blanch first. You want to get a good fast pace going while cooking this dish and doing prep in-between will only slow you down.
- DO stir-fry quickly on a high heat but treat the noodles delicately and avoiding over-tossing as you don’t want them to break down into small pieces.
- DO start with a hot wok or well-seasoned skillet but reduce the heat to low when stirring in the noodles to prevent sticking.
- DON’T use starchy vegetables like potatoes.
- DON’T shy away from oil when your noodles begin to stick to the pan.
- DON’T toss cold noodles into a hot pan, as they will clump. Steam Nona Lim PSE noodles for 45 seconds by microwaving them in their pouch before use, then separate by hand.
- DON'T skip out the oyster sauce if you can help it. This brings that all-important depth and punch of flavor and brings that balance of sweet meets salty. You can find good quality oyster sauce in most Asian supermarkets.
- DO try and get gai lan for the dish - the authentic Chinese broccoli. While it shares the same crunch and taste as broccoli, gai lan has way more leaf and stalk to it. If you can't find Chinese broccoli, you can use broccolini and baby spinach or bok choy leaves instead.
- DO cook the eggs Thai style by pushing all the ingredients to the side and quickly scrambling before mixing it with the rest of the flavors. This is the best way to ensure that the egg also soaks up the charred caramelized umami flavors of the pan.
- DO adjust the heat. Not on the wok (you want a high heat for that) but if you don’t want too much tongue tingle you can adjust the spiciness of the dish
Don’t forget to rate and review this recipe. Let us know how your own homecooked Pad See Ew turns out, we would love to know how it turns out for you and any customized changes for making the dish your own.