PAD KEE MAO (DRUNKEN NOODLES)
I love noodles. Everyone loves noodles. But I really love noodles. I love them indiscriminately. Egg noodles, rice noodles, buckwheat noodles, pasta (in particular bucatini), instant noodles, glass noodles…you get it. A family friend even gave me the nickname “Noodlehead” as a kid, and it still applies. You can prepare them in literally any way, and I will still love them. Even as a dessert. There is a regional Chinese dish from Chiu Chow (or Teochew) called Tong Cou Min - literally translated as Sugar Vinegar Noodles - that’s often served at the end of a banquet or meal. It’s not technically meant to be a dessert, but I used to treat it like one because…the sugar. I know it sounds weird, but trust me, if you ever get a chance to try it, do. It will be life changing.
Anyway, that is obviously not the noodle dish in the photo above. That, my friends, is Pad Kee Mao, and it combines two of the most beloved components in this household: noodles and chilli. Even its name is alarmingly fitting - we’re usually pretty tipsy every time we’ve made it at home. Do not judge drunk cooking, it usually (mostly) yields some pretty awesome results. It’s not called Drunken Noodles because the cooks or chefs were drunk while cooking though, it’s because this glorious street-food noodle dish is usually served late at night, after customers have been out all night drinking. (Also fitting for us since we think we’re Spanish and regularly have dinner at 10pm.) And who wouldn’t love to shovel a large plate of greasy, spicy, savoury goodness into their gaping maws while in a drunken stupor? Anyone who’s done this knows it’s one of the great pleasures in life.
Every time I’ve ordered it, whether it be from a restaurant or a food stall, it’s always so mind-bogglingly good that the thought of trying to duplicate it at home fills me with fear and dread. Why mess with perfection? Nonetheless, I wanted to try. But in the interest of managing expectations, I did pre-emptively warn The Roommate that this was an experiment, and to not expect anything near like what we’ve had in the past. Aim high, expect reality. (Helps to stem disappointment.)
In a previous post I mentioned the importance of texture in food - I reckon it’s 98% of what makes a noodle good. With that in mind, I opted to use fresh wide rice noodles, which you can find in most Asian groceries, instead of dried rice noodles. The dried ones are easier to find than the fresh ones, but I personally find that no matter how long you soak them for, they still lack the silky soft, chewy texture that the fresh ones have.
The prep is thankfully pretty uncomplicated too, and the cooking time is thisquick thanks to the ever-handy and most beloved wok (bonus for when drunk-cooking drunken noodles). Don’t be alarmed by the lengthy ingredients list; none of it requires fancy knifework and even if things aren’t finely minced, it really won’t make much of a difference.
It’s supposed to be a really spicy dish but you can always adjust that to your own liking - we just happen to be a couple of chilli freaks who enjoy sweating a lot when we eat. The decision to use fresh noodles instead of dried noodles was the right one - the more recent iteration of Pad Kee Mao I made was the best one yet. I’m pretty sure we ate the entire meal in complete silence, it was that good. There really isn’t much more I can say about this dish, because the only thing I can think of at the moment is how much I want to eat it now. It’s too early in the day though. Better wait until 10pm after I’ve had some tequila.
Ingredients:
Chicken and marinade
400g sliced chicken breast or thighs
2 tbsp water
2 tsp soy sauce
3 tsp cornstarch/corn flour
2 tsp vegetable oil
Noodles
400g fresh wide rice noodles
2 tsp brown sugar, dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water
3 tsp light soy sauce
2 tsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
3 tsp oyster sauce
pinch ground white pepper
2 eschallots, sliced
6 cloves garlic, sliced or roughly minced
1/2 tsp ginger, grated or finely minced
2 scallions/spring onions, julienned
4-6 Thai birds-eye chilis, minced
1 large bunch Thai basil leaves (roughly 1 cup)
6 baby corns, halved lengthwise
2-3 tsp Chinese cooking wine/Shaoxing wine
Method:
1. Rub the water into the sliced chicken until absorbed. Add in the rest of the marinade ingredients and mix until chicken is well coated. Set aside for 20-30 minutes.
2. Stir together the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce and white pepper then set aside.
3. Heat 2-3 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large wok over medium-high heat. Brown the chicken on each side for about a minute, then drain and set aside. If the wok was hot enough, the chicken shouldn’t stick and the wok should be pretty clean.
4. Keeping the wok on medium-high to high heat, add 1 tbsp of oil and add in the shallots, garlic and ginger. After about 30 seconds, add the scallions, chilli, basil, baby corn and cooking wine. Stir fry for another minute or so, then add in the rice noodles. Work quickly to mix everything together in a scooping motion.
5. Add in the prepared sauces and stir fry quickly on high heat for about a minute until everything is mixed well and the noodles are uniform in colour. Scrape the bottom of the pan in case the noodles start sticking (a little bit of sticking is okay).
6. Add the chicken back to the wok and stir fry for another minute or two. Serve immediately.