Pan Fried Wide Rice Noodles

I love Thai food- well, who doesn’t?  Whenever I go to a new Thai restaurant, the one dish I judge them by is Pad Kee Mao, a dish made with wide rice noodles, meat, veggies and a variety of sauces and spices. Good restaurants always get it right, but I’ve been disappointed at a number of places with the oily, soggy noodles with zero flavor! And usually if they get this one wrong, they pretty much get all the dishes wrong. So these days I don’t even give a second chance to the restaurants who mess up Pad Kee Mao.

Some restaurants call this dish Drunken Noodles. Typhoon!, one of the top Thai restaurant in our area has the world’s best Drunken Noodles. Okay, I agree I haven’t tasted all the drunken noodles in the world, but there is no way anyone can make this better than them. It is perfection, really! Don’t be scared by the name Drunken Noodles, there is no alcohol in it. I actually did a little search about the origin of the name, and came across this in WikiPedia which I thought was really funny.

No one is sure where the name of this dish comes from. Some believe it is called drunken noodles because it’s an excellent hangover cure. Others believe that it is so hot that the eater has to be drunk to be able to stand it, while some are sure that it’s because one becomes drunk trying to drown out the heat with alcohol.

Still others believe that the name comes from the wide assortment of ingredients the dish contains: The chef is drunk enough to throw in a bunch of vegetables and spices without thinking it over.

The most probable explanation is that this is one of the only foods available on the streets of Thailand late at night and in the very early morning, the times when inebriated revelers are leaving places of celebration. It is very possible that the extremely “wobbly” noodles themselves give the dish its name.

Well, one of the chefs told me that the noodles are drunk with all sauces, and that is the reason for the name. Whatever it is, it is one tasty dish, that I can have anytime, drunk or not.

I built up the dish so much, now you must all be expecting a drunken noodles recipe. Sorry, but I didn’t make drunken noodles. I didn’t even want to attempt making those at home, since there is no way I can match the Typhoon noodles. Instead I made a simple pan fried noodles, which had no similarity to the real Pad Kee Mao, well except for the type of noodles used. Sorry I am all embarrassed now, but trust me, this was not bad, and it was pretty good for an express meal. The whole meal was ready in about 20 minutes including the prep work.

Ingredients

• 1 pack (12 oz) Fresh wide rice noodles (You can find these in Asian stores, if not substitute with dry flat rice noodles)
• 1 tbsp + 2 tbsp soy sauce
•  Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp peanut oil
• 2 tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 cup sliced onions
• 1 cup broccoli florets
• 1 cup sliced green bell pepper
• Assorted veggies (mushrooms, cabbage etc)
• 1.5 cups thinly sliced beef (substitute with chicken/beef, or completely eliminate the meat)
• 1.5 tbsp ginger paste
• 2.5 tbsp sambal oelek
• 2 tbsp roasted peanuts
• 2 tbsp sliced spring onions

Method

Bring the rice noodles to room temperature and separate the strands by pulling them apart. Some might break, and some might be clumped together, it is totally fine.

Heat oil in a wok or large frying pan and add the noodles, salt and soy sauce. Stir fry for three to four minutes till the noodles become soft. Remove from the pan and keep aside.

In the same pan, add some more oil and add the meat if using. Stir fry on high heat till the meat is mostly cooked. Add the ginger paste and saute well.

Add the garlic, onions and the vegetables to the pan and stir fry for a few minute till the vegetables are wilted. Add 2 tbsp soy sauce and sambal oelek and keep stir frying till the vegetables are cooked and the liquid is almost absorbed.

Add the prepared noodles to the pan and toss to combine.

Remove from the heat and sprinkle the peanuts and green onions on top.

Serve hot.

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Category: Mains, Noodles, South East Asia