Pad kee mao (drunken noods)

Adapted from the Wok of Life (https://thewoksoflife.com/drunken-noodles-pad-kee-mao/)

For the chicken & marinade:

2 tablespoons water
12 ounces sliced chicken thighs or chicken breast (340g)
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon oil
2 teaspoons cornstarch


For the rest of the dish:

8 ounces wide dried rice noodles(225g)

1 1/2 teaspoons brown sugar (dissolved in 1 tablespoon hot water)
2 teaspoons soy sauce (Thai soy sauce preferred)
1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
1 tablespoon fish sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce
pinch ground white pepper
3 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil (divided)

4 eggs (beaten)

3 cloves garlic (sliced)
¼ teaspoon fresh grated ginger
2 shallots (sliced, about 1/3 cups)
1 scallion (julienned into 3-inch pieces)
4 Thai red chili peppers (deseeded and julienned)
1 cup holy basil or Thai basil (loosely packed)
1 cup of chopped green asian veggie like gailan
2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine

1. Work the 2 tablespoons of water into the sliced chicken with your hands until the chicken absorbs the liquid. Add 1 teaspoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon oil, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch, and mix until the chicken is evenly coated. Set aside for 20 minutes.

2. Soak noodles in hot tap water for 15 minutes or longer.

3. Stir together the dissolved brown sugar mixture, soy sauces, fish sauce, oyster sauce, and white pepper in a small bowl and set aside.

4. Heat your wok until it’s close to smoking, and spread 2 tablespoons of oil around the perimeter of the wok. Add the chicken and let it sear for 1 minute on each side until it’s about 90% cooked. Remove from the wok and set aside. If the heat was high enough and you seared the meat correctly, your wok should be still clean with nothing sticking to it. If not, you can wash the wok to prevent the rice noodles from sticking.

5. Continue with the wok on high heat and add 1 tablespoon of oil, along with the garlic and grated ginger.  After a minute, add the shallots. Stir fry for 20 seconds and add the scallions, chili peppers, basil, asian veggies and shaoxing wine. Gradually dribble in the eggs while stirring vigorously so that the size of the solidified eggs is overall small (not like scrambled eggs).  Stir-fry for a minute and then add in the rice noodles. Use a scooping motion to mix everything for another minute until the noodles warm up.

6. Next, add the prepared sauce mixture and stir-fry at the highest heat for about 1 minute until the noodles are uniform in color. Take care to use your metal spatula to scrape the bottom of the wok to prevent sticking.  Continue to stir-fry until the noodles soften.

8. Add the seared chicken and stir-fry for another 1 to 2 minutes.