Even though Pad Thai remains King in sold Thai street food, real noodle lovers know that Pad see ew is the real deal. This authentic stir-fry is probably more famous among Thai people and has also found its way into my heart.
The salty and sweet sauce is incredibly addictive, and the dish can be prepared in no time. It’s a perfect match for anyone who wants to try real Thai food but can’t handle spice.
Ingredients and Preparation
As with every stir-fry, you need to prepare the ingredients in advance, as the cooking is done pretty quickly, but don’t worry, there are only a few steps you need to follow.
Marinade the tofu
Every Pad see ew starts by marinating the protein of choice, which, in our case, is extra-firm tofu.
- Tear and boil the tofu to extract water
- Add it to container with soy sauce, MSG, corn starch and white pepper.
Prepare rice noodles
Try to find fresh rice-noodle sheets at your Asian store, they are way superior to dried ones, as they soak up more sauce. If you do, simply cut them into long and wide strips
If you use dried rice-noodles, prepare them according to the package instructions. High-quality ones, will have to be soaked in room-temperature water for 30-40 minutes.
Sauce
At the heart of every stir-fry is the sauce. This one is supposed to be salt, sweet and fully of umami, so simply combine
- Soy sauce
- Dark soy sauce
- Vegan oyster or mushroom sauce (Sub for more soy sauce and sugar)
- Vegan fish sauce (sub for more soy sauce)
- Sugar
- White pepper
Cutting vegetables and aromatics
Last but not least, you need to do some knife-work, but don’t worry, it really only includes two ingredients:
- Garlic
- Chinese broccoli: Separate the leaves from stems
If you can’t find Chinese broccoli (like me, I’ve literally been to three different stores), use broccolini or any other Asian green leaf vegetables that have some crunchy, edible stems.
Stir-frying
Now, all that’s left to do is to cook. As it is pretty important to maintain a high heat, I recommend cooking one serving at a time, if you don’t have a gas burner at home. So take your favourite wok or pan, add a good amount of cooking oil (add more during the process, if needed) and stir-fry in the following order
- Heat a good amount of cooking oil and quickly stir-fry the tofu (1-2 minutes, until crispy)
- Add garlic and broccoli stems (1-2 min)
- Add drained rice noodles (30 sec.)
- Add sauce (30 sec.)
- Turn off the heat and add leaves (1 min)
The Recipe
Pad See Ew
Zutaten
Method
- Tear the tofu into bite-sized pieces. Optionally boil in salted water for 10 minutes, drain and let it cool.
- Place the tofu in a bowl or container and coat evenly with the marinade ingredients. Let it marinate for at least 30 minutes.
- If using fresh rice noodles sheets, cut them into 1-2cm wide noodle pieces. If using dried noodles, prepare according to package instructions (if they need to be boiled, drain and place them in cool water)
- Combine the listed Ingredients.
- Roughly chop the garlic. Separate the broccoli stem from the leaves, cut the former into smaller pieces and roughly cut the leaves.
- Cook one serving at a time, if you don't have a gas burner and a high-quality wok.Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in the wok/pan and add more throughout the process if needed.
- Start by stir-frying the tofu on high heat until slightly crispy (2 minutes)
- Add garlic and broccoli stems, continue for 1-2 minutes.
- Add rice noodles, keep going for 30 seconds while stirring continuously.
- Add sauce and keep stir-frying for 30 seconds.
- Turn off the heat, add the broccoli leaves and continue for 1-2 minutes.
Notizen
- Substitute the oyster sauce for more soy sauce + sugar and the dark soy sauce/vegan fish sauce for more soy sauce
- If you can’t find Chinese broccoli, sub for broccolini or any Asian green-leaf vegetable that has edible stems and proceed the same.
