⏱ Prep: 10 min 🔥Cook: 10 min 👤Serves: 2–3 🌶Heat: Adjustable
Drunken noodles, pad kee mao is the Thai street food dish eaten late at night after drinking, and the one that works equally well at any other time. Wide rice noodles stir-fried at scorching heat with chicken, garlic, Thai chilies and a sauce of oyster sauce, light soy, dark soy and fish sauce, finished off the heat with a generous fistful of Thai basil that wilts into the noodles and perfumes everything. Twenty minutes. One wok.
Ingredients
For the noodles and protein
- 8 oz (225g) wide dried rice noodles, or 14 oz (400g) fresh wide rice noodles (sen yai). Dried: soak in room-temperature water for 30 minutes until pliable, do not boil. They finish cooking in the wok. Fresh: separate gently before using, microwave for 30 seconds if cold and stuck together.
- 12 oz (340g) boneless skinless chicken thighs, sliced thin. Thighs stay juicy in the high heat stir-fry. Substitute: shrimp, beef, pork or firm tofu.
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch, tossed through the sliced chicken with 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Velvets the chicken and keeps it juicy under the intense wok heat.
- 3 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil, divided. A high smoke-point oil only, olive oil burns before the wok reaches the correct temperature.
For the drunken noodle sauce
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce, the savory-sweet backbone of the sauce. Use Lee Kum Kee Premium or any good quality brand.
- 1½ tablespoons light soy sauce, for salt and umami
- 1½ tablespoons dark soy sauce, for color and a deeper, slightly sweet savory note. Dark soy is what gives drunken noodles their characteristic deep color. Substitute: 1 tablespoon light soy plus ½ teaspoon brown sugar if unavailable.
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce, the funky umami depth that separates Thai stir-fries from Chinese ones. Do not substitute with more soy sauce, the flavor is completely different.
- 1½ tablespoons brown sugar, or palm sugar. Balances the saltiness and adds a subtle caramel note.
- 2 tablespoons water
For the stir-fry
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped, not minced fine. Larger pieces hold up to the wok heat and give pops of flavor.
- 3–5 Thai bird’s eye chilies, roughly chopped. 3 for medium heat, 5 for hot. Pound the garlic and chili together briefly in a mortar for a more aromatic paste, or just rough-chop for speed.
- ½ medium yellow onion, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced into strips, adds sweetness and color
- 4 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1½ cups (35g) fresh Thai basil or holy basil, added off the heat. This is the herb that makes drunken noodles taste like drunken noodles. Thai basil has a slightly anise-like fragrance. Holy basil, the authentic version has a peppery, clove-like quality. Regular Italian basil works in a pinch and is closer to holy basil in flavor than Thai basil.
Step by step
- Prepare everything before you heat the wok. Soak the dried noodles. Slice the chicken and toss with cornstarch and 1 tablespoon soy sauce. Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Chop the garlic and chili. Slice all the vegetables. Set everything out beside the stove. Stir-frying pad kee mao takes 10 minutes from start to finish and waits for nothing, every ingredient needs to be ready before the wok goes on.Mise en place is not optional for this recipe. A wok at proper stir-fry temperature is too hot to stop and chop something you forgot.
- Cook the chicken. Heat a wok or wide heavy skillet over the highest heat your stove produces 2 full minutes until smoking. Add 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the chicken in a single layer. Leave untouched for 60 seconds to develop color. Toss and cook 1–2 more minutes until just cooked through. Remove and set aside.Remove the chicken before it is fully done, it will finish cooking when it returns to the wok with the sauce. Overcooked chicken at this stage becomes rubbery by serving.
- Stir-fry the aromatics. Reduce to medium-high. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the garlic and chili. Stir constantly for 30 seconds until golden and intensely fragrant. Add the onion and red bell pepper. Stir-fry for 90 seconds.
- Add the noodles and sauce. Add the drained soaked noodles to the wok. Pour the sauce over everything. Toss vigorously, use tongs or two spatulas for 1–2 minutes until every noodle is coated and the sauce has reduced slightly and begun to caramelize at the edges. Add the scallions and chicken. Toss 30 more seconds.If the noodles stick: add 1–2 tablespoons of water and toss immediately. The steam loosens them. Do not add oil, it makes the noodles slick and prevents the sauce from adhering.
- Finish with basil off the heat. Remove the wok from the heat. Add the Thai basil immediately. Toss until the basil just wilts 15–20 seconds. Serve immediately in deep bowls.Adding basil off the heat is essential, high heat destroys its fragrance completely within seconds. The residual heat of the wok wilts it perfectly. This step takes under 30 seconds and makes the entire difference to the final aroma.
What makes this drunken noodles
The combination of light soy, dark soy, oyster sauce and fish sauce together is the authentic sauce base confirmed as having the best balance of all four of any version tested. Each ingredient contributes something the others cannot replace: light soy for salt, dark soy for color and depth, oyster sauce for body and sweetness, fish sauce for the funky fermented umami that identifies this as Thai rather than Chinese.
The Thai basil is the second defining element, added off the heat so it wilts without losing its anise-peppery fragrance. Without it the dish is a decent stir-fried noodle. With it the dish is unmistakably drunken noodles.
The shortcut
Claire’s note
Pad kee mao is one of those dishes that rewards making in very small batches, the wok heat distributes correctly for 2–3 portions and produces the characteristic slightly charred, caramelized noodles that define good street food pad kee mao. Making 6 portions at once in a home wok produces steamed noodles in sauce rather than stir-fried ones. If cooking for more than 3: work in two separate batches in the same wok. The second batch takes 5 minutes once the wok is already hot. The sauce can be multiplied and made ahead, it keeps refrigerated for 2 weeks. Protein alternatives that work identically: shrimp (2 minutes total), thinly sliced beef (same as chicken), or pressed and pan-fried tofu.
Serve with
Drunken noodles are a complete standalone meal, no sides needed. For more from the Korean Bulgogi and the Korean Gochujang Meatballs, the complete Asian recipes guide have everything.
Add drunken noodles to your weekly meal planner, make the sauce Sunday, stir-fry takes 10 minutes any night of the week. And for more recipes, follow us on Pinterest.
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Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 2–3 servings 1x
Description
A classic Thai street food dish, drunken noodles are wide rice noodles stir-fried with chicken, garlic, and Thai chilies, finished with aromatic Thai basil.
Ingredients
- 8 oz (225g) wide dried rice noodles or 14 oz (400g) fresh wide rice noodles
- 12 oz (340g) boneless skinless chicken thighs, sliced
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons vegetable or peanut oil
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1½ tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1½ tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 1½ tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 3–5 Thai bird’s eye chilies, roughly chopped
- ½ medium yellow onion, sliced
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 4 scallions, cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1½ cups (35g) fresh Thai basil or holy basil
Instructions
- Prepare everything before you heat the wok. Soak the dried noodles, slice the chicken, mix sauce ingredients, chop garlic, and slice vegetables.
- Cook the chicken by heating a wok over high heat, adding oil, and cooking the chicken until just done. Remove and set aside.
- Stir-fry the aromatics by adding garlic and chili to the wok, cooking until golden, then adding onion and red bell pepper.
- Add the soaked noodles and pour the sauce over everything. Toss until coated and the sauce has reduced.
- Finish with basil off the heat, tossing until just wilted. Serve immediately.
Notes
This dish is best made in small batches for optimal stir-frying results. The sauce can be prepared in advance and stored for up to two weeks.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Stir-Frying
- Cuisine: Thai
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 450
- Sugar: 8g
- Sodium: 800mg
- Fat: 14g
- Saturated Fat: 3g
- Unsaturated Fat: 8g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 50g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 25g
- Cholesterol: 75mg
