Recipe: This Pad See Ew Will Take You Straight to the Streets of Bangkok

If you need more weeknight winners in your repertoire, look no further. Aside from marinating the pork, this simple Thai staple comes together relatively quickly. It’s from Noods by Smith Street Books, a nifty compendium of 80 noodle recipes by top chefs – from stir-fried chow mein to slurpable tonkotsu ramen.

Pad see ew is a Thai classic with Chinese influences, and you might’ve already tried a few versions of it. Across Thailand, it’s served in different iterations with chicken, beef or other proteins, sometimes with different styles of noodles. While you can sub any of those variations in, this traditional Bangkok recipe sticks with pork as the main protein.

Just be sure to fire up your wok before you throw any ingredients in it (the oil should smoke slightly before you start cooking). That way, you’ll get noodles that are delightfully charred.

Pad see ew

Serves 2

Ingredients

300g pork tenderloin, finely sliced
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
300g fresh flat rice noodles
100ml vegetable oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp fermented soybean sauce (tao jeow)
1 bunch Chinese broccoli (gai lan), finely sliced on the diagonal
Pinch of ground white pepper, to taste (optional)
Chilli flakes, to taste (optional)

Pork marinade
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp tapioca flour
1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
½ tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp ground white pepper

Method

First, marinate the pork. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large non-reactive bowl and add the sliced pork. Mix well, then cover with plastic wrap and transfer to the fridge to marinate for 1 hour.

In a separate bowl, mix the dark soy sauce and the flat noodles together, separating the noodles as you go. This will prevent the noodles from sticking to each other. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok over medium–high heat and stir-fry the garlic until fragrant. Add the marinated pork and stir-fry for 2–3 minutes. Pour in the beaten eggs. Stir with a spatula to roughly break it up, then push the egg to the side of the wok and leave to cook until golden.

Add the noodles, fish sauce, sugar and soybean sauce to the wok and stir-fry the until the noodles are coated, taking care to stir continuously to prevent the strands from sticking together. Add the Chinese broccoli and stir-fry until it softens, then taste the noodles and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Remove from the heat.

Divide the noodles between two plates and sprinkle with white pepper and chilli flakes, if using, before serving.

Noods was published by Smith Street Books in 2023 and retails for $29.99. Photography by Emily Weaving.