Pad Kee Mao AKA Drunken Noodles

Why You’ll Love Chicken Pad Kee Mao

• These Drunken Noodles are super quick and easy to make.
• They’ll satisfy your cravings for starchy noodles and savory and spicy flavors.
• You can adjust this dish to the ingredients you have on hand. You can use a different meat (try pork, beef, shrimp, or tofu) or different vegetables.

Ingredients You Need

For the complete list of ingredients with quantities and detailed prep and cooking instructions, please see the recipe card that appears at the end of this post.

The list of ingredients you need to make this Pad Kee Mao recipe is not super long. You can get the rice noodles, light and dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and fish sauce in any Asian market if they’re not available in your regular supermarket. Here’s what you need:

• Noodles: Use flat wide rice noodles, also called rice stick noodles. Ideally, these will be wider than the noodles used for Pad Thai, but you can use Pad Thai noodles in a pinch. I usually use dried rice noodles because they are just easier to find. They’re easier to stock in the pantr, too, for when those late-night munchies hit. If you want to use fresh rice noodles, just make sure to follow the preparation instructions and don’t overcook them.
• Oil: Use any neutral flavored cooking oil you like, such as canola oil, safflower oil, peanut oil, etc.
• Garlic, ginger, and onion: These aromatics help form a base of flavor for the sauce.
• Chicken: Use skinless boneless chicken thighs. Chicken thigh meat or dark meat is more tender and flavorful than chicken breast. If you only have chicken breast, though, you can substitute it.
• Bell peppers: You can use any assortment of bell peppers here. I like to use two different colors but you can use only green or only red or orange if you like.
• Chile peppers: I usually use green serrano peppers. You can substitute long Thai chile peppers if you have them or jalapeno peppers.
• Thai basil: Thai basil is a bit different from “regular basil” (which is usually Italian basil). It has a purple stem and narrower, sturdier leaves. While regular basil is mild and sweet, Thai basil is spicier with a hint of anise or licorice. Thai holy basil is a different type of basil, too. It is actually more similar to sweet Italian basil than to Thai basil. But Thai holy basil is harder to find in the US. If you don’t have Thai basil, you can substitute regular basil, but the flavor won’t be as authentic.
• Soy sauce (dark and light): Light sauce is very thin and mildly flavored. Dark soy sauce is dark, syrupy, and intense. Using both balances the flavors. You can also substitute just regular soy sauce for both of these.
• Thai fish sauce: Called nam pla in Thai, this salty condiment is more pungent than Vietnamese fish sauce. You can use either here.
• Sugar: I love using palm sugar in Thai cooking. If you don’t have it, you can substitute regular brown sugar (dark or light).

How to make it

For the complete list of ingredients with quantities and detailed prep and cooking instructions, please see the recipe card that appears at the end of this post.

Pad Kee Mao is a quick stir fry noodle dish. As such, it is really quick and easy to cook. Here’s how:

1. Cook the rice noodles according to package instructions and drain them.
2. In a bowl, combine the oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, fish sauce, pepper, sugar, and water.
3. Heat some oil in a skillet and add the garlic and ginger. Next add the onions and cook until they begin to soften.
4. Add the chicken and stir fry until it’s cooked through. Stir in the chile peppers and bell peppers and cook for another minute or so.
5. Add the noodles, Thai basil, and the sauce mixture to the skillet. Stir fry for a couple more minutes. When it’s done, the noodles will be hot and will have absorbed some of the sauce.
6. Remove the stir fried noodles from the heat and serve immediately.