rice noodle recipe

Thick, chewy rice noodles cooked in a spicy and savoury sauce with garlic, onions, chili, tofu, and lots of fresh basil! Pad Kee Mao or Drunken Noodles are a famous dish in Thailand and you’d usually find them in simple road-side restaurants for take-out! This dish is quick, easy, and packed full of flavour!

Vegan Thai Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)

tbsp coconut sugar (or palm sugar)

tbsp water

tbsp vegetarian mushroom oyster sauce (see notes)

tbsp dark soy sauce

soy sauce

fish sauce ((see homemade recipe here))

tofu

noodles

tbsp neutral oil (divided)

onion

green onions (sliced in to 2” long pieces)

garlic (minced)

red bell pepper (sliced)

fish sauce

white pepper (to season the tofu

2-3 bird’s eye chili (deseeded and sliced (see notes))

Simply mix everything together in a bowl until the sugar has dissolved and then set it aside. Feel free to adjust the measurements depending on your desired taste.

Sauce

If using tofu, press the tofu for 8 to 10 minutes to drain out excess water. I like to do this by wrapping the tofu in a towel and placing a heavy board or surface on top.

Afterwards, slice into 1”x2” (2.5 by 5 cm) strips or other shape of choice.

Tofu

Place the dry rice noodles in a heatproof bowl. Pour in boiling hot water until the noodles are completely submerged.

Leave the noodles to soak in the water for 8 to 10 minutes or until they’re not longer translucent and still very chewy. The noodles will turn chewy, white, and pliable. Drain from the water and set aside. I usually like to soak them in the water right before I start cooking so I can directly transfer the freshly soaked noodles in the pan.

Noodles

Heat a large pan or wok over high heat. Once hot, add in 2 tbsp oil. Sauté the onion, green onions, and garlic for 2  minutes or until tender and translucent.

Add in the bell pepper and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until tender.

Move the veggies to the side of the pan. Add in the remaining 1 tbsp oil.

Over high heat, add in the strips of tofu.

Pour in the vegan fish sauce and white pepper, to season the tofu. Flip over the tofu once golden brown to cook the remaining side.

When the tofu is golden brown, mix it in with the bell peppers and onions.

Move that aside and then quickly add in the chopped chili and fresh basil. Lower the heat to medium high and then mix everything together. Cook for 2 minutes or until the basil is slightly wilted.

Add in the rice noodles noodles to the pan. Then over medium heat, pour in the sauce mixture.

Mix well to completely coat the noodles.

Leave the noodles to simmer over medium high heat or until the sauce starts to boil. Mix every 30 seconds or so to prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The chewy noodles will continue to cook and absorb the flavours from the sauce!

Turn off the heat and feel free to mix in more fresh basil leaves and chopped chili if you’d like!

Serve hot and enjoy!

Stir-Fry

This Peanut Satay Noodle Soup is a perfectly cozy bowl, that you can easily put together for the cold days. These are chewy rice noodles in a smooth and silky peanut satay broth topped with sautéed mushrooms, crispy shallots, scallion, Thai basil leaves, roasted peanuts, and chili oil before being finished with a squeeze of lime.

Vegan Peanut Satay Noodle Soup

rice

mushrooms

Neutral oil (for cooking)

Soy sauce (to taste)

Asian shallots (thinly sliced)

neutral oil

tbsp ginger

tbsp peanut butter (I used chunky peanut butter)

curry powder

vegetable broth (see notes)

soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free option)

coconut cream (see notes for coconut milk alternative)

lime juice (or lemon juice,

Chili sauce oil

Salt (to taste)

scallion

Thai basil leaves

peanuts

lime juice

More chili sauce oil

Place the noodles in a large heat proof bowl. Pour boiling hot water in the bowl until the noodles are completely submerged. Mix the noodles around a bit and leave to soak for 15 to 20 minutes or until the noodles are pliable and the noodles are chewy.Alternatively, you can also opt to just cook down the dried noodles directly in the soup later on!

They’ll turn while and no longer translucent once chewy. Remove the noodles from the water and then set aside.

Heat a large pot over high heat (note: this will be the same pot used for the soup later on for minimal clean-up).

Once hot, add a little oil then add in the mushrooms. Sauté until lightly browned on each side, around 3 to 4 minutes on each side.

Season the mushrooms with a little soy sauce and then cook down for a few more minutes. Set the mushrooms aside on a small plate.

In the same pot, add more neutral oil.

Over medium high heat, add in the sliced shallots.

Move around the shallots in the oil until golden brown. (Don’t burn them like I did haha). Remove the shallots from the oil and set aside. Don’t cover the shallots so they stay crispy.

Mushrooms and Shallots

Remove most of the oil in the pot. I kept around 1 tbsp of the oil. In the same pot over high heat, add in the ginger and garlic.

Sauté until aromatic, 2 minutes.

Add in the peanut butter, curry powder, and sugar.

Mix until well-incorporated.

Pour in the vegetable broth, soy sauce, vegan fish sauce, and mix well. Cover the pot and leave to simmer until it boils, around 5 minutes.

Once it boils, lower the heat to medium and then pour in the coconut cream and lime juice. Taste the soup and season with salt or more soy sauce, if needed.

Leave the soup to simmer for 2 to 3 more minutes. Taste the soup and feel free to adjust to your taste by adding more soy sauce, sugar, or lime juice.

Add in the lime juice and chili sauce, if using, then mix well with the soup.

Add in the noodles. If you&#039;re adding dried noodles, they&#039;ll of course take longer to cook in the soup (usually around 8 to 10 minutes).

Cook the chewy noodles for 2-3 more minutes until the noodles are cooked to your liking.

Soup Base

Top the noodle soup with the mushrooms, crisp shallots, roasted peanuts, chopped scallion, Thai basil leaves, and chili oil before being finished with a squeeze of lime juice if you&#039;d like.

The noodles will cook down a little bit more from the hot soup. Enjoy!

To Serve

A healthy, low-calorie hug in a bowl – it&#8217;s equally as good made with large prawns instead of chicken.

Chicken laksa

shallots

red chillies

stem ginger

vegetable oil

lemongrass

chicken breasts

chicken stock (see tip)

tbsp fish sauce

brown sugar

baby leaf spinach

coconut milk

limes.

bundles thin rice noodles

In a pan, gently fry 2 shallots, finely sliced, 2 red chillies, finely sliced, and a 5cm piece stem ginger, sliced, in 1 tsp vegetable oil for 2 minutes.

Add 2 lemongrass stalks, finely chopped, 2-3 chicken breasts, sliced, 600ml chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Stir in 2 tbsp fish sauce, 1 tbsp soft brown sugar and simmer for 10 minutes, until the chicken is cooked. Add a few handfuls baby leaf spinach, 200ml coconut milk and the juice of 2 limes. Warm until the spinach wilts.

Cook 2 bundles thin rice noodles according to pack instructions and stir into the laksa. Divide between bowls and garnish each with a fresh coriander sprig and lime wedges.

Savory, sweet, and spicy, drunken noodles are a simple, few ingredient recipe for making oil-free Thai food at home. Add some seared tofu some favorite veggies, or eat these savory noodles alone.

Vegan Spicy Thai Drunken Noodles with Seared Tofu

Package Wide Rice Noodle

extra firm tofu (pressed

Tamari (Liquid Aminos, or Soy Sauce)

Tablespoons Sriracha

Lime juiced

Lime zested

Tablespoons Rice Vinegar

Organic Vegetable Broth

Tablespoons Brown Sugar or substitute maple syrup

Thai Red Chili, diced (more if you like it extra hot)

Yellow Onion (diced)

Garlic (minced)

lime (juiced)

fresh, chopped Thai Basil

The Perfect Pressed Tofu for Grilling, Baking, or Cooking in a Skillet

Press tofu ( using a tofu press) thoroughly BEFORE cutting into cubes

Cut tofu into small cubes.

Marinate by covering with the specified tofu marinate indicated above.

Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour

I used Taste of Thai Wide Rice Noodles.

Rice noodles are much more delicate and fragile than typical spaghetti noodle.

Place all your rice noodles in a wide mixing bowl.

Bring 4 cups of water to boil.

Pour the boiling water over the rice noodles until they are completely submerged.

Stir to loosen the noodles every few minutes, so they don&#39;t stick together.

When they are completely limp, give them a taste to see if they&#39;re cooked through.

The flat rice noodles might take upwards of ten minutes, depending on thickness.

Pay attention and test the noodles frequently because they&#39;ll become mushy if they overcook.

The noodles are being stir-fried for the drunken noodles, so you want to under-cook them.

They will absorb more moisture and cook the rest once in the stir fry. If your noodles are perfectly cooked to start, they will turn to mush in the stir fry.

Once the noodles are tender, drain them and run them under COLD water to stop the cooking.

Preparing the Noodles

Whisk Drunken Noodle sauce ingredients together.

When noodles are drained and rinsed in COLD water, pour the sauce over the noodles before cooking.

Stir sauce into the noodles and let sit while you cook the tofu.

Drunen Noodle Sauce

Heat wok to medium-high.

Add onion and garlic, and cook until translucent.

Add red Thai chili pepper.

Add tofu and sauce, and sear tofu.

Let it cook before tossing it around in the wok.

Add rice noodles and sauce to tofu.

Cooking

or substitute cilantro

Add 3/4 cup basil, reserving 1/4 cup for garnish.

Add noodles mixture to a bowl.

Sprinkle with extra basil.

Serve with a wedge of lime.

Serve with a side of red pepper flakes for those who want to add more heat.

I also serve Sriracha on the side because I like it hot. 

Serving

Recipe video above. This is a quick Rice Noodle stir fry with nice meaty pieces of beef, tenderised so they are beautifully succulent, never overcooked - even if you cook for way longer than you should! Chinese restaurant trick. :) The noodles are stained a rich brown from the soy-forward sauce that&#39;s savoury and garlicky with just a hint of sweet. There&#39;s a broad range of beef cuts suitable, use whatever rice noodles you have (though see note on quantities), and any leafy Asian greens (or even non Asian!). Makes 2 generous servings, or 3 sensible servings.

Beef Rice Noodles

tsp baking soda ((bi-carbonate) - NOT baking powder, won't work)

tsp light soy sauce ((Note 2))

peanut oil (, canola

garlic (, finely minced with a knife)

onion (, sliced)

broccoli

tbsp light soy sauce (, or all-purpose soy

tbsp dark soy sauce ((Note 2))

tbsp oyster sauce ((can substitute with vegetarian oyster sauce))

tsp white sugar ((or honey, maple))

water

white pepper ((or black pepper,

Tenderise beef - toss with baking soda, leave 20 min, rinse, season with soy sauce. Stir fry - Sauté onion first, then beef, then garlic, then stems. Add leafy greens, prepared noodles, and sauce. Toss well then serve.

ABBREVIATED RECIPE

Tenderise - Sprinkle the beef with baking soda in a small bowl. Toss with your fingertips to coat, separating the beef slices. Leave for 20 minutes to tenderise.

Rinse, dry, season - Rinse in a colander, shake and pat off excess water with a paper towel (no need to be thorough). Place in a bowl and toss with the soy sauce. Set aside. (It doesn&#39;t need to marinating time).

Velvet the beef:

Sauce - Mix ingredients in a small bowl.

Soak and rinse noodles - Prepare the noodles according to packet directions (usually soaking in boiling water for 5 - 10 minutes). Drain, then rinse under tap water to remove excess starch so it doesn&#39;t go gluey when cooked.

Cook onion, beef then garlic - Heat the oil over high heat in a large wok or large deep fry pan / skillet (~30cm/12&quot;). Add the onion for 30 seconds. Add beef and cook until the red is almost gone (~1 minute), then add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

Stems then everything else - Add the stem part of the Asian greens, toss for 1 minute. Add the leafy part, noodles then sauce (in that order). Toss for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes until the sauce has stained all the noodles and there is no sauce left in the base of the pan.  Serve immediately!

Stir fry:

Nagi why is the default email I select picking an old Google email I dont use instead of my yahoo email? I can’t get your recipes.

“I am going to make it tonight; I have everything at home—gluten-free all the way, including oyster sauce. I can’t wait. This will be wonderful. I love bok choy!

Thank you, Nagi, for thinking of all of us who have dietary restrictions. The stick-door situation is a tricky one. :) Thanks for the giggle. Jaffle certainly has the ‘looks.’

Nagi - you've done it again! I have so much admiration for the commitment you have in providing us with a wonderful meal each week, supplemented (supplemented? enhanced?) by JB's contributions.
I had (most) things on hand - no asian veggies, but cabbage, and vermicelli rice noodles. Fabulously rich with flavour - you hit the nail on the head again - every time!
And darling Jaffle - Dozer would be proud. I only hope Dozer and my darling lab, Rogan Josh, have found one another up there in the land of endless doggy play xxx

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Top 5 rice noodle recipe recipes from across the web

The most viewed rice noodle recipe recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Vegan Thai Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee...

Vegan Peanut Satay Noodle Soup

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The most viewed rice noodle recipe recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine