Pad See Ew

This is another Thai dish, like my favorite ‘Pad Thai’ itself, that is made with oriental rice noodles. I was scrolling back through my blog posts trying to find a link to one that taught you how to soak rice noodles - because you don’t have to boil these on the stove, like regular pasta! - but couldn’t find one, so you’re getting another set of instructions on that!

My recipe called for beef, but said that just about anything will work. It’s probably going to get tried with chicken breast next time! Anyhow, your meat is going to need to marinate while the rest is cooking, so you want to start that first. Cut into bite-sized strips and place in a bowl with a bit of ground pepper, about two cloves of minced garlic, and a 1/3C soy sauce (there are several GF brands, including the Amazon generic Happy Belly brand, La Choy, and the Tamari brand). Mix that together well, and set aside in the fridge while you cook your noodles and get your broccoli started.

(My Hamilton came sniffing around the beef in the kitchen. No, he does not get fed from either the kitchen or the table! But I am a messy cook, and do occasionally drop things.)

Rice Noodles: Your local Oriental Market is probably going to be your best bet for rice noodles, if you have one. Mine has started keeping real irregular hours since the pandemic started in 2020, so I’ve started buying mine online. Still, you can see they say ‘gluten free’ on them, and you want the XL (the widest ones) for this.

All you have to do is boil the water (I use my electric kettle), pour over the noodles in a large bowl, and keep stirring them so they don’t stick together. Drain when they’re done! I set the timer for 7 minutes for these, but it actually took them about nine. 

While those were soaking, I was doing my broccoli. I had about two pounds, roughly - lots of veggies in my pastas, as usual! - and was trimming it up. I steamed it for two minutes in the microwave, stirred, then did two more. You want it still fairly crisp, since it will go in the wok later. 

Then I whisked up my sauce in a two-cup measure: 

2T oyster sauce (Wok Mei brand is GF)

1T fish sauce (Thai Kitchen is GF)

1T soy sauce

1t granulated sugar

Like most stir fry’s, this will go together quick once your wok is heated, so you want everything mixed up, prepped, and ready to go in the wok before you actually start to heat anything up. The game plan for this one is: beef first, then we’ll add the broccoli, then we’ll remove that to a bowl to avoid overcooking anything; then we’ll toss the noodles with our stir fry sauce; then toss that all together. 

And as usual, you got no blogging during that process because as I said - that moves quick once you get it started! It turned out good, though. 

PAD SEE EW

INGREDIENTS

16oz wide (XL) oriental rice noodles

2 lbs broccoli

12oz beef for stir fry (this can be just about anything, from stew beef to sirloin)

2 minced cloves garlic 

Fresh ground pepper

1/3C soy sauce

Sauce:

    2T oyster sauce (Wok Mei brand is GF)

    1T fish sauce (Thai Kitchen is GF)

    1T soy sauce (Amazon Happy Belly, La Choy, and Tamari are all GF) 

    1t granulated sugar

Sesame seeds, for serving

Trim your beef into stir-fry bite-sized pieces. Set aside to marinate in a bowl in the fridge with 1/3C soy sauce, a couple of grinds of fresh pepper, and the minced cloves of garlic

Bring enough water to a boil to cover your noodles. Pour boiling water over your noodles in a heat-safe bowl (not metal!), and stir occasionally until done, 7-9 minutes. Drain and leave in the colander in the sink.

Trim broccoli. Microwave two minutes, tightly covered; then stir and microwave another two. 

Mix ingredients for your sauce together in a small bowl or two-cup measure. Stir well, until sugar is dissolved.

Coat your wok with pan spray. Empty the bowl with both beef and marinade into the wok. Stir fry over fairly high heat until just done. Add broccoli; stir until coated with sauce. Remove to a large bowl. 

If your noodles have gotten stiff, run some hot water over them in the colander, then put them back in the wok. Pour the sauce over the noodles, and toss until heated through and well coated. 

Toss into the large bowl with the broccoli and beef. I’m going to serve with extra soy sauce and sesame seeds. 

Servings: 8

Calories per serving: 285