If you love bold Thai flavors and quick weeknight meals, these Drunken Noodles, also known as Pad Kee Mao, are a delicious dish to make at home. This popular Thai stir-fry combines rice noodles, tender chicken, fresh basil, garlic, and bird’s eye chilies in a savory sauce made with oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and a touch of sugar. Ready in about 15 minutes, it’s a flavorful option when you want a homemade alternative to takeout without spending much time in the kitchen.
The secret to a great plate of drunken noodles is balancing the savory sauce with fragrant herbs and just the right amount of heat. Garlic and finely chopped chilies hit the hot oil first, releasing their aroma before the chicken is added. Scallions bring a fresh, mild onion flavor, while the sauce coats the noodles with a rich, salty-sweet finish. Fresh basil goes in at the end so its fragrance remains bright instead of cooking away.
This recipe uses dried Pad Thai noodles, which are soaked in boiling water before stir-frying. Follow the package directions and drain them well before adding them to the pan. Wide, flat rice noodles are another good option, while the recipe also notes that egg noodles can work if rice noodles aren’t available. Adjust the bird’s eye chilies to suit your preferred spice level, and look for Thai holy basil if you can find it; regular basil is an alternative when it isn’t available.
Wok Pan
Blue Diamond Hybrid Nonstick Stainless Steel 12” Wok with Lid, PFAS-Free Ceramic Diamond Bond Stir-Fry Pan, Induction Ready, Dishwasher & Oven Safe, Metal Utensil Safe, Stay-Cool Handle, Silver.
For the best results, prepare the sauce and chop the ingredients before you start cooking. A large carbon steel wok is a useful addition to your kitchen for high-heat stir-frying, helping you toss the chicken, noodles, and sauce together quickly.
Serve these Drunken Noodles hot, straight from the pan, for a fast lunch or dinner packed with savory flavor, fresh basil, and satisfying noodles. If you enjoy spicy Thai food, Pad Kee Mao is a great recipe to add to your regular dinner rotation.
Not what you are looking for? Try these other excellent noodle recipes:
Print
Drunken Noodles
- Total Time: :15
- Yield: 2 1x
Ingredients
Noodles
- 7 oz pad thai noodles, dried (see notes)
Stir Fry
- 7oz chicken thigh fillet, cut into bite size pieces
- 1 cup basil leaves (packed), preferably Thai holy basil but normal basil is fine too
- 2 scallions, cut into 2” pieces
- 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 birds eye chili, de-seeded (or to taste), very finely chopped
- 2 tbsp oil (peanut, vegetable or canola)
Sauce
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce (or all purpose soy sauce)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp water
Instructions
- Pour boiling water over noodles in a large bowl (or pot) and set aside for 5 minutes (or as per packet instructions), and drain when ready.
- Put Sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix to combine.
- Heat oil in wok or pan over high heat.
- Add garlic and chilli and cook for 10 seconds. Don’t inhale – the chilli will make you cough!
- Add chicken and fry until cooked, around 2 minutes.
- Add the scallions and about 1 tbsp of the sauce and stir fry for 30 seconds, just to coat the chicken.
- Add the noodles and sauce and cook for 1 minute until the water evaporates and the sauce has coated the noodles.
- If your noodles absorbs all the sauce liquid very quickly, this is probably because your noodles were a bit underdone. If this occurs, just add a splash of water (preferably hot) and this not only helps finish cooking the noodles but also revitalises the sauce.
- Remove from heat and immediately add basil leaves, stir until just wilted, then serve immediately.
Notes
- Light soy sauce is lighter in color than normal dark soy sauce but it is actually saltier. If you don’t have/can’t find light soy sauce, you can substitute with regular soy sauce but the color of your noodles will be slightly darker and the flavor slightly less salty.
- If you can’t find dried Pad Thai noodles, you can use any other wide flat rice noodles or even egg noodles, dried or fresh. However, I don’t recommend making this with vermicelli noodles (the very thin rice noodles) – it clumps together and you can’t stir fry it to disperse the sauce evenly throughout.
- Prep Time: :10
- Cook Time: :05
- Category: Side Dish
- Method: Stove Top
- Cuisine: Asian