Pad See Ew (Soy Sauce Noodles) and Homemade Sriracha

Pad See Ew is one of those ubiquitous Thai dishes you always see hidden on a Thai restaurant menu.  You've got your red and green curries, your Pad Thai, maybe some Pad Prik King or Gai Himmaparn, and this.  It's easy to translate - "pad" means stir-fried, and "see ew" means soy sauce.  Not much left to the imagination.  And the ingredient list essentially doesn't disappoint - noodles, meat, a few other things, and soy sauce.  Ah, but not just any soy sauce, as we will get to shortly.  It's been influenced by the Chinese, which explains why they're using the phrase "see ew", a Southern Chinese term for soy sauce, and also why Chinese broccoli is used here but in basically no other Thai staple dish I've yet come across.  I tried making this a number of times a few years ago with mixed success, then I went off into a cave and thought about what I did wrong, then looked up a ton of different recipes, and finally I took a nap.  When I woke up I assembled this new one.

Restaurant-quality.  Not something I throw out lightly.  And it's not often that people tell me to quit my day job and open a restaurant after dinner.  But that happened when I made these soy sauce noodles, after my adjustments to the recipe, my ingredients, and my process in order to best capture the flavors and textures of this dish.  Every bit of this is a spot-on copy of the best soy sauce noodles I have ever eaten which, if you haven't done so, I highly recommend you try.  I will make it a point to comment on where I have made tweaks, and what is a critical detail in making this dish.  Don't cut corners, look for the right ingredients, and you'll pull through.


Pad See Ew (Soy Sauce Noodles)
Adapted heavily from RealThaiRecipes.com

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced shallot
• 1/2 cup pork (or chicken), thinly sliced and cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 cup wide rice noodles, FRESH (dried is just not going to cut it if you want the real deal)
• 1 generous cup chinese broccoli
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbsp black soy sauce
• 2 tbsp white soy sauce
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper powder

First, gather your ingredients.  This may take some time - you need to find shallots, Chinese broccoli, and things called 'white' and 'black' soy sauce.  I know what you're thinking: you've got some 'black' soy sauce already, so what the heck is white soy sauce?  Well, you are wrong.  If you have soy sauce, you have 'white' soy sauce.  Or 'light' soy sauce, which has nothing to do with 'low sodium' soy sauce.  'Black' aka 'dark' aka 'sweet' soy sauce is made by adding sugar or molasses to the soy beans before fermentation, and lends a strong sweetness and a thick consistency to the finished product.  It is aged longer than the light soy sauce, and is less salty.  It is the primary ingredient in Pad See Ew, so if you can't find it locally, order it before you make this dish.  I recommend Healthy Boy brand if you can find it.  Let's take a look at these products:

Various soy sauces.  From left to right: a) low/less sodium, sometimes called "lite", not to be confused with b) "light" or "white" soy sauce (basically just regular soy sauce), c) Thai "black" soy sauce (siew dam in Thai) aka "sweet" soy sauce, which is essentially the same as d) Chinese "dark" soy sauce

Since you're using fresh noodles, which you can purchase at the Asian grocery store, separate them from each other, and place them on a plate.  Now, if yours were like mine, you got them refrigerated, and they're a big stuck together wad that doesn't look like people food - it looks like a bunch of squid.  I tried warming in the microwave and ended up getting as far as separating the rolls from each other, then giving up and cutting them into what would later become small rice pillows.  But next time I will soak them in cold water (cold to prevent further cooking), then coax them apart gently and dry them separately from each other.

They may look like squids, but they are in fact rice noodles, all bunched together.  Soak in cold water to unravel them.

If you absolutely can't find these and end up using dried, boil them for 6 minutes, drain in cold water, and rinse 2-3 times until fully chilled.  RIGHT BEFORE cooking, remove them to colander to drain for about 1 minute.  Don’t let them sit out to dry.

Cut the Chinese Broccoli stems at an angle so they cook easier, into about 2″ (5cm) long pieces towards the top, and smaller at the stems.  Cut on a bias for nice looking pieces. Make sure to clean well.

Heat a large nonstick saute pan on the highest heat you've got.  When sufficiently hot, add the oil and swirl to coat.  Add the garlic and shallots, and fry until lightly browned and fragrant, about 15-20 seconds.

Add the pork (or chicken) and fry until cooked through. Keep stirring so the garlic doesn’t burn.

Now add the noodles.  Don't worry about the other ingredients, we'll get there.  Keep stirring so they don’t stick.  Add the soy sauces, sugar and white pepper. Mix well.  Your goal here is to infuse the soy sauce flavor into the noodle but not into the veggies or egg.  So stir this around, let it absorb into the noodles, and continue.

Let the soy sauce get into those noodles

Crack the egg into the pan on top of the oil. Scramble in the pan and let sit until solid.  Break up with a spatula.

Add the Chinese Broccoli, and mix well. You may need to add a little bit of water so everything cooks and doesn’t stick.  Don’t add so much that the noodles get clumpy though - maybe around 1 teaspoon at a time.  As soon as broccoli is cooked, turn off heat and plate immediately.

Dish out and serve with soy sauce, sugar, vinegar, chili powder and white pepper so you can flavor to your taste preference at the table.

Note: If cooking more than one serving, cook them one at a time. If you cook too many noodles in the pan, you'll get a big sticky glob.

Homemade Chili-Garlic Sauce (Sriracha)

If you have a blender and 2 minutes, you can make this.  Put 8 red jalapenos, 2 cloves of garlic, and 1 tsp salt into the blender.  You may want to do obvious things like take the stems off your peppers and maybe peel the skin from the garlic, but only if you want this to be, you know, edible.  Once blended, pour this mix into a jar and top with 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar - enough to cover the pepper mix.  Let sit for a few minutes, and you're good to go!  Should keep basically indefinitely.

Grilled Lemongrass and Turmeric Chicken Wings

If you're following along, you know I'm searching for new and more amazing chicken wing recipes.  This means thinking outside of the box - more than just your average Buffalo wing flavors.  This one is no exception, and worth checking out.  It's more of a Thai curry, plus it has a great color from the fresh turmeric.  And once again, it meant that I got to purchase a new ingredient, not having bought turmeric in any form other than dried.

Fresh turmeric can be found in Asian grocery stores, and looks similar to ginger but with no branches and more ribbing.  It's a rhizome related to ginger, often used in Indian curries, but also used as a food coloring (specifically in mustards).  Inside, the root is a bright orange, and smells like a combination of carrots and ginger.  Careful - it stains skin and clothing quickly and effectively, making my nails look like those of an old woman.  But good news, turmeric isn't light fast, so that stain will fade over time.

Fresh turmeric looks a bit like a slug

Peeled turmeric stains pretty much everything.  That's why I'm taking the picture, and someone else is peeling it.

Grilled Turmeric and Lemongrass Chicken Wings
from Bon Appetit, July 2012

• 1 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk
• 3 shallots, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves
• 2 lemongrass stalks (bottom third only, tough outer layers removed), finely chopped
• 2 jalapeños, stemmed
• 1 1" piece ginger, peeled, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 tablespoons tamarind juice concentrate (not paste or pulp) or 1 tbsp fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh turmeric (not powdered)
• 3 pounds whole chicken wings
• Vegetable oil (for grill)
• Lime wedges

The ingredient list is strange, and is some mix of Thai and Indian flavors.  If anything, I'd say it's closest to Cambodian cuisine

Combine coconut milk, shallots, garlic, lemongrass, jalapeños, ginger, lime juice, tamarind juice, fish sauce, kosher salt, and turmeric in a blender.  Purée mixture until a smooth marinade forms.

Lemongrass has a strong citrus scent and looks really cool.  It's also really pulpy and needs to be blended well.

Add everything to the blender and puree thoroughly

Place chicken wings in a large baking dish.  Pour marinade over; turn wings to coat evenly.  Cover chicken and chill overnight.

Add the chicken, and marinate overnight.  The turmeric should dissolve more into the marinade and turn more yellow overnight.  I looked into this - apparently the color change is related to the acidity of the solution it is in.  If I had added a bunch of lye instead of lime juice, it might have turned red!

Remove chicken from marinade, shaking any excess marinade back into dish.  Transfer chicken to a large platter.  Let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes.  Transfer marinade to a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until marinade thickens, 10-15 minutes.  Pour half of marinade into a small bowl; set aside for basting chicken while it grills.  Keep remaining marinade in saucepan; cover and keep warm until ready to serve the chicken.

Build a medium fire in a charcoal grill, or heat a gas grill to medium-high.  Oil grill grates to prevent sticking.  Grill chicken wings, turning every 5 minutes and basting occasionally with marinade in small bowl, until fat is rendered and skin is nicely charred in spots, 30-35 minutes. (The key here is to turn the wings often so the skin doesn't burn.)  Continue cooking chicken without basting (so it will get crisp) until wings are cooked through, about 10 minutes longer.

Turn regularly and baste with the reduced marinade

Transfer chicken to a large platter and let it rest for 5 minutes. Squeeze lime wedges over wings. Transfer marinade in saucepan to a small bowl. Serve warm marinade alongside chicken as a dipping sauce.

Garnish with more sauce and a lime wedge

Warm German Potato Salad (Kartoffelsalat)

Ah, potatoes - those tasty little tubers that seem to be on every menu in the Western world, and which can stump Dan Quayle in a spelling bee.  While potatoes are originally from the Americas (Peru, to be exact), some cultures over in Europe have managed to do amazing things with them in a the few centuries that they've been cultivated there.  And I'm not talking about the Irish.  I'm talking about the Germans, who transformed the potato salad of the United States into something entirely different.

German potato salad is pretty much the opposite of American potato salad.  It's served warm.  It has only a thin sauce to it.  It is almost entirely vinegar-based, as opposed to mayonnaise or mustard.  And you can practically eat it as its own meal, since it almost always has meat right in the dish.  And bad news for some of you - this dish isn't meant for the devoutly Jewish, as it contains bacon.

I mashed up this recipe from a few different sources, then tinkered to get the consistency I wanted.  The result is from too many places to cite just one, but if you look really hard you should see the same few ingredients in different orders or with different ratios all over the internet.  But you're here reading this one, so just roll with it.


German Potato Salad (Kartoffel Salat)

• 3 pounds Yukon gold or red potatoes
• 1/4 pound thick-cut bacon
• 3/4 cup finely chopped onion (white, yellow, bottoms of a green onion, and/or red)
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 3 green onions, tops, sliced thinly
• 2 tbsp parsley, chopped

Scrub potatoes and place in a large pot.  Add water until potatoes are submerged at least 1".  Boil the potatoes until they are cooked through, at least 20 minutes.  If you use Russets here, they will be mealy and gross.  Go with a waxier potato like a red or Yukon gold.  Drain potatoes and allow to chill for at least a few hours, or preferably overnight.  Once cooled, slice potatoes into 1/4" thick rounds and set aside.

Boil the potatoes the night before if you can.  Then assemble just before serving

If you want a little kick to your salad, place the mustard seeds in the cold water and let hang out for 10 minutes.  If not, just skip this step.  In a fairly large saute pan, cook bacon until crispy, and set aside.  Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of bacon grease from the pan.  Over medium heat, cook the onions until translucent, about 3-5 minutes.  I used the bottom of the green onion tops I would add later to complement red and yellow onions.

Saute your onion mix

Dissolve the flour in the water, and then add water, vinegar and mustard seeds, and deglaze the pan for a few seconds.  Add the salt, sugar, and flour, and stir to combine.  Now add the sliced potatoes to this and fold them into the sauce.  Once you have tossed this around a bit, added the parsley and green onions, and crumble the bacon and throw that in too.

Toss again to combine, and that's it!  Serve warm, and enjoy with whatever German food tickles your fancy.

It's bacon!

Chinese Stir-fried Pork with Leeks

A simple recipe I found in Saveur magazine, lifted directly from there and then screwed up only slightly on my first attempt.  I will post the recipe ingredients as printed, with a couple of caveats in the instructions.  The recipe describes 'reverse stir-frying', where the vegetables are [atypically] cooked before the meat, then added back in.  I'll admit, I usually cook the meat first, but I don't think this is anything earth-shattering.

I wish I could tell you more about the backstory of this dish, because based on its short ingredient list, I picture this as coming from the countryside.  It's like the Chinese equivalent of a really good taco - throw a few things together, let the individual flavors really shine through, and don't get too fancy with anything.  It doesn't hurt that you're using leeks either, which are delicious in almost everything so long as you rinse the dirt out of them thoroughly.  The longer you can let the meat sit with the seasonings, the more flavorful the product will be.  I recommend more like 1-2 hours in the fridge at least, with the last 45 minutes left out to come closer to room temperature.

Simple, flavorful, rustic.  Not what you think of for Americanized Chinese food.  But really freaking good.

Recipe originally posted here Sept. 2011, updated on second attempt in Jan. 2013. Updated again June 2025 with revised instructions.


Stir-Fried Pork with Leeks (Cong Bao Rou Si)
From Saveur, December 2010

Updated 8/24/13: At the request of a fellow chef, I have doubled the marinade ingredients.

• 10 oz. boneless pork butt, frozen for 20 minutes and cut into 2" x 1/8" strips (thin is good here!)
• 2 tsp. Asian sesame oil
• 2 tsp. dark soy sauce (this is not just dark-colored soy sauce)
• 1 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. canola oil
• 1 leek, white and pale green parts only, cut diagonally into 1/4"-thick slices

In a medium bowl, combine the pork, soy sauce, cornstarch, sugar, and half the garlic; let sit for 15 minutes at a minimum, and don't refrigerate again unless you plan to let marinate for a while. After adding the other marinade ingredients, THEN add the sesame oil, otherwise those flavors won’t penetrate as well. And use dark soy sauce, not to be translated as "darkly colored normal soy sauce".  This is soy sauce with sugar or molasses added, which gives it a much sweeter and richer flavor, and also makes it more of a syrup.  It will also lend a much darker color to your finished product, make it so your food burns if you're not careful, and thicken a dish much more than regular soy sauce.

Marinate your pork in dark soy sauce, garlic, sesame oil, and a few other simple ingredients, and let it hang out.

While the meat is marinating, clean the leeks THOROUGHLY.  Leeks are infamous for hiding dirt in their many layers - I typically cut through the stem enough to get a sprayer in there, but since this recipe wants whole rings, I went a different route.  Just slice off the green tops (maybe the top 1/3 of what's shown below), the bottom 1/4", and then slice into your rings, breaking them apart slightly so the pieces are all loose.  Now rinse the rings, and try to get as much water off as possible.  A salad spinner will come in handy here.


Leeks, soaking in water to clean them out a bit.

This is what you're left with after slicing and rinsing.  When you stir-fry these up, they should cook very quickly because of their thin cut.  Don't overcook them

To prepare, heat a 14" wok over high heat until wok begins to smoke. Add 1 tbsp. oil around the edge of the wok and swirl to coat the bottom and sides. Add the leeks and cook, stirring and tossing constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer leeks to a plate and set aside.

Time to fry up some leeks

Return wok to high heat and add remaining oil around edge of wok, swirling to coat the bottom and sides. Add the pork mixture and cook, stirring and tossing constantly, until the pork is browned, about 2 minutes.  Really look for browning, and make sure the wok isn't too crowded, or you will end up boiling your meat in the juices it releases.  You want enough heat getting to all the meat that it quickly browns before giving up any moisture.  My wok gets hot, but not rocket hot like in a restaurant.  That would have helped even more.  NOTE: if you put the meat in and it sizzles like it's searing, this is good.  But if it starts to get quiet, that is bad.  It means your wok isn't hot enough for the amount of food you put in, which is probably more cold than it is in your average poorly sanitized restaurant kitchen, making things extra hard for you.  So do this - if you suspect that your wok isn't going to get the job done, just stop.  Take everything out, and get the wok as hot as it will get again.  Now add the meat back in, half at a time, and cook until done, setting aside the cooked meat in between.  You won't need to add more oil each time because the oil is still all over the meat.  This is what I did last night, and it worked out great.  Just remember to use all of your senses - sometimes cooking can involve listening just as much as watching.

I cooked the pork in two batches, to make sure it would saute instead of steam.  This gave it a much nicer color, and allowed the sugars in the dark soy to caramelize a bit (the black specks)

Add leeks back to the wok and add the remaining garlic and cook, stirring and tossing often, until just tender, about 1 minute. Don't overcook, or the meat will toughen.

If you want slightly more sauce, mix up another 2 tsp dark soy sauce, maybe 2 tsp light soy sauce, 1/2 tsp sugar, and a splash of sesame oil. Turn the heat down to medium to avoid burning this, add this sauce, and toss to combine. I’ve tried adding more cornstarch and broth, but this changes the dish immensely and the feel just isn’t right. Dry is good on this one to get the flavor of the leeks a bit more readily.

Return everything to the wok and toss to combine for a minute or less

Serve immediately, over rice.  Don't get crazy with the condiments, this is meant to be a simple dish

Shrimp in Black Bean Sauce

This recipe is similar to my chicken in black bean sauce, but without the marinating and with a slightly different mix of ingredients a bit more well suited to shellfish.  It's not quite shrimp in lobster sauce, which is coming soon, but it's still a solid sauce, very different from your standard Cantonese-style brown garlic sauce.

Shrimp with Black Bean Sauce
Food.com

• 1/2 lb large shrimp ( shelled, deveined and washed)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic oil (or sesame oil)
• 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fermented black beans, well washed and drained
• 1 green onion, sliced thinly, white and green parts separated
• 1 teaspoon shaoxing wine (or sherry or rice wine)
• 1 tablespoon fresh coriander, minced
• 1/2 head broccoli, rinsed, cut into florets
• 1/2 can baby corns
• Steamed rice, to serve

• 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar
• Salt and white pepper, to taste
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup seafood stock

Ready your stir-fry ingredients - chop up vegetables, set aromatics aside next to wok, and gather ingredients for the sauce (oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, stock) in a bowl.  Peel and devein shrimp, and have nearby.  Smash the rinsed black beans slightly to form something between a paste and whole beans, similar to the consistency of refried beans.

Get your shrimp cleaned and at the ready

Chop up your ingredients

It helps if you line everything up in the order of use, to avoid confusion

Heat wok over high heat for 30 seconds.  Add garlic oil and coat the wok.   When a wisp of white smoke appears, add garlic, white portion of the green onion, and black beans, then immediately add the broccoli florets.  Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until starting to turn bright green.  Now add the shrimp.  The hotter you can get your wok before adding this, the better.  And keep your stove on high!  You want to cook these guys as fast as possible.  Mix together, then leave alone for about 30 seconds.  Flip them over as best you can, then stir-fry another 30 seconds.  Add wine by drizzling around the edges of the wok, add baby corn, and mix well.

Stir-fry until the shrimp turn pink.  These guys aren't ready to go yet

Once the shrimp begin to curl and turn pink, they're basically done.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.  Stir the sauce and pour into the center of this well.  Mix to combine all ingredients, and stir while cooking on high for about 90 seconds or less, until the sauce begins to thicken and bubble.

Turn off the heat, and add the minced green onion tops.  Remove to a heated dish, sprinkle with minced coriander and serve.