Satisfy your noodle craving with thick chewy noodles stir-fried to smoky perfection with tender ribbons of juicy steak. Easily create these Beef Pad See Ew in under 20 minutes AND in one pot for easy cleanup! Bust out the chopsticks because these noodz are begging to be in your mouth asap!
🥘 Ingredients for Beef Pad See Ew
- Dark Soy Sauce: Ever wonder how restaurants get their noodles deliciously dark and rich in color, while yours are looking pale? The not-so-secret is dark soy sauce, which can be found at local Asian markets. Unlike regular or light soy sauce, it’s primarily used for the color it gives food rather than flavor.
- Regular Soy Sauce: This adds additional saltiness and umami to the sauce.
- Fish Sauce: Fish sauce is saltier than soy sauce and adds depth of flavor. My fave brand is Squid because it only has 3 simple ingredients – no mystery ingredients here!
- Oyster Sauce: An absolute MUST in every Asian pantry and the base of the seasoning sauce with a perfect balance of sweet, salty, and umami.
- Chinese Broccoli: Pad see ew usually has Chinese broccoli, also known as Gai Lan. If you can’t find it at your local Asian market, broccolini is a great alternative!
- Beef: For stir-fries, skirt steak, flank steak, or sirloin all work well. Cut them thinly against the grain for tender steak ribbons that cook quickly! The easiest way to cut meat thinly is to slice it while it’s still partially frozen! You can also swap out the beef for Chicken Pad See Ew, Shrimp Pad See Ew for seafood lovers, or keep it vegetarian with Tofu Pad See Ew.
Where can you buy pad see ew noodles?
Pad See Ew is typically made with wide fresh rice noodles called sen yai. You can find them at local Asian markets. If you like extra wide noodles, buy fresh rice sheets and cut them to your desired width!
Since fresh noodles aren’t always available, this Beef Pad See Ew recipe uses wide dried rice noodles (Three Ladies is my fave brand). They have a long shelf-life for last-minute meals and are less likely to break during cooking, making it even easier for beginners to make! You’ll just need to soak them before cooking so they’re soft and pliable.
See recipe card for quantities.
🎥 Watch How to Make this Beef Pad See Ew Recipe
🔪 How to Make Pad See Ew
Like all stir-fries, this Steak Pad See Ew comes together SUPER quickly, so make sure you have all your ingredients prepped and within arm’s reach. Alright, let’s get cooking!
Step 1: Soak the dried rice noodles according to the package instructions until they’re soft and pliable. There should be no resistance! Drain and set aside. If you’re using fresh noodles, check the “Key Tips” section below on how to prep them.
Step 2: Marinate and sear beef. Marinate the beef while prepping the rest of the ingredients, then heat oil in wok on high. Shake excess marinade off beef and sear for 1-2 minutes, or until beef is charred and cooked through. Remove, set aside, and add more oil to wok if needed.
Step 3: Cook vegetables & egg. Toss in garlic, saute for a few seconds, then add gai lan stems. Cook for a few seconds, or until they start to slightly soften but still crunchy in the center. Toss in the leaves, and cook for a few more seconds until they’re wilted.
Push them to the side of the wok, add a little more oil if needed, then add the egg. Allow it to cook until about halfway set, then scramble. Once it’s fully cooked, combine with the rest of the ingredients, then remove & set aside. Add more oil if needed.
Step 4: Add noodles and pour sauce on top. Gently flip noodles as minimally as possible, just until combined with the sauce. Allow them to cook unbothered for 30 seconds to 1 minute or until they start caramelizing – this is how you create the wok hei!
Gently flip noodles and allow to char for another 1-2 minutes, or until noodles have absorbed the sauce and have charred. Add meat, vegetables, and eggs back in, then give it a final few tosses to combine. Remove & enjoy immediately!
👩🏽🍳 Key Tips
- If You Use Fresh Noodles: Double the weight of noodles in the recipe below since this recipe uses dry noodles, which expand once rehydrated. Bring the fresh noodles to room temperature (microwaving for a few seconds if needed) & gently separate individual strands so they cook evenly & less likely to break! If you love extra wide noodles, you can look for fresh rice noodle sheets and cut them to your desired width!
- Slice Chinese Broccoli Thinly & Long: Cut the stems at a 45-degree angle to create long thin strips that cook quickly. If they’re cut too thick, they’ll take much longer to cook.
- Thinly Slice Beef Against Grain: Easily cut meat thinly by slicing it while it’s still partially frozen! Cutting beef against the grain creates even more tender ribbons pieces of meat.
- Work in Small Batches: Pad See Ew is best cooked in the wok as a small batch because it has a delicious charred flavor that can only be created when the wok is not overcrowded. If the wok is too full of ingredients, your food will steam instead of creating a smoky char.
- Cook Noodles in Sauce Separately: This is also key to creating that wok hei (aka signature smoky flavor)! Cooking on high heat with fewer ingredients makes it easier for the noodles to caramelize all the sugars in the sauce.
- Prevent Breakage: Separate the noodles and make sure they’re loose and flexible before hitting the hot pan so you don’t have to break them up in the pan. When cooking the noodles, it’s important to be gentle and touch them as minimally as possible to allow caramelization and reduce breakage – especially when using fresh noodles! Once the noodles are caramelized on one side, flip them instead of stirring them.
💭 Recipe FAQs
🥡 More Easy Recipes You’ll Love!
- No meal is complete without dessert and this delicious Mango sticky rice is super easy to make all year ‘round!
- Serve a warm and comforting bowl of creamy Tom Kha with rich coconut and zesty lemongrass!
- Make your Takeout at Home a real feast with perfectly seasoned Panang Curry that’s begging to be devoured over rice!
- Serve up tangy Steak Pad Thai for more noodles or this simple Thai basil chicken is insanely quick to make with an unapologetically bold flavor.
Let’s get cooking!
Get into my secret stash of Goody-Packed Newsletters with meals planned for you & time-saving tips! Want step-by-step videos of how to make my recipes too? I gotchu over at my youtube channel. Aight, enough chatting, more eating!
Beef Pad See Ew Recipe
Watch How to Make It!
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS:
- 4 ounces dried wide rice noodles*
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 1/2 cups Chinese broccoli/gailan sliced at 45 degree angle* with stems & leaves separated
- 1 egg
BEEF MARINADE:
- 4 ounces beef (flank steak, skirt steak, or sirloin) thinly sliced against the grain
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon cornstarch
- ½ teaspoon neutral oil
SAUCE:
- 1 1/2 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
Instructions
- Soak dried rice noodles in warm water for 1 hour or until flexible without any resistance. Rinse under cold water, drain, & set aside.
- In a medium sized bowl, mix together the beef with the marinade ingredients – soy sauce, cornstarch, and oil. Set aside to marinate for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare rice noodles by gently separating the noodles from each other so they’ll cook evenly. If noodles are hard to separate, heat them in the microwave for 1 minute at a time until warm and easy to separate. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, mix together sauce ingredients – oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, soy sauce, fish sauce, sugar, and white pepper. Set aside.
- Heat oil in a wok on high heat. Sear beef, shaking off any excess marinade before placing in the pan and being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook until meat for about 1-2 minutes, or until it’s golden brown & cooked through. Remove & set aside.
- Add a little more oil to the wok and saute garlic for a few seconds, or until soft and fragrant. Add in the Chinese broccoli / gailan stems and cook for a few seconds, or until the stems are tender but still crunchy. Toss in Chinese broccoli leaves and saute for a few seconds, or until they’ve wilted.
- Push ingredients to the side, add a little more oil to the empty side of the wok, & crack an egg. Allow egg to cook until about halfway set, then scramble the egg. Once the egg is fully cooked, combine with the rest of the ingredients. Remove & set aside with meat.
- Heat wok to high heat, add a little more oil, then toss in rice noodles & pour the sauce on top. Gently toss until noodles are well coated in the sauce. Let the noodles cook for 30 seconds without moving them so they caramelize and create the signature char flavor. Flip the noodles and let them caramelize for another 30 seconds.
- Quickly add meat, vegetables, & eggs back in, then toss together until well combined. Remove then enjoy immediately!
Notes
- Dark / Regular Soy Sauce: Regular soy sauce adds saltiness, easily found in grocery stores. Dark soy sauce gives rich color, available at Asian markets. Using dark soy sauce is highly recommended for dark rich color. Rice
- Noodles: This pad see ew recipe uses wide dried rice noodles, but you can also use fresh rice noodles found at Asian markets. If using fresh rice noodles, double the noodle weight in the recipe and check the “Key Tips” section in the blog post above on how to prep them!
- Gai Lan / Chinese Broccoli: You can find it at local Asian markets, otherwise, you can swap it for broccolini. Cut thick stems thinly at a 45-degree diagonal for quick cooking. Leaves shrink when cooked.
- Getting the Char: Cook Pad See Ew in a wok in small batches that iconic smokey charred flavor. Overcrowding creates steam instead of char.
Nutrition
Exact calculations may vary. For the most accurate nutritional information, use your preferred nutrition calculator, actual ingredients, and quantities used for the recipe. Please consult with your physician or registered dietitian if more precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
