Vegan Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)
Drunken noodles are another Thai dish made famous by Thai restaurants in the United States. It's a funny story, but I had my first drunken noodles in Boston at my aunt's Thai restaurant. If you have never had this dish, it’s like a combination of Char Kway Teow or Pad See Ew (Southern Chinese rice noodles stir-fried with soy sauce and egg) and Holy basil stir-fry or Pad kaprao (recipe here). The savory and the heat you can expect from Pad kaprao are there, with the charred aroma from rice noodles hitting hot oil. One can say this is a variety of Char Kway Teow made to fit Thais’ flavor pallet.
The origin of drunken noodles
I did a quick research on the history of drunken noodles. But all I found was a random vent from a Thai netizen saying that he doesn’t know what the authentic drunken noodles are like since at every store he’s been to, it was prepared differently. I was pretty surprised by his thought and how many people agreed with him. Maybe the drunken noodles I know is just what most Thai chef overseas have standardized over time, and this dish is still, as the name suggests, ‘drunken’ noodles, noodles that were made by people getting hungry after a few beers and needed to put together something from stuff in their fridges.
What do drunken noodles taste like?
The version of drunken noodles that I’m familiar with, mostly what you can find in American Thai restaurants, are hot, spicy, savory, and slightly sweet. Before you taste anything, the smells will hit you first, followed by a few sneezes. You should immediately feel the black pepper and the aroma of sweet basils before anything else. That is why making this dish vegan is not losing much of its essence.
What makes the drunken noodle vegan?
Instead of fish sauce, I use vegetable-based fermented seasonings like Gloden Mountain, Maggi, or Yondu sauce (links to products in the recipe section below).
What are the key ingredients of drunken noodles?
The key ingredients of drunken noodles are known to be
Thai sweet basil (or holy basil, or both)
Fresh green peppercorn
Ground white pepper (I do not suggest you use white pepper if you can’t ground one yourself. Most store-bought ground white pepper has a strange smell to it)
Fingerroot (I was not able to find this in the US)
Garlic
Thai chili pepper
Kaffir lime leaves
Soy sauce
Fish sauce
Oyster sauce
Sugar
Surprisingly, rice noodle is not a must for drunken noodles. If you have a chance to visit Thailand, you will find that most drunken noodles are prepared with instant noodles (ramen-like noodles) or spaghetti.
Let me know what drunken noodles at your local Thai restaurant are like!
Vegan Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles)
Ingredients
Instructions
- Prep dried rice noodle by soaking in room temperature water for 30 minutes or until the noodle feel softer but still bouncy
- While waiting for the noodle, prepare the ingredients for stir fry:
- Fried-tofu: cut into small rectangular pieces
- Crush garlic and chili pepper with pestle and motor, if not available, just crush with knife then finely mince
- Separate basil leaves from the stems
- Drained baby corn and cut to smaller pieces if needed
- Thinly slice kaffir lime leaves across the stem
- De-seeded the bell pepper and cut into stripes
- Chop onion/shallot into slices
- Heat deep frying pan or a wok on a medium high heat
- Add onion/shallot, stir frequently until translucent
- Add garlic and chili pepper (and fresh pepper corn if you have any)
- Once garlic slightly golden, add baby corn, kaffir lime leaves, and bell pepper. Stir on high heat occasionally until brown on the edges
- Add tofu and seasoning
- Add the soaked noodles to the wok stir continuously
- Stir-fry until the noodle soften
- Add sweet basil leaves and a few table spoon of water, the pan should be very hot and you may need to open windows and pump up your vent here
- Check if the noodles have absorb all the sauces and became soft, then plate
