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Pad Sieu is without doubt one of my favourite Thai meals. Thai Wi Rat in Fortitude Valley does, hands down, the most divine Pad Sieu I’ve ever tasted: the addition of egg works so perfectly with the sweet soy sauce… It’s heaven on a plate.

So I had a big shoes to fill on Saturday when I attempted my first Pad Sieu ever — and to top it all off, I was cooking with my new wok, freshly “seasoned” (or, my best efforts at least!).

The best thing about Thai cooking is that for the most part, it’s simple, quick, and unpretentious: gather together fresh ingredients, throw them all in together, and let the food speak for itself. You can easily whip up a delicious meal, full of flavours and textures in a matter of minutes.

This particular attempt at Pad Sieu was by and large, reasonably successful.  I managed to absolutely butcher my noodles – which I hope to avoid next time around by purchasing proper wok-sized cooking implements! The addition of a squeeze of lime right at the end was a real winner – it just freshens up the whole dish, and adds to the sweet/sour effect. The only other addition I will consider in future is to crack an egg over the top prior to adding the sauces, to sweeten things up – this idea is borrowed from Thai Wi Rat’s Pad Sieu recipe, and I’m very keen to see how it affects the flavours.

Finally, the real road to victory with this recipe lies in the quality of the noodles:  do endeavour to get yourself fresh flat rice noodles from an Asian grocer, rather than buying the dehydrated variety — the fresh’uns suck up the flavour so much better, are much easier to work with, and cost roughly the same anyway. Dig around the grocers wherever they keep their fresh produce.

Ingredients

1kg fresh wide rice noodles (the wider the better, I say!)

2 tsp sesame oil

2 cloves garlic, crushed

600g chicken thigh fillets, chopped coarsely

250 grams (1 or 2 small bunches) baby bok choy

4 green onions, sliced thinly

2 tablespoons kecap manis (pron: “ke-chap mannis”; sweet soy sauce)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp grated palm sugar

1 lime

1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh coriander

1 tbsp friend onion

Method

1. Place noodles in large heatproof bowl; cover with boiling water, separate with a fork, and then drain – this process stops the noodles sticking together.
2. Heat oil in a large wok; stir-fry garlic and chill until fragrant.
   Add chicken and stir-fry until lightly browned. Add the bok choy and green onion, and stir-fry until green onion softens and chicken is cooked through.
3. Add the noodles, along with the kecap manis, sauces and sugar, and stir-fry, tossing gently to combine.  Avoid a heavy hand here – keep it gentle, and try not to break the noodles (as I learned, this takes practice!).
4. Squeeze over the juice of a lime (to taste). Remove from heat, and add coriander, tossing gently to combine.
   Serve sprinkled with friend onion and some fresh coriander on top.

Serves 4

Adapted from Women’s Weekly: Beginner’s Thai

Note:I halved the quantity of noodles and chicken when I cooked it up, but kept the other quantities the same.  I like a lot of sauce in my stir-frys, and I love that glossy look it gives the noodles at the end!