Pad See Ew With Black Garlic Sriracha

A common table companion of pad see ew is prik nam som: sliced Thai chilis in white vinegar. You spoon a little over your noodles right before you eat, and it does one job: cuts through the char and the soy to balance a dish that could otherwise be a bit heavy.

I made pad see ew at home the other night and realized I didn't need to make that side jar of chili vinegar. I already had it. Black Garlic Sriracha is vinegar, garlic, and chilis in one bottle, so I skipped the extra step and built it straight into the sauce.

In my opinion, pad see ew is 90% the noodles and the sauce. The protein and vegetables are pretty interchangeable, and end up being a great way to use what you have in your fridge.

Sauce: What Each Piece Is Doing

• Light soy carries the salt and most of the savory backbone.
• Dark soy is barely about saltiness. It's there for color and a faint molasses funk that turns the noodles that deep mahogany you're chasing.
• Brown sugar balances the tension between the savory elements in the sauce and the spice in the Black Garlic Sriracha and whatever other chilis you might include.
• Garlic and ginger bloom in the oil first, so the aromatics are in the fat before anything else hits the pan.
• Oyster sauce adds body, a touch of sweetness, and a rounder umami than soy alone can give you.
• Fish sauce adds a funky umami background note. Use a little. We want to layer, not overpower.
• Black Garlic Sriracha is the prik nam som move. Vinegar for balancing brightness, garlic for depth, a slow building heat instead of a sharp one. It's doing the job the little table jar usually does, just folded into the pan instead of spooned on after (though, you can definitely add some on top of your dish when you're done).

Each ingredient earns its place. Pull any one of these out and you'd notice the gap.

The Cornerstone

Like I touched on before, the sauce and the noodles are essentially the whole dish. Everything else is just whatever's in the fridge. The high heat cooking technique and the sauce ratio are what make it taste like pad see ew. The vegetable and the protein are along for the ride. Once you've got the sauce and the noodle char down, you can stop thinking of this as a recipe and start thinking of it as a method.

Chinese broccoli is my usual vegetable, or cabbage when I don't have it. Kimchi's another good option, and honestly the faster one, since it's already fermented and seasoned and brings its own depth without any extra prep. It chars alongside everything else instead of announcing itself. I like carrots alongside any of these for a little sweetness and crunch against the char.

Protein is whatever I have on hand: chicken, pork, beef, sometimes bacon.

Instructions

1. If using dried wide rice noodles, soak them in warm water for 8 to 10 minutes, until pliable but not fully cooked through. They'll finish cooking in the wok. If you've got fresh sen yai, skip this step, just gently separate the noodles by hand.
2. Whisk the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
3. Heat a wok or your largest skillet over the highest heat your stove has. I also sometimes make this on a Blackstone which can get really hot, and has enough surface area to char the noodles instead of steaming them. You want your cooking surface smoking hot before anything goes in.
4. Cook your protein first. For chicken, pork, or beef, sometimes I like to tenderize it first by using a technique called "velveting". Essentially, you mix your thinly sliced protein with baking soda, cornstarch, and oil, and let it sit for 30 mins at room temperature. I find it makes a noticeable difference in texture and gets you closer to how you'd get it at a restaurant. Either way you prepare your protein, spread it in a single layer onto your cooking surface, and let it sit for 30 seconds before you touch it. You're after some char.
   For bacon: skip the oil and just render it in the dry pan, then use that rendered fat in place of oil for the rest of the cook. It's not just a swap for convenience, the smoke in the fat carries through everything that hits the wok after it, and it backs up the char you're already chasing on the noodles instead of competing with it. Remove your protein once cooked through and set aside.
5. Add oil if needed, then garlic and ginger. 15 seconds, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic go past golden.
6. Push everything to one side, crack the egg into the empty space, and scramble it quickly. Mix it through once mostly set.
7. Add the sturdier vegetable first (carrots, or gai lan stems, or the thicker cabbage ribs). Give it 30 seconds to a minute before adding the softer parts (gai lan leaves, thinner cabbage, or kimchi) along with the noodles.
8. Pour the sauce over the noodles and toss. This is where the char happens: let the noodles sit against the hot metal for a few seconds between tosses instead of stirring constantly. You want some noodles to catch and blacken slightly at the edges, and most of the sauce should cook into the noodles rather than sit in the pan.
9. Return the protein to the pan, toss to combine, and cook another minute until everything is coated and hot.
10. Finish with a crack of white pepper. Kill the heat, then add a small splash of water, a tablespoon or two, and toss once more off the burner. The noodles have already done their charring, so this last bit won't get cooked away. It just gives you a little sauce clinging to the bottom of the bowl instead of everything getting fully absorbed. Taste, and if you want more of that chili-vinegar lift, another small drizzle of Black Garlic Sriracha right at the end does it.

Serve immediately. Enjoy with loved ones, some chili oil, or chili crisp, and/or more Black Garlic Sriracha.