What is Cashew Chicken? Is it Chinese or Thai?

Cashew chicken is simply a stir fry of chicken and cashews with a sauce that's got a salty-sweet flavour profile. Many people might think of cashew chicken as a Chinese dish, and indeed China is where this dish originated. You can tell by the presence of sesame oil, which we don't use very much of in Thai cooking.

But Thai cuisine is heavily influenced by Chinese food, and this is one dish that has become a mainstay in Thailand, and in Thai it's called gai pad med mamuang himmapan ไก่ผัดเม็ดมะม่วงหิมพานต์ . (I swear that whole thing just says "cashew chicken stir fry"!)

But as usual, no matter where dishes come from, once they arrive in Thailand, Thai people put our own spin on it. So the flavours are a little different in predictable ways; a little lighter, a little spicier, and with a little more fish sauce 😉.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients for Thai cashew chicken with important notes. It looks like a lot, but many of these you probably already have on hand. And if anything looks unfamiliar, not to worry - I'll explain everything you need to know!

• Spicy dried chilies (optional). You can use any kind you want, I uses the generic dried chilies you find at Chinese markets. These are totally optional, but they are a classic part of cashew chicken in Thailand. They serve mostly as garnishes but people can also break them up for extra heat.
• Extra-roasted cashews. The extra roasting makes them a little darker, crunchier, and nuttier! (See more under Pro Tip)
• Garlic, chopped
• Green onions, halved lengthwise and cut into 1-2 inch pieces.
• Chicken thigh or breast, cut into bite-sized pieces. If using breasts don't cut them thinner than ½-inch to prevent them from drying out too quickly.
• A mix of green, red and/or yellow bell peppers, 1-inch diced
• Onion, 1-inch diced
• Soy sauce
• Golden Mountain Sauce, this is another type of Thai soy sauce. You can use Maggi Seasoning instead which is very similar, or sub more fish sauce.
• Fish sauce
• Sugar
• Thai chili paste, store bought or homemade. For store bought I like Mae Pranom brand, but Pantai brand is also good. (See more on this in the FAQ)
• Oyster sauce
• Toasted sesame oil

How to Make Cashew Chicken

Here's a bird's eye view of the steps. But to ensure success I highly recommend watching the video tutorial before you start, as I often include extra tips; and for a very fast-cooking dish like this it's always good to see the whole process ahead of time, as you won't have time to read the recipe once the stove is on!

1. Marinade chicken in soy sauce. If using breast, add a little water.
2. Combine all sauce ingredients together.
3. Heat oil in a wok until very hot and spread the chicken in one layer and allow to sear.
4. Once browned, toss the chicken until fully cooked. Remove from the pan.

5. In the same wok, add the garlic and cook till golden.
6. Add the onions and cook briefly.
7. Add bell peppers, chicken, and the sauce mixture.
8. Toss on high heat for about a minute until everything is well combined and heated through.

9. Turn off the heat, then toss in the cashews and green onions.
10. Enjoy with some jasmine rice!

Pro Tips: Why This Recipe Is Special

• Double-roasting cashews make them crunchier and nuttier, and that makes then pop. Some brands of commercially roasted cashews are quite light in colour, and aren't that crunchy. Stick them on a baking sheet and roast them again at 350°F for another 8-10 minutes, and you'll get crunchier and nuttier-tasting cashews that will be well worth the extra time.
• Marinating the chicken while you prep makes it flavourful inside and out. The sauce is super flavourful, but it's only sitting on the outside. For the best result your chicken should also be flavourful inside.
• Browning chicken adds flavour without the need to fry. Restaurants often dredge the chicken in flour and then deep fry them before tossing them into the stir fry. But if you just let the chicken brown in the wok, you'll develop that deeper "fried chicken" flavour, no frying required!
• Adding onions after the garlic keeps them crisper. You might be tempted to cook onions first along with the garlic to get them soft and sweet, but here, the sauce is already sweet, and the chicken is tender, so minimally-cooked onion can better provide balance.

How to Make Cashew Chicken Faster

If you love cashew chicken and, like my husband, want to eat it again and again but don't want to do all the prep every time, I got you. Here are a couple of ways you can prep ahead and save time when the urge for cashew chicken strikes:

Make a big batch of cashew chicken sauce

1. Make 3, 4 or even 10 times the amount of sauce in this recipe. Be sure to scale all ingredients proportionally. Because sugar doesn't dissolve well in the thick sauce, I would first dissolve it in just a little bit of hot water before adding it to the rest of the sauce ingredients. Stir to mix well.
2. Measure the final volume of the sauce before you put it away, and divide it by the number of batches to get the volume that you need per batch. Write this amount on a piece of tape and tape it to the jar so you don't forget. Keep it in the fridge, it'll last indefinitely. Stir the sauce well before using.

OR..Start with my Universal Stir Fry Sauce

1. If you don't want cashew chicken THAT often, make a jar of my universal stir fry sauce, which is super useful for all sorts of things, including this recipe.
2. For the recipe given below, use 3 tablespoon of the universal sauce instead of the oyster sauce, soy sauce, Golden Mountain Sauce, and fish sauce. When you cook, you'll just need to add the chili paste, sugar and sesame oil.

Before you start, be sure to watch the video tutorial to ensure success! I always include little tips and tricks not mentioned in the blog post. The video is in the recipe card below, but you can also watch it on YouTube!

Print

Cashew Chicken Recipe

A popular takeout dish that's easy to make at home and is super weeknight-friendly. This authentic Thai recipe also includes many tricks to maximize deliciousness. Guaranteed to be better than takeout!

Course Main Course

Cuisine Thai

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 8 minutes minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 391kcal

Author Pailin Chongchitnant

Ingredients

• 14 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs bite-sized pieces (see note 1)
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• 7-10 dried chilies, small to medium size (optional)
• 4 cloves garlic chopped
• ½ onion 1-inch diced
• ¾ cup green bell pepper 1-inch diced
• 1 ¼ cups red, orange and/or yellow bell pepper 1-inch diced
• ¾ cup unsalted roasted or raw cashews plus extra for sprinkles (see note 2)
• 2 green onions halved lengthwise and cut in 1.5-inch

Sauce

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon Golden Mountain sauce (see note 3)
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 1 ½ teaspoon sugar
• 1 ½ Tablespoons Thai chili paste
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• For the cashews: Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C) and roast the cashews (yes even if you bought them roasted, roast them again) on a baking sheet for 8-10 minutes, and until they darken in color. If starting with raw cashews, roast them for 10-12 minutes, stirring them half way through for more even roasting, until they are slightly darker than golden.
  ¾ cup unsalted roasted or raw cashews
• Combine the chicken thigh with soy sauce and mix well. If using chicken breast, add 1 ½ tablespoon of water in addition to the soy sauce. In either case let it sit for at least 15 minutes.
  14 oz boneless skinless chicken thighs, 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
  1 tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 teaspoon Golden Mountain sauce, 1 teaspoon fish sauce, 1 ½ teaspoon sugar, 1 ½ Tablespoons Thai chili paste, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
• If using dried chilies, add the oil to a wok and add the dried chilies; turn the heat on to low. Keep stirring the chilies until they puff and darken into a maroon colour, about 1 minute. Quickly remove them with a mesh skimmer, leaving the oil behind, and place them onto a paper towel lined plate to drain.
  7-10 dried chilies, small to medium size, 2 tablespoons neutral oil
• In the same wok, turn the heat up to high. Once the oil is very hot, add the chicken and spread the pieces out into one layer as much as you can.

  Allow the chicken to sear, undisturbed, for about 2 minutes or until the underside is nicely browned. Once browned, toss the chicken, and keep cooking, stirring frequently, until the chicken is completely cooked. Turn off the heat and remove the chicken from the pan, leaving all the oil behind.
• With the heat still off, add the chopped garlic, then turn the heat on to medium. Stir the garlic until the smallest pieces turn golden, then add the onions and stir for about one minute.
  4 cloves garlic, ½ onion
• Turn the heat up to high then add the bell peppers, the chicken, and the sauce mixture and toss until heated through and well mixed, about 1 minute.
  ¾ cup green bell pepper, 1 ¼ cups red, orange and/or yellow bell pepper
• Turn off the heat, then add the green onions and cashews and toss just until mixed. Plate and top with fried chilies, and serve immediately with jasmine rice.

  Note: Cashews should only be added right before serving to maintain crunch. Trust me, soggy cashews are NOT good! So if you’re making more of this recipe than you can finish today, set aside what you won’t eat before adding the cashews.
  2 green onions

Video

Notes

1. I prefer chicken thighs for this, but if using breasts, cut them into pieces no thinner than ½ inch thick, to prevent them from drying out too quickly. Also add 1 ½ tablespoon water to the marinade to give them some extra juiciness. 
2. You can also start with raw cashews and roast them as per the instructions below.
3. Instead of Golden Mountain Sauce you can sub Maggi Seasoning or more fish sauce in equal amounts.

Nutrition

Calories: 391kcal | Carbohydrates: 20g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 95mg | Sodium: 853mg | Potassium: 639mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 1680IU | Vitamin C: 87mg | Calcium: 45mg | Iron: 3mg

What is Pad See Ew?

In Thai, pad means to stir fry and see ew means soy sauce, so...soy sauce stir fry? The unspoken word is guay tiew or "noodles," so it's full name is guay tiew pad see ew. It's a popular Thai stir-fried noodles that you can find all over Thailand, but it has its roots in Chinese cuisine which came to Thailand with the millions of Chinese immigrants.

It's a homey dish of fresh rice noodles seasoned primarily with soy sauce, and stir fried in a hot wok along with slices of meat and Chinese broccoli. In Thailand, pad see ew is a quick solo lunch, so you often find it sold at food courts and by street vendors. They're kind of like the sandwiches of Thai cuisine!

Ingredients

Pad see ew ingredients are short and simple, but using the right noodles and the right sauces are key.

• Fresh wide rice noodles. These tender chewy rice noodles are what make dishes like pad see ew and drunken noodles (pad kee mao) so lovable. These are called sen yai in Thai, but they are also often referred to by their Cantonese name, ho fun. You can buy these at some Asian grocery stores, usually in big cities, in the refrigerated section.
  If you can't find them, don't worry, homemade rice noodles are better anyway! Dried wide rice noodles do exist and can be used if necessary, but they are quite different and not nearly as good as the fresh ones.
• Protein of your choice, thinly sliced. This can be chicken, pork, beef, tofu, or seafood such as shrimp. In Thailand, pork is the most common.
• Soy sauce for marinating the meat, omit if using shrimp which do not need to be marinated.
• Vegetable oil or another neutral oil of your choice
• Garlic, chopped
• Eggs
• Chinese broccoli, also known as gai lan. Choose smaller stalks if you can as they are more tender and are less likely to be bitter. If you cannot find gai lan, broccolini is a good substitute. I don't suggest using bok choy as it is much more watery and lacks the crunchiness of gai lan stems. 
• Sugar. White sugar is fine, but brown sugar will also work.
• Ground white pepper, to taste. This is a common condiment to pad see ew, and the aroma of ground white pepper on top of pad see ew is truly iconic!
• Prik nam som, Thai-style chili vinegar that is a classic condiment that I highly recommend. Pad see ew is sweet and salty, and drizzling a little spicy vinegar really brightens the dish and makes a more balanced flavour. It can be as simple as blending chilies and vinegar, but there are variations which I talk about in my prik nam som recipe here.

Pad See Ew Sauce Ingredients

Watch The Video Tutorial

All my recipes come with video tutorial to ensure success. If you've never made pad see ew before, I highly recommend watching the video first as this dish goes fast, and you'll need to know exactly what to do once the heat is on!

5. Once the meat is browned, toss until the meat is fully cooked. Remove from pan and set aside. If there is meat juices left in the wok, wipe it with a paper towel.
6. From this step onward, I recommend cooking 1 portion at a time for best results, so before cooking, divide up your ingredients into single portions. Heat the wok over medium high heat then add a little oil and 1 portion of the garlic; sauté until the smallest bits of garlic starts to turn golden.
7. Add 1 egg and scramble briefly.
8. Add 1 portion of the Chinese broccoli and toss to coat it evenly in the oil, about 10–15 seconds.

9. Add 1 portion of the noodles (8oz/225g), 1 portion of the sauce (2 tablespoon + 1 tsp/35 ml) , and 2 teaspoon (10 ml) of sugar. Turn the heat up to high and toss to coat the noodles evenly in the sauce.
10. Spread the noodles out and let them sit without stirring for about 15-30 seconds until some of the noodles have charred on the underside.
11. Flip or toss the noodles and let them sit again to further toast the noodles. Repeat the tossing and toasting 1-2 more times.
12. Add 1 portion of the cooked protein back in without adding any meat juices that has accumulated in the bowl, and toss briefly to mix. Plate and enjoy with white pepper and chili vinegar.

Common Pad See Ew Problems and How to Avoid Them

After many years of teaching this recipe, I've noticed there are a few things that commonly trip people up. Read these carefully to avoid the same problem! 

• Broken noodles. Assuming you're cooking 1 portion at a time as recommended, you're likely stirring too aggressively. Fresh noodles are very delicate, so you want to flip and toss gently, pushing noodles around from the edges rather than haphazardly stirring. Also avoid metal spatula as they can cut noodles more easily.
• Mushy noodles. You might be crowding the pan and trapping too much moisture, which overcooks the noodles and/or your heat is too low. I stress that you should cook one portion at a time to prevent trapping too much moisture under a big pile of noodles. Remember these noodles are already fully cooked, so it doesn't take much additional moisture for them to become over cooked and mushy!
• They don't taste right. Did you eyeball ingredients? Did you measure everything? Pad see ew is one of those dishes where the ratio between sauce and noodles is everything. Unlike meat-and-veggie stir fries, these noodles absorb ALL of the sauce you give them, so if there's too much, it'll be too salty, and if there's too little, it'll be bland...so measuring is crucial!
• Noodles stuck to the pan. Fresh rice noodles love to stick. Make sure your wok or skillet is well seasoned. You can use a nonstick pan but those typically should not be heated over high heat so the noodles may not get a good char.
• There is no wok hei. Wok hei is that smoky wok flavour that many people consider a key ingredient of a good pad see ew. To get wok hei, you need a carbon steel wok on very high heat so the noodles can char and the oil can smoke. Not crowding the pan is also key. Sometimes, this just isn't possible to create given our home equipment, but I think it's still good without it!

How to Use Dry Rice Noodles Instead

I'll be honest...pad see ew made with dried noodles is not nearly as good as fresh. They have a totally different texture and flavour. I much prefer fresh, and once you experience the wonderfulness of fresh rice noodles... you kinda can't go back.

With that caveat, I understand that in desperate times, sometimes you just gotta get some kind of pad see ew on the table. So if needed: Don't follow package instructions for cooking the noodles, those can be unreliable. Here's what to do:

The best way to keep leftover pad see ew is...to freeze??

Yes! But first let me say that pad see ew, like all rice noodle dishes, is best consumed fresh off the stove. That is how you will get the best soft-chewy noodle texture with crunchy veg. So the best thing to do is to not make anymore than you can eat in one meal.

However, sometimes leftovers are inevitable, and you might be surprised that the best way to store pad see ew is to FREEZE it. Yes! This is because if you refrigerate them, the noodles will continue to absorb moisture from the meat and veggies, and eventually become soft and mushy. One day in the fridge, reheated pad see ew noodles will be noticeably less chewy, but 2 days in the fridge and they're basically inedible by my standard.

When you freeze them, however, this moisture absorption does not happen, so when you reheat, the noodles will still maintain their chewiness to a surprising degree, albeit slightly less so than when fresh. And of course the veggie stems will no longer be crunchy, but that's the price you have to pay.

More Thai Stir-Fried Noodle Recipes

Once you've mastered pad see ew, here are a few other Thai recipes to satisfy your noodle cravings:

• Pad kee mao or "drunken noodles". If you love pad see ew and you love spicy, this is a must try. You can think of this as the spicy sister of pad see ew, or a noodle version of pad gaprao.
• Rad na sometimes spelled as lad na, this is one of the most underrated Thai noodle dishes! The same fresh wide rice noodles are charred in a wok, and served with a pork gravy over them.
• Pad See Ew with Vermicelli. If wide noodles are not available, try going the other extreme and make PSE with the thinnest of noodles! It's also a very quick and easy dish!

Other Useful Tips

• You can also use this sauce as a marinade! Marinade chicken thighs for the oven, or slices of meat on skewers for the grill ... anything!
• Still season your meat separately. If you're making a stir fry with meat, such as chicken, pork, or beef, I'd still add a little bit of soy sauce or fish sauce to the meat separately so that the seasoning is in the meat, not just in the sauce! I demo how to do this in the video.

Questions about Thai Sauces?

Got questions about any of the sauces I used? Check these out and all your questions will be answered!

How to Make Gai Lan Oyster Sauce Stir Fry

Here's a bird's eye view of all the steps. If this is your first time, I recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Slice thicker gai lan stems on a sharp diagonal. For thinner stems, cut into 1-2 inch pieces.
2. Cut the leaves into roughly 2" chunks, dividing wider leaves in half if needed, keep the leaves and stems separated.
3. Combine the oyster sauce, soy sauce, water and sugar; stir to dissolve the sugar completely.
4. Pound the garlic until broken into chunks, alternately smash them with the side of your knife and roughly chop.

5. In a wok, cook the garlic over medium low heat until smallest bits turn golden.
6. Add the stems and cook for about a minute.
7. Add the leaves, the sauce mixture and the white pepper and turn the heat up to high. Toss for about 30 seconds or just until the leaves are wilted.
8. Once the leaves look wilted but not totally collapsed, turn off the heat and plate immediately. Do not overcook as the leaves can become chewy; you want the leaves to still have some freshness and volume to them when you turn off the heat as they will continue to wilt on the plate.

Watch The Full Video Tutorial!

All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. Thank you!

Recipe Card

Gai Lan Oyster Sauce Stir-Fry (Chinese Broccoli)

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 27 reviews

• Author: Pailin Chongchitnant
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 15 minutes
• Yield: 3-4 servings
• Cuisine: Thai

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Ingredients

• 300 g gai lan, aka Chinese broccoli, preferably smaller stems
• 6-7 cloves garlic
• Optional: 1-2 Thai chilies, if you want it spicy
• 1½ Tbsp oyster sauce 
• ½ Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp water
• ½ tsp sugar
• ¼ tsp ground white or black pepper, or to taste
• Jasmine rice for serving

Ingredients and Kitchen Tools I Use

Want to save this recipe?

We can email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Cut thick gailan stems on a sharp bias into thin slices. Thinner stems can be chopped into 2-inch pieces. Once you get to the leaves, cut them into bite-sized chunks. Keep the stems and leaves separated.
2. Then add garlic and pound just until they look "shredded" (see video for visual). You can also smash the garlic with the side of your knife and roughly chop. If using chilies, pound them along with the garlic or roughly chop.
3. In a small bowl, combine oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and water; stir until the sugar is dissolved.
4. In a wok, fry the garlic in a little oil over medium-low heat for a minute or so until light golden. Don't use high heat as you want the garlic to have time to soften and infuse the flavour into the oil.
5. Add gai lan stems, turn heat up to medium and cook for about 30-45 seconds.
6. Turn the heat up to high, then immediately add gai lan leaves, the sauce, white or black pepper, and cook for only about 30-45 seconds. Remove from heat immediately once the leaves look wilted but not completely collapsed. Do not overcook, the residual heat will wilt the leaves further, and the leaves also get chewy when cooked too much. 
7. Serve immediately with jasmine rice. Enjoy!

Join us on Patreon for bonus content and rewards!

---

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need, and some important notes about them. For amounts, see the full recipe card below.

• Chicken thighs; boneless, skinless. Dark meat is always my preferred cut for chicken stir fries because it's juicy and essentially overcook-proof in a stir fry. But if you really prefer breasts, or if that's the only thing you have, it will also work in this recipe with no modification needed.
• Fish sauce. See my post about how to choose high quality fish sauce.
• Oyster sauce. Oyster sauce comes in various qualities, so make sure you are using a good one! See my post here about how to choose good oyster sauce.
• Golden Mountain sauce or soy sauce. Golden Mountain Sauce is a type of Thai soy sauce, and the flavour is similar to Maggi Seasoning for those who are familiar with that. I love it in this dish, but whatever soy sauce you've got on hand will work just fine.
• Sugar. This will help with flavour and browning of the chicken.
• Chili flakes or chili powder; mild to medium. It's important to use mild or medium chili flakes otherwise you won't be able to add a lot, and you'll be giving up on the chili flavour. Generic "red pepper flakes" you find at Western grocers work great for this, as they tend to be quite mild. I used chili flakes from an Indian store, and that got me about medium spiciness. You can also use whole dried chilies and grind them up; guajillo or puya peppers are great milder options.
• Garlic.
• Optional garnish: chopped green onions, cilantro, or Thai basil add a little freshness and a pop of green that makes the dish look much prettier! If using Thai basil, I like to go easy on it as I don't want the dish to taste overwhelmingly like Thai basil.
• Jasmine rice for serving if you want to keep it Thai, or you can serve with another carb of your choice. I've had this in a sandwich and it was great, and it would probably go well with noodles, pasta, even mashed potatoes!

How to Make Chili Garlic Chicken

Here's a bird's eye view of the process. The full instructions are in the recipe card below, and if this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Marinate the chicken with fish sauce and sugar. Mix well and let it sit while you prep the other things.
2. Combine oyster sauce, Golden Mountain sauce or soy sauce, sugar and water; stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. If your chili flakes are large or you're using whole chilies, blitz them into small flakes.
4. Heat a wok until very hot, add the chicken and let it sear until brown on the underside; about 2 minutes. Do this in 2 batches if you don't have a powerful stove.

Advance Prep & Storage

This dish is so quick already, but if you like to prep weeknight meals in advance, here are some things you can do:

• Marinade the chicken in advance, and up to 2 days ahead as long as your chicken is fresh.
• Mix the sauce in advance. If you want to make the dish regularly, mix the sauce in bulk, in advance. It'll keep in the fridge indefinitely. Remember to measure the amount of sauce needed per batch and note it down on the jar so you know how much to use.
• Make the whole dish in advance. This is one of those dishes that reheat really well, so if you're cooking a bunch of dishes for a dinner party and you want to get ahead, just make the whole thing (minus the garnishes), and simply reheat it in the microwave when it's time to serve. You can also throw it back into the wok for a quick reheat, though you will need to add a splash of water to the wok to compensate for the additional evaporation during reheating.

Storage: Chili garlic chicken will keep in the fridge for up to a week (great for meal prep!).

Other Quick Meal Ideas You May Like

What is pad pak ruam?

Pad means "stir-fry," pak means "vegetables," and ruam means "mixed," so it's very straight-forward! Though you often see pad pak ruam on menus of Thai restaurants overseas, in Thailand, this is very much home cooking.

Because Thai people eat family style, every meal is made up of multiple dishes, so no one dish needs to be "complete." So we have a lot of dishes that are mostly meat, and others, like this one, that is mostly veggies, and things balance each other out. Learn more about how Thai people eat here.

The vegetables can be flexible, and indeed I often use this dish as a "fridge cleanout," so the veggies in the recipe are just suggestions. I included several kinds in my version to give you ideas about things that work well, you can make this dish with just 2-3 veggies, no problem!

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you'll need to make this recipe and important notes about them. For amounts, check out the full recipe card below.

Sauce

You can use this sauce to stir fry just about anything, and indeed it's very similar to my universal stir fry sauce recipe!

• Oyster sauce. The queen of Thai stir fry sauce. Read more about how to choose good oyster sauce here.
• Soy sauce, any kind will do, but best if you have Thai soy sauce and my preference is Healthy Boy Mushroom Soy Sauce.
• Golden Mountain sauce, is another kind of soy sauce that has a slightly different flavour. You can substitute Maggi Seasoning or fish sauce instead, or simply use more soy sauce. Here are types of soy sauces explained.
• Water
• Sugar. Just a wee bit to balance the salt.

The Stir Fry

Again I repeat: these veggies are just suggestions and ideas. You do not need all of these vegetables, just a few kinds will do, but ideally you want a good mix of colours and textures.

• Carrots, "roll cut" for some cool shapes (you can see the video for technique), or simply cut them into thin sticks. Don't make them big, remember with stir fries you only have a few minutes in the pan.
• Cauliflower, SMALL florets. Again they won't have much time to cook in the wok so these should smaller than what you imagine a "floret" normally is.
• Green cabbage, bite-sized pieces. I prefer Asian cabbage (the squat ones) as they're sweeter and more delicate, but regular cabbage is fine.
• Chinese broccoli (gai lan), stems thinly sliced on a diagonal, leaves roughly torn into chunks
• Sugar snap peas, strings removed, which is done by snapping off the stem-end and pulling downward, and the strings on the sides of the pea should come away (see pic below). I like to then cut them in half on a sharp diagonal as allows the sauce to penetrate the otherwise impenetrable pods, making them more flavourful.
• Shiitake mushrooms, fresh, cut into slices. You can use any other kinds of mushrooms here.
• Garlic, roughly chopped
• Thai chilies, optional, only if you want to make it spicy. Most of the time this dish is done with no chilies in Thailand, but I wanted to include it here to give you the option. I like to just crushed the chilies with the side of a knife just until broken and the heat will gently infuse into the sauce so it's not overwhelmingly spicy.

How to Make Mixed Vegetable Stir-Fry ผัดผักรวม Pad Pak Ruam

Here's a bird's eye view of the steps to make this recipe. If this is your first time, I highly recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success!

1. Organize your vegetables in order they are added to the pan: Bowl 1 with firm veggies: carrots and cauliflower in this case. Bowl 2 with softer veggies: Cabbage, snap peas, gai lan stems, and mushrooms. Bowl 3 with anything leafy, like gai lan leaves.
2. In a small bowl, combine all the sauce ingredients and stir until the sugar is dissolved.
3. In a wok or a large saute pan on medium high heat, add a little vegetable oil, garlic and chilies and saute until small bits of garlic turns golden.
4. Add the firm veg in bowl 1 and a splash of water, and stir for 1-2 minutes or until they're about halfway cooked. Adding more water as needed.

5. Add bowl 2 of vegetables and the sauce and toss until the vegetables are done to your liking, 1-2 minutes.
6. Add gai lan leaves or anything leafy.
7. Toss just until the leaves are wilted, 20-30 seconds, and off heat.
8. Enjoy with jasmine rice!

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients for drunken noodles and important notes about them. Ingredient amounts will be in the recipe card below. You can change up the vegetables and I love using carrot and Chinese broccoli, though traditionally baby corn, long beans, and straw mushrooms are often added.

• Soy sauce. I use Healthy Boy Brand soy sauce which is a classic Thai brand, but any other kind of regular or light soy sauce can be used.
• Golden Mountain Sauce. This is another kind of soy sauce with a slightly more intense flavour, you can substitute Maggi Seasoning which is very similar, or use more soy sauce.
• Oyster sauce. See this post for how to choose good oyster sauce.
• Fish sauce. See this post for how to choose good fish sauce.
• Sugar
• Chinese broccoli, also known as gai lan. Choose young, small stems if you can as they are less bitter.
• Carrot
• Young peppercorns. These are totally optional. They can be found fresh or brined in glass jars at some Southeast Asian stores. They are added whole and still on the stems, and when eating you can pick out the peppers and eat them for extra heat.
• Fingerroot (grachai). Also optional but they do add a lovely herbaceous aroma. They can be found fresh or brined in a glass jar at Southeast Asian stores.
• Holy basil. Holy basil can be hard to find, you can sub regular Italian basil or Thai basil instead, but I do find Italian basil to have a flavour more similar to holy basil.
• Garlic
• Thai chilies. Add as many as you want depending on your spice tolerance. If your tolerance isn't high, add just one to start.
• Large, mild red chilies such as spur chilies (pic below), anaheim peppers or red bell pepper.
• Protein of your choice, I'm using shrimp. If using chicken, pork, or beef, a quick and simple marinade will be helpful. Instructions in the recipe card below.
• Fresh rice noodles also known as ho fun noodles. If you buy them from the store they may be cold and stuck together in a block. You'll need to reheat them before separating, following instructions in the recipe card. It is possible to use dried large rice noodles instead but it is not as good, and you will need to cook them first before using.

Why I use 2 types of chilies in this recipe

Pad kee mao uses a lot of chilies, so the chili flavour, not just the heat, is part of the flavour profile. If we only used the fiery Thai chilies, we can only add a few before it becomes too spicy, and not enough chili flavour would come through. So we also use the milder chilies to add more chili flavour without the heat.

In Thailand, prik chee fa, or spur chilies are used, but any mild red pepper such as anaheim peppers or even red bell pepper would work in a pinch.

How to Make Authentic Drunken Noodles

Be sure to check out the detailed recipe and full video tutorial in the recipe card below to ensure success - but here's a bird's eye view of what you'll need to do.

1. Make a rough paste with chilies and garlic.
2. Cook off the protein and remove from the pan.
3. Sauté the chili garlic paste.
4. Add gai lan stems, carrots, grachai and young peppercorns.

5. Add the noodles, the sauce, and sugar and toss until the sauce has been absorbed.
6. Let noodles sit and char slightly before tossing. Then repeat the charring a few times.
7. Add gai lan leaves and holy basil.
8. All done!

7 Secrets to Epic Pad Kee Mao

It is not hard to make a decent plate of drunken noodles, but an epic one? Not so simple. There are a few things you need to know:

1. Do not eyeball the ingredients. Weigh the noodles, and measure all sauce ingredients. There are times when winging it is okay, and using your cook's intuition is romantic. But this is not one of those times. The noodle-to-sauce ratio is extremely important, and there's nothing more disappointing than pad kee mao that's bland, or worse, too salty (which cannot be fixed afterward).
2. Make a chili and garlic paste. One of the great flavours of drunken noodles come from the garlic and chilies. Adding chopped garlic and chilies can only get you so far, but pounding them into a paste in a mortar allows for more flavour to come out and infuse into the whole dish. Also, adding extra peppers that are not spicy gives more chili flavour without it becoming too spicy.
3. Cook 1 portion at a time. This is the secret to well-charred noodles that are not broken or soggy. Crowding the pan traps too much moisture and causes you to stir more which breaks the noodles. If you have a large wok and a high BTU burner, you can probably get away with 2 portions at a time. It seems tedious but watch the video below and you will see that once the prep is done, each batch literally takes 3 minutes to cook!
4. Cook the protein separately, and do a "mini brine". By cooking off the protein first and adding it back in at the end you can control exactly how long it cooks, ensuring perfectly cooked protein every time. Good news is you do not have to cook the protein 1 portion at a time, just cook it all off together in the beginning. Also, if using chicken, pork, or beef, marinate it with seasoning plus a little extra water, like a mini brine, to get extra juicy meat.
5. Allow noodles to char. Once noodles are mixed with the sauce, allow them to sit and "grill" a bit on the hot pan. This creates a little browning, a little smokiness, and a little extra flavour that makes all the difference.
6. Use fresh noodles. Yes, dry rice noodles exist; and they will work, but it is not the same and not nearly as good as fresh. Cooked previously-dried rice noodles do not yield the same soft and springy texture of fresh noodles, in the same way that cooked dried pasta is not the same as fresh pasta. I understand you gotta use what you have, but if you can, it's worth either looking around for them or making them yourself.
7. Use a stick-resistant pan. These fresh rice noodles are notoriously sticky. So it's important you use either a well-seasoned carbon steel wok, a well-seasoned cast iron skillet, or a nonstick wok. BUT if using a nonstick material that cannot be used with high heat, you will have to give up some noodle charring.
   *If you only have a stainless steel pan, you can try this: Heat the pan until very hot - until water sprinkled onto the pan beads up into little balls and glides around - then add the oil and begin cooking. This is a trick that turns stainless steel pan nonstick which I've tried with eggs with success, but have not tried with fresh rice noodles.

ALSO IMPORTANT: Make sure you watch the video in the recipe card below! You'll see me cooking pad kee mao in REAL TIME with no cuts. It'll show you how it's done in only 3 minutes, give you an idea of how the process goes and how to organize your prep, and I promise it'll be so helpful for when you cook!

Watch The Video

If you prefer to watch rather than read, most of the information I include in this blog post is also covered in the video, and the technique section will be more easily understood visually via the video!

The Structure of Stir Fries

This is the important mindset shift: once you start thinking about stir fries in terms of its structure instead of seeing different stir fries as different recipes, you can stir fry anything. There are 3 major components to any stir fries:

1. The Nuggets: Proteins and Veggies

"The nuggets" is my term for all the chunky pieces in your stir fry; basically the proteins and the vegetables. Most people are stuck thinking that they need a mix of protein and veggies to make a stir fry, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be an all veggie stir fry like my cabbage fish sauce stir fry, or gailan oyster sauce stir fry - or it can be an all-meat stir fry like my grandma’s garlic shrimp stir fry, or garlic pepper chicken.

For proteins: Chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, fish, tofu, you name it, it’s all stir-fryable. Leftover proteins are great and make it easy cuz it’s already cooked, such as in my black pepper beef recipe where I use leftover cut-up steak.

For veggies, absolutely anything works. ANYTHING is stir-fryable. Even things you don’t associate with stir fries, like cucumber - which is great in stir fries - and also romaine lettuce!

Important Tips for Preparing Proteins for Stir Frying

• The chewier the protein, the thinner the pieces should be. Pork and beef should always be sliced between ⅛ - ¼ inch (3-5 mm) thick. Chicken can be cut around ½ -inch (1.25 cm) thick. And fish should be kept in big 1-inch chunks at minimum.
• Always slice pork and beef against the grain. If you're starting from steaks where the meat grain runs up and down, cut the steak into 1-inch-wide pieces, then turn it on its side so the grain now runs left-to-right - and you can now slice thinly against the grain.
• Preventing fish from falling apart. Choose fish that is firmer and thicker, such as salmon and halibut, and cut them into big chunks; at least 1-inch thick. Pre-sear the fish pieces so they are about 80% done, or even 60% if using fish that can be eaten medium such as salmon. Then briefly toss them in at the end just to coat them in the sauce. You can also dredge fish chunks in flour and deep fry them before tossing into stir fries at the end - this is a restaurant trick for preventing fish from falling apart.
• Tofu. Use firm, extra firm, or pressed tofu for stir frying. If using pressed tofu, such as the one I used in pad thai, you don't need to fry it as it is very sturdy. If using firm or extra firm, it should be fried or air-fried to prevent crumbling and to create chewiness. You can also use frozen tofu which is sturdy and can absorb sauce better. See this post all about the science of frozen tofu and how to use them in dishes.

1. The Sauce

Once you’ve decided on the big stuff (the nuggets), now we think about the sauce. The main job of the sauce is to bring taste elements into the dish. Note I said taste not flavour. The 5 tastes are: sweet, salty, sour, umami and bitter; although bitter is not really a part of most stir fries so we will leave that out for this discussion. Let’s break these down:

Salty - An element every dish needs

This is non-negotiable. You NEED something salty in your stir fry (or any dish, really). Some common options are: soy sauces of all kinds, fish sauce, oyster sauce, fermented soybean pastes (Thai taojiew) or miso, shrimp paste, salt, or anything else salty you can think of. You can use just one, like in my cabbage fish sauce stir fry, or a combination of a few which is more common in Asian stir fries.

Sweet - The salt balancer, or the star

Sometimes you'll want the sweetness to be the star of the dish, like in sweet and sour stir fry, but more commonly you want just a liiiiiitttle bit of sweetness to balance the salt, such as the little bit of sugar in my mixed veggies stir fry. Or maybe something in between. It depends on the flavour profile of the dish - and is something you, the chef, have to decide upon.

In terms of ingredients, white sugar is great if you’re using just a small amount, but if sweet is a prominent flavour, then palm sugar, brown sugar, sweet soy sauce, maple syrup, honey, etc. will bring in more complexity. Note that Thai chili paste aka chili jam would also fall into the sweet category, but it’s also bringing in a lot of other great flavours as well, such as in my cashew chicken recipe.

Sour - Maybe you want it, maybe not.

Unlike salty, sour is not a taste that every stir fry needs. Like sweet, it depends on what you’re going for, though it is used much less frequently than sweet.

If you do want an element of sour, you can use vinegar, like in my sweet and sour stir fry, or tamarind paste, like in my tamarind shrimp recipe, or even vinegary hot sauce such as sriracha as in my cucumber chicken stir fry recipe.

Lime juice and lemon juice are less common in stir fries, but if you're gonna add them it’s best to add them at the end as they taste better when they’re not cooked in high heat.

Other Sauce Ingredients

There are other sauce ingredients that don't offer any taste but bring on lots of flavour (remember taste and flavour are not the same thing). Things like sesame oil, coconut milk, or even chicken stock.

Pro Tip: Make sauce in bulk

If you’ve got a favourite stir fry, say cashew chicken, you can make 10x of the cashew chicken sauce and now you won't have to make it from scratch every time. Most stir fry sauces will last indefinitely in the fridge.

Also check out my Universal Stir Fry Sauce that you can make in bulk and use to stir fry anything including fried rice and noodles. This is something I learned working at Thai restaurants where they'd have a vat of this sauce and it goes into almost every stir fry that they make!

3. Aromatics

You could make a stir fry with just the nuggets and the sauce, but every good stir fry has aromatics. They're what give complexity to the dish. Aromatics include anything you’d call a herb or a spice. This can be as simple as chopped garlic, but you can also add shallots, chilies, black or white pepper, onions, lemongrass, basil, cilantro, or even curry paste. The possibilities here are endless.

The Technique - 5 Steps to Great Stir Fries

Now that we have the structure, let's talk technique. While everything will be written down, this part is better understood visually, so I highly recommend you watch the video tutorial where I show you two different stir fries using recipes that require slightly different treatment.

These steps are not Thai cuisine specific; you can use these techniques with any ingredients from any cuisine. But there are a few other techniques that are unique to other cuisines, or more common to restaurant cooking, that we won’t get into here.

Okay, my basic stir frying technique is done in 5 steps:

Step 1: Cook the meat separately.

I first sear the meat in a hot wok until browning develops on the underside. Then I toss and stir the meat until it's cooked through, then remove from the pan. If your meat is already cooked, like leftover proteins, you can obviously skip this step.

Why cook the meat separately? You don't have to, but I like to do it because it gives me control over meat "doneness". If you add the meat in raw with everything else, how long the meat spends in the pan is tied up with how long other things take to cook, and you might then overcook the meat. You also won't get any browning if you don't sear it separately, and browning is flavour! 

Tip: I always ensure the meat is marinated so that the seasoning isn’t just in the sauce around the meat but IN the meat as well. A simple fish sauce or soy sauce marinade is fine.

Step 2: Sauté Non-Delicate Aromatics

In the same pan you used to sear the meat, add more oil if needed, then sauté any aromatics that are not leafy and don't "wilt". That's your garlic, onions, shallots, chilies, curry pastes, etc. Use medium heat at this stage as aromatics can burn easily.

Give the aromatics a couple of minutes to cook and infuse their flavour into the oil, and then the oil will carry the flavour of the aromatics into the rest of the dish. This is why we don’t just throw garlic in midway; the flavour wouldn't have a chance to permeate the whole dish. 

If using garlic, once the smallest bits of garlic turn golden, that's your cue for Step 3.

Step 3: Stagger-add vegetables and sauce

The longest-cooking veggie goes in now, and give them a good toss in the heat and the oil, then add the sauce (which I always have mixed up in advance so that I only have to add 1 thing). In this example I'm using the sauce from my Chili Paste Stir Fry recipe.

If you’re using different types of vegetables that take different amounts of time to cook, stagger-add them accordingly. For example, if you like bell pepper crisp, add them after the beans are almost done.

If a certain vegetable takes a long time to cook, add a splash of water then cover the pan and let it steam. Come back a minute before it's done. If you're not sure how long it takes, keep poking it with a fork every minute or so to check. In this example I'm making the kabocha squash stir fry recipe.

Okay once your veggies are done, we go to Step 4

Step 4: Add the protein back in

Your pre-cooked protein goes back into the pan to be tossed in the sauce. If your protein is fully cooked and is still hot, it just needs to be tossed for a few seconds. If you are using cold leftover protein from the fridge, be sure to give it enough time to heat through.

If using eggs, they can go in at this step; and let them set a bit before scrambling so that they remain in chunks (best to see this technique in the video).

Step 5: Off the heat and ddd delicate aromatics

Now is the time for any leafy aromatics like basil and green onions to go in, and which I add off-heat so they don't wilt too much. For suuuuper delicate herbs that wilt very easily in heat like cilantro, you can even add them after plating. I always add them off-heat because the residual heat is more than enough to wilt the herbs without over-cooking everything else. 

And that is how you stir fry anything!

What about fried rice?

Fried rice is also a kind of stir fry, or what Thai people call a pad. Generally, the same steps still apply, with a few modifications:

• Treat rice like vegetables. Add them in at step 3, after aromatics but before the sauce. The sauce should be drizzled over the rice as the liquid from the sauce will help the rice grains separate.
• If adding eggs to fried rice, add the eggs in after the aromatics and before the rice. Scramble the eggs and then add the rice.
• Allow the rice to toast. For good fried rice, you want the rice to toast and brown slightly to develop a deeper flavour. After the rice is well mixed with the sauce, let it sit undisturbed over high heat for 15-20 seconds to allow the rice to brown, then flip and repeat a few more times. Timing for how long to let the rice sit each time will depend on the strength of your stove, so a bit of trial and error is required.

What about noodle stir fries?

Noodle stir fries are harder to generalize because different kinds of noodles require different techniques. Step 1 (meat) and Step 2 (aromatics) are gonna be consistent, but from that point onward it kind of depends which noodles you're using.

My advice is to learn how to work with each kind of noodle separately. So if you want to learn how to stir fry fresh rice noodles, start by learning a pad see ew recipe, or for dry rice noodles learn an easy pad thai recipe, or for egg noodles, learn my mie goreng recipe.

Once you’ve mastered that, you can start generalizing the technique and change out ingredients. Keeping in mind of course that different ingredients may require different treatments, so you gotta use some critical thinking here. 

FAQ: The Best Cookware for Stir Frying

If you want to stir fry with any regularity at all, I suggest you get a wok, and it'll change your stir frying life.

Why wok? Because with a wok you can actually STIR and toss to your heart's content without worrying about things jumping out. Yes, you can stir fry with a large skillet, but it's so much more difficult to try to toss, flip, and stir without having things escape the pan.

If you need to use a skillet, make sure it is LARGE (12-inch at least) and I recommend you practice the "pan toss" - i.e. flipping things in a skillet without utensils - because that will allow you to toss and mix things more quickly and efficiently.

But...what kind of wok?

The best kind of wok is a whole other discussion, and it really depends on your specific needs. If you are a casual stir-fryer who just wants to stir fry with ease and convenience, Korean, flat-bottom, nonstick woks are a great, low-maintenance option. They also come in a few sizes to match your storage needs. That's what I use at home often where convenience is a priority. You can get them at most large Asian grocery stores, and definitely at H-Mart.

If you want to get serious with stir fries, and you want to get that smoky wok char and use max-high heat, you'll want to get yourself a carbon steel wok. It comes with some special maintenance however and are generally pretty big if you only have limited space.

For further discussion:

WATCH: My video about the best wok to buy

WATCH: My video about how to care for a carbon steel wok.

What is Laab Kua?

Let's get the names straight because it is a dish that goes by a few different names. Laab kua ลาบคั่ว is also called laab nuea ลาบเหนือ or laab mueang ลาบเมือง. Sometimes it's referred to as the laab of the province in which it is made - so if you're in Chiang Mai they might call it laab chiang mai, for example. And laab found in different northern provinces can have slight variations, as with most regional foods.

Whatever the name, it refers to a dish made from minced meat - typically but not exclusively pork or beef - and the meat is flavoured with a special spice blend. This spice blend is called prik laab. It is served with fresh herbs, fresh vegetables, and sticky rice is a must.

Laab was originally a dish made for large gatherings. Villagers would butcher a whole animal specifically to make laab for whatever the occasion might be, and it would be a communal effort to make this dish. This is why traditional laab kua uses a lot of offal -and by a lot I mean ALL of the offal - because they wanted to use the whole animal! (But do not worry, for my recipe I've made it homecook-friendly, using only meat and, if you like, liver.)

In Northern Thailand laab is sometimes served raw (called laab dib, dib = raw). Think beef tartare, but with Thai spices! While I don't suggest you do this at home because of the obvious food safety risk (unless you're using sashimi-grade fish), it's an important thing to be aware of when you go to Thailand! And this is why the cooked version that we're making is called laab kua, because kua means to stir in a hot pan.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you need and important notes about them. It looks like a lot, but you probably have many of the spices at home already! For amounts, see the recipe card below.

The Spice Blend: Prik Laab

Gathering spices for laab kua is really the hardest part, but if you're missing a thing or two, it's fine to skip them. There are many recipes for prik laab; some use more spices, while others use less, so this is by no means the golden standard!

*To save time, you can buy pre-made prik laab here (US only) made by my good friend Chef Hong Thaimee. You can also buy prik laab at most markets in Northern Thailand. If you see other brands, please check first that it is a spice blend for NORTHERN laab, and not just a "laab seasoning mix" which is for the other kind of laab.

• Cumin seeds
• Sichuan peppercorns, I'm adding these as a substitute for a Thai herb called makwaen which is a relative of Sichuan peppercorns. They have similar tingly heat!
• Coriander seeds, do not use ground coriander for this as I find ground coriander doesn't have half the aroma whole seeds do.
• Fennel seeds
• Cinnamon sticks, or ground cinnamon is fine.
• Bay leaves
• Black peppercorns
• Cloves
• Nutmeg, I'm using ground nutmeg here, but you can also grate fresh nutmeg.
• White cardamom, or substitute green cardamom.
• Long pepper, also known as Indian long pepper, has a super unique aroma that is hard to describe, but I get a zingy citrus plus a deep woodsy aroma. You won't find this in most stores, and I bought this online, but it is okay to skip it.
• Star anise
• Dried chilies or chili flakes. In Thailand the chilies are ground up into the spice blend, but for me I like to keep the chilies separate so I can adjust the heat each time depending on who I'm making it for. This means that if you already have roasted chili flakes handy (perhaps from my other recipes!) you can just use that!

The Laab Kua

• Fish sauce. See how to choose good fish sauce here.
• Ground pork or ground beef, I'm using pork. Preferably not too lean.
• Pork liver (optional).
• Garlic, for making fried garlic.
• Shallots, traditionally we fry the shallots crispy and then top the dish with it, using the same oil you used to fry the garlic. I simplify this step by simply just sauteing the shallots into the dish and then topping it with store bought fried shallots (there is enough to do already!). But if you want to make your own, here's my guide to making perfect crispy fried shallots!
• Lemongrass, bottom half only.
• Galangal (optional).
• Cilantro
• Green onion
• Vietnamese coriander. This is called pak preaw in Thai but usually labelled in Asian stores as rau ram, which is the Vietnamese name. If you can't find it, it's okay to omit.
• Sticky rice for serving. Please trust me on this: laab kua is not nearly as good served with regular/jasmine rice. The chewy, dense sticky rice really makes the dish. Here's my favourite method for making sticky rice, if that doesn't work for you, also check out 7 other ways to make sticky rice!
• Accompaniments: fresh crunchy veg such as Asian green cabbage (this is the squat cabbage you find at Asian stores, which is sweeter and crunchier than the ball-shaped ones in Western stores), cucumber, carrots, long beans. It's also very common to serve crispy pork rind alongside laab (we really do use the whole animal!)

How to Make Northern Laab Kua

Here's a bird's eye view of all the steps. If this is your first time I recommend watching the video tutorial to ensure success. For the full instructions see the recipe card below.

1. Toast the cumin seeds over medium heat until the darken and start to pop. Remove.
2. Toast the rest of the spices until the coriander seeds darken and start to pop.
3. Toast spicy dried chilies over medium heat until charred spots form. You can also toast chili flakes until they darken slightly.
4. Grind all the spices except the chilies into a powder. Grind the chilies separately into a powder.

5. Combine spices, chili powder, water and fish sauce and stir to dissolve the spices.
6. Pour the spice mixture into the ground pork.
7. Knead the pork with your hands until the spices are evenly distributed.
8. Stir in chopped liver just to mix.

9. Fry garlic in oil over medium low heat until golden and the bubbling has subsided. About 5 minutes.
10. Drain and keep the garlic oil separate from the fried garlic.
11. In a wok, add the garlic oil, shallots, lemongrass and galangal and sauté until the herbs start to turn golden.
12. Add the pork/liver mixture and cook until the pork is fully cooked; making sure to break up the pork so there are no chunks.

13. Off heat, then add cilantro, mint and rau ram (pak preaw) and stir to mix.
14. Plate and top with mint.
15. Sprinkle fried garlic, fried shallots and serve with extra fresh herbs, fresh veggies and sticky rice.
16. If you want to eat laab like a Thai, eat it by hand! Ball the sticky rice up into a dense, small ball, and use your fingers to pinch the laab onto the rice and enjoy!

Tips for Advance Prep

This is a lot of things to do if you do it all in one go, but there are things you can do to make this weeknight-friendly:

1. Make the spice blend in advance. This is the biggest thing to get out of the way as the rest is pretty easy. And once you make it one time, you'll have it for the next several batches.
2. Make fried garlic and garlic oil in advance. I usually have garlic oil and fried garlic in my fridge already cuz I make it in bulk and use it for a lot of things (and you'll want to use it on a lot of things once you have it trust me!). So if you're gonna do it ahead, I recommend making a whole bunch - at least use a whole head of garlic.
3. Make the roasted chili flakes in advance. I also usually have this in the fridge in bulk, and it's so useful for adding heat to anything that needs it!

FAQ: Can You Make Laab Kua with Other Kinds of Protein?

Pork and beef are the most popular options for making laab kua in Thailand, but you absolutely can use any other kinds of ground meat. Lamb would work beautifully with all of the spices in this dish, though ground chicken and ground turkey instead as well, and I would recommend dark meat for both of those.

You can also make laab with fish! Any kind of fish will work. If using fish, you will need to mince the fish yourself as they don't sell ground fish, last I checked :). Simply chop the fish into small pieces and then use a cleaver or a sturdy chef's knife to mince. You can see my laab chicken recipe video for how to hand-mince meats, starting at around minute 3:20.

Worth noting: if you're using sashimi grade fish, you can actually eat it raw! Mince the fish and then mix with the spices, seasonings, and fresh herbs as per the recipe.

To make it vegan, you can use TVP, or crumbled pressed tofu, like the one I used in my Vegan Laab Recipe. I'd recommend mixing it with finely chopped mushrooms for some extra umami and chew, then use soy sauce instead of fish sauce.

More Northern Thai Recipes You'll Love!

What is Pad Prik King

Pad prik king is a stir fry of protein with red curry paste and makrut lime leaves (aka kaffir lime leaves). The flavour profile is salty and sweet, and it's usually medium to mild when it comes to heat. It's a dry stir fry, so all of the flavours are concentrated and coating all of the meat and vegetables, delivering an explosion of flavour with every bite. It really is one of my faves!

In Thai, pad means to stir fry, prik means chilies, and king means ginger, which is kind of odd because there is no ginger in this recipe! From what I could find, the most likely story behind this dish name is that it's supposed to be about as spicy as ginger, so not super hot like some other Thai dishes can be.

Ingredients and Notes

Here are all the ingredients you need and important notes about them. For amounts, see the recipe card below.

• Chicken breast or thigh, boneless skinless, cut into bite-sized pieces. I always prefer thighs, but in the video I did show you how to use chicken breast because it's important not to cut them too thin to prevent them from drying out too fast.
• Fish sauce, you'll need some for marinating chicken and another amount for the stir fry. How much you need for the stir fry will depend on how salty the curry paste is to start, so be sure to add just a teaspoon, then taste and add more as needed.
• Cooked salted duck egg, this is optional but it is often added to pad prik king and I think it works so well. The creamy saltiness contrasts the slightly sweet stir fry beautifully. You can buy salted duck eggs at any Chinese supermarket, but be sure to buy COOKED ones, not raw.
• Neutral flavored oil
• Red curry paste. Store bought is totally fine, but you can also make your own curry paste using my red curry paste recipe. Brands of Thai curry paste vary greatly, so I recommend Maeploy, Aroy-D, or Namjai for best flavours. If using Maesri in little tins or Thai Kitchen, they are much weaker and you will need to double the amount of paste to get the same flavour. 
• Palm sugar, finely chopped, packed, or sub light brown sugar
• Unsalted chicken stock or water
• Long beans, also known as string beans of Chinese long beans have a nuttier and firmer crunch than green beans, but if you cannot find them, you can use French green beans instead (the smaller, skinnier ones).
• Makrut lime leaves, this is a key ingredient for pad prik king, if you can't find fresh, check the frozen section as frozen ones work just as well!
• Jasmine rice, for serving.

How to Make Pad Prik King

Here's a bird's eye view of the steps involved, if it's your first time I highly recommend watching the video tutorial first to ensure success. Detailed steps are in the recipe card below.

1. Toss the chicken with fish sauce and let marinate while you prep other ingredients.
2. If using, cut the salted duck eggs right through the shell in half, then use a spoon to scoop the halves out. At this point you can either cut each half into chunks and toss them into the stir-fry, or serve it on the side.
3. Heat the oil over high heat until very hot and sear half the chicken without stirring until browned, about 1 minute. Once browned, stir the chicken briefly just to cook the surface of the other side, and then remove from the pan. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
4. With the heat OFF, add a little more oil and add stir in the curry paste until it's loosened, then turn the heat on to medium and cook for about 2 minutes until aromatic. Then stir in the palm sugar, fish sauce, and deglaze with a little chicken stock or water and stir until sugar is dissolved.

1. Add the torn makrut lime leaves and let them infuse into the sauce for about 30 seconds, stirring constantly. If the sauce looks thick by this point, add a little more stock or water to get it into an pourable consistency.
2. Add the chicken back in and toss just to coat in the sauce.
3. Add the long beans and cook until the chicken is fully cooked and the sauce is no longer pooling and the curry paste is coating the chicken and the beans. If you want to add the salted duck egg chunks into the stir-fry, toss them in at this point and toss just to mix.
4. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate. Garnish with finely julienned makrut lime leaves and if you didn't mix the duck eggs in, place the eggs on the side. Serve with jasmine rice. and enjoy!

Variations of Pad Prik King in Thailand

In Thailand, the most common version of pad prik king is actually made with deep fried catfish. Thai catfish are sliced into steaks, the bone-in steaks are then deep fried until the outside is crunchy, and then that gets stir fried with the curry paste.

This is typically done in restaurants because prepping and frying the catfish in this manner is pretty involved. For home cooking, we tend to use easier protein options such as chicken and pork (pork belly is very popular). A vegetarian version that use TVP (texturized vegetable protein) or deep fried tofu is also quite common during the vegan festival (chay festival) in Thailand.

Similar Recipes You Might Like

If you love pad prik king, there are a few other dishes you might also enjoy.

• Pad ped is also a red curry stir fry, but it is saucier, less sweet, and this version uses coconut milk.
• Cauliflower Yellow Curry Stir Fry. Once you get a hang of stir frying with curry paste, try this recipe as your next veggies for the meal!

My mother-in-law (whom I call Aunty Jenny) is not one to have written recipes, so I had to do primary research and watch her make it. I was delighted to able to recreate a dish that Craig said tastes exactly as he remembers it!

Beef Marinade

• Flank steak. Flank steak sliced into thin strips is what my MIL has always used, but she has also made it with pre-sliced hot pot beef (you can see her cook with this beef in the intro of the video). You can use another cut of beef that is not too tough, so anything you'd grill on a BBQ wouldwork. Ground beef is another common variation that is even easier since you don't have to slice it!
• Oyster sauce, see my guide to choosing a good oyster sauce.
• Soy sauce, see my guide to different types of soy sauce.
• Garlic powder, or substitute grated garlic
• Ginger powder, or substitute grated fresh ginger
• Ground black pepper or white pepper 
• Baking soda. Adding baking soda to beef is the Chinese restaurants' secret to tender beef in stir fries. The high pH of baking soda prevents the beef from tightening up completely when cooked, which means less liquid is squeezed out and the muscle fibers remain more loose. This means tender and juicy beef without having to splurge on premium cuts.

Tip: My mother-in-law made this dish as a very busy cook who had to feed a crowd every night, so she kept it simple. But to make it a little more complex you can also add Chinese shaoxing wine and/or toasted sesame oil if you like these flavours. You can add them either to the sauce or to the beef marinade.

The Stir Fry

• Garlic, chopped
• Shallots or onion, chopped
• Fresh ginger, julienned
• Fresh tomatoes, roma tomatoes are preferred because they are the least watery and are not too acidic. 
• Green onions, white and green part separated and chopped
• Jasmine rice for serving 
• Fried eggs for serving, optional. Aunty Jenny always paired this dish with fried eggs. She liked scrambled eggs but everyone else loved them fried with the yolk still runny.

1. Divide the flank steak ALONG the grain lines into pieces about 2-3 inches wide. Slice each piece AGAINST the grain into thin slices, about ⅛-inch thick. A partially frozen steak will make this job easier.
2. Dissolve the baking soda in water until fully dissolved.
3. Add the baking soda solution to the beef and mix well to ensure all the pieces are coated.
4. Add the oyster sauce, soy sauce, garlic powder, ginger powder and black pepper to the beef and mix well. Let sit for at least 5 minutes. 

5. Make the sauce: In a small bowl combine the cornstarch and the water and stir until there are no more lumps. Combine the slurry with the ketchup, sugar and salt.
6. Stir the sauce until well combined. Note: Typically, cornstarch slurry is added at the end, a little at a time just until the sauce is thickened to the right consistency. But if you measure your ingredients, the amount of starch needed will be pretty consistent, so you can simplify by adding it directly to the sauce.
7. If serving with fried eggs, cook them to whatever doneness you prefer.
   Tip: If you’re frying eggs in the same wok as the stir fry, fry them first so you don’t have to clean the wok in between. If you’re frying them in a separate pan, you can do them at the end so they’re still hot for serving.
8. Heat a wok or a large nonstick skillet on high heat until hot (or as hot as your nonstick can handle). Add just enough oil to coat the bottom, then add the beef and spread it out into a single layer as much as possible. Let it cook without moving it until browned and about halfway cooked.

9. Once browned, toss until the beef is about 90% done. Remove from the pan.
10. In the same pan on medium-high heat, add a little more oil, then add the garlic, shallots and ginger and saute until aromatic and the garlic starts to turn golden.
11. Add the tomatoes and toss just until the exterior starts to soften; about 30 seconds. If using especially ripe tomatoes, this will take a shorter time, so pay attention!
12. Turn the heat up to high, then add the beef, the white part of green onions, and all the sauce and toss just until the sauce is bubbling; another 30 seconds or so.  

13. Once the sauce is bubbling and the tomatoes are soft but still holding shape, turn off the heat and add in most of the green onions.
14. Plate and top with the rest of the green onions. Cook the eggs now if you haven’t done so. Serve with jasmine rice and enjoy!

Other Chinese Recipes You Might Like

A great side dish to the tomato beef stir fry is this simple gai lan oyster sauce stir fry.

If you love tomatoey dishes, you must also check out this Chinese tomato egg stir fry. It's even simpler and easier than the beef version.

Aunty Jenny also makes these amazing braised chicken wings with lots of soft sweet onions. But her signature dish might actually be these dim sum turnip cakes (lo bak go) which are the best I've ever had anywhere.

What is pad kra pao?

Or is it "pad krapow"? Or "pad gaprao"? However you write it (more on that in the FAQ), it's a stir fry of meat (typically ground meat), holy basil, and loads of chilies. It’s served on rice, and usually with a fried egg on top.

In Thailand you can find it cooked to order from a street food vendor, served in a fancy restaurant, or provided in a box ready-to-eat from a grocery store. Anywhere you go in Thailand, you’re never far from a pad gaprao. It really IS the food of the people!

Pad kra pao literally means "holy basil stir fry," so the holy basil is the key ingredient here. This recipe uses ground beef, but can be made with any kind of protein. Of all Thai stir fries, this is one of the easiest to make, and a great weeknight recipe as minimal prep is required. And it's gluten free!

Ingredients & Notes

Here are the ingredients you'll need and important notes about them, and as you can see, it's super simple! For amounts, see the full recipe card below.

• Garlic
• Thai chilis, or another spicy chili such as serrano. This is your source of heat, and for a truly authentic pad kra pao, you want to add as many as you can handle!
• Mild red chilis. We want to have a lot of chili flavor here, but not so much as to hurt ourselves, so we can add some milder ones. Anything red and mild will work such as red anaheim, long red pepper, mini bell pepper or even red bell pepper if all else fails.
• Ground beef, regular or lean. Beef flavour goes very well with holy basil, but feel free to substitute with ground pork, ground chicken, or even plant-based meat substitutes.
• Fish sauce. Fish sauce is your only seasoning in traditional pad kra pao, so it’s important to use a good one. Read this post on how to choose a good fish sauce.
• Sugar
• Unsalted beef stock, chicken stock, or water
• Ground black pepper if using beef. For chicken and pork white pepper will also work.
• Holy basil or regular fresh basil leaves. Thai basil will also work, more on substituting holy basil below.
• Eggs, for making fried eggs. Technically optional, but highly recommended.
• Oil for stir frying, I use avocado oil but anything neutrally flavoured is fine.
• Oil for frying eggs, I use canola oil for frying as it's cheaper than avocado oil, but anything neutral and high heat resistant is fine.
• Jasmine rice for serving.
• Prik nam pla (optional) is a spicy fish sauce condiment classically served with pad gaprao. I like to put it on my fried egg to season it, but some people put it on their rice. You just need some fish sauce, chilis, and a squeeze of lime.

TIP: If you've got leftover basil after making this dish, bookmark my all-purpose Thai basil stir fry sauce recipe as a great way to use it up!

How to Make Pad Gaprao

Here's a bird's eye view of the steps. Before you make it, be sure to watch the video tutorial in order to ensure success, especially if this is your first time! If you enjoy it, check out my YouTube channel for more Thai cooking videos!

1. In a mortar and pestle, pound the Thai chilies into a fine paste. Add the garlic and the chopped mild chilies and pound just into a rough paste.
2. Heat a wok over high heat, then add the beef and spread it out. Sear the beef without moving it until the underside is browned. Toss and keep cooking until liquid from the beef starts to come out.
3. Let the beef cook, stirring occasionally, until all liquid has evaporated and the beef starts to sizzle and brown further to develop flavour. 
4. Push the beef to one side of the pan, add a little more oil and add the garlic and chili mixture, then sauté until garlic starts to turn golden.

5. Toss the garlic with the beef then add about half of the stock or water, fish sauce and sugar; toss to mix well.  
6. Add the julienned mild chilis and toss for 30 seconds; if it’s looking too dry, add a splash more water or stock.
7. Turn off the heat, add the basil and mix just until wilted. Taste and adjust seasoning with more sugar or fish sauce as needed.
8. To fry eggs with crispy whites an runny yolk. Heat about ¼ inch of frying oil to a small nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add only the egg white and let it fry until the edges start to turn brown, then using a spoon, push the middle of the white down to make an indent for the yolk to sit in. Break any big bubbles that form in the center. (If you want a firmer yolk, simply fry the whole egg.)

9. Once the egg white is browned around the edges, carefully place the yolk into the indentation on top of the white.
10. Use a spoon to baste some oil around the edges of the egg yolk to help it stick. Let it cook for a bit longer if you prefer the yolk to be a little bit more set.
11. Use a wire skimmer to remove from the pan and allow to drain.
12. Spoon pad kra pao over some jasmine rice, and top with the fried egg. You can then drizzle the prik nam pla on top of the egg.

How to Make Prik Nam Pla

Prik nam pla is the classic condiment that is served with many Thai dishes, and is used as a tableside seasoning booster. Pad kra pao is usually served with it because the fried egg can always use some extra seasoning.

You don't need a recipe for prik nam pla, in the same way that you don't need a recipe for a PB & J sandwich, because you can make it to your preference. But here is a guideline to get you started:

1. Combine chopped chilies and fish sauce in a small bowl. You can also add thinly sliced garlic and/or shallots if you want to make a fancier one. You can add as many chilies as you like.
2. Add a squeeze of lime for some acidity. The amount is up to your preference (some people don't even add any), but a good start is 1 part lime juice to 3 parts fish sauce.

Holy Basil vs. Thai Basil

Many of us are familiar with Thai basil (called horapa in Thai), the sweet-smelling herb with purple stems that come with your pho. But few have come across holy basil.

Compared to Thai basil, holy basil has a fragrance that is less floral and more peppery; which is why it’s paired with very spicy dishes like pad kra pao or jungle curry. The aroma is always hard to describe, but trust me when I say the two smell quite different.

The fragrance is also milder than Thai basil, and unless it’s freshly picked from a healthy plant, it can be rather faint. This is why even in the rare occasion where I can find fresh holy basil, it’s not always a good purchase.

Note: if you’ve ever had pad kra pao in a Thai restaurant outside of Thailand, they might be actually be using Thai basil because holy basil is unavailable. Unless, of course, you live in a big enough city with enough Thai restaurants to warrant a supplier bringing it in.

The Best Substitute for Holy Basil

While you might be tempted to use Thai basil as a substitute because it's...well...Thai, in my experience, you're better off using regular basil, also known as Italian basil. The flavour of Thai basil is so distinct from holy basil that you will end up with a dish that tastes quite different (though still tasty).

Regular Italian basil, while not the same, is a closer flavour match. And I’m usually perfectly satisfied with it when I have to use it. Having said that, if your goal is to replicate that pad kra pao you love from your takeout place, they might actually be using Thai basil!

A Useful Tool for Navigating Beef Cuts

There are so many cuts of beef on the market, and if you've ever wanted to try a new beef cut but not sure what to do with it, check this out. Canada Beef, our sponsor for this post, has launched the Canadian Beef Information Gateway which breaks down over 70 cuts of beef, complete with info on how to best cook them and new recipes you can try out.

Check it out and you'll be amazed! Access the Gateway here or scan the QR code below!