Vegan Drunken Noodles

Using tongs to scoop a serving of Thai drunken noodles into a bowl.

4.67 from 3 votes

These spicy vegan drunken noodles, or pad kee mao, are easy to make in 20 minutes for a homemade version of the Thai favorite.

Prep Time15

Cook Time10

Total Time25

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Asian

Diet: Vegan

Servings:

Author: Deryn Macey

Ingredients

For the Sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
2 tbsp dark soy sauce*
4 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce**
2 tbsp coconut sugar
2 tbsp water
Pinch chili flakes

For the Stir Fry

8 oz wide rice noodles
1 ½ tbsp oil a neutral oil like avocado is best
1 small white onion peeled and thinly sliced (150 g, about 1 ¾ cups sliced)
4-5 green onions cut into 1-inch pieces
4 cloves garlic minced (18 g)
1 red bell pepper chopped (185 g)
3 cups chopped green cabbage 300 g
1-2 Thai red chili seeds removed and very thinly sliced
1 cup fresh Thai basil or holy basil plus more for serving***
lime for serving optional

Instructions

Soak the Noodles: Follow the directions on the rice noodle package or transfer the noodles to a heat-proof bowl and cover with hot water. Soak noodles for 10-15 minutes, until just tender. Drain noodles, then set aside for cooking. Note: you want the noodles to be softened, but still a little ‘al dente’ as they will finish cooking in the pan. Also, make sure your noodles are softened before you start stir-frying, as it goes quite quickly.
Make the Sauce: Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk until sugar dissolves, then set aside.
Stir Fry the Veggies: Heat the oil in a wok large skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot add the onion, green onion, pepper and cabbage. Cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring often until the veggies are tender-crisp.
Add the Garlic: Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly, until fragrant.
Add Noodles & Sauce: Add the noodles, sauce, Thai basil and chilis, mix well to coak the noodles, cooking for 1-2 minutes, tossing noodles often until warmed through and the noodles have soaked up all the excess sauce.
Serve: Divide noodles between bowls and sprinkle with more Thai basil and thinly slices chilis, if desired. Serve with lime wedges on the side.

Video

Notes

*You can 4 tbsp soy sauce or tamari but it's more traditional with the dark soy sauce and it gives the noodles that nice dark colour as well as adds a touch of sweetness.

**Lee Kum Kee and Wa Ja Shan both have a vegetarian oyster sauce or you can use Naked and Saucy (that's what I used). This can be found online, in any Asian food store or in natural food stores and well-stocked grocery stores.

***If you can find holy basil, that's the best for this recipe. Next best is Thai basil. If you can't find either of those, you can use Italian basil but the flavour will not be the same.

If you want to add tofu to this recipe, you can make fried tofu according to this sweet and sour tofu recipe or baked tofu according to this peanut tofu bowl recipe.

Fresh wide rice noodles are best in this recipe. They're found in the refrigerated section at Asian grocery stores. If you can't find those dried wide rice noodles work, these are easier to find in stores or online. If you can't find wide rice noodles, regular rice noodles are ok.

Nutrition