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Vegan Thai Drunken Noodles or Pad kee mao, as in Thai, are the perfect chew rice noodles coated with the most delicious sauce. This vegan version of pad kee mao is bursting with flavors of crispy tofu, Thai chilies, green onion, and savory, sweet sauce.
These Vegan Thai drunken Noodles(pad kee mao)are our favorite at home. They are super easy to make. You need only a few ingredients. Trust me; you need to do that ASAP if you have not tried it.
What is Pad Kee Mao?
These are street-style Thai noodles . They are readily available on almost all Thai restaurant menus throughout America. They are delicious, slurpy, and comforting.
Are these noodles always vegan?
The traditional pad kee mao is not vegan since it uses fish sauce. Using chicken for protein makes it unsuitable for vegetarians or vegans.
Usually, almost all restaurants create the vegan version of this dish but Making this dish at home is the perfect solution.
Creating any dish at home gives you the perfect leverage to use your favorite ingredients and replace the not-so-favorite ones.
I do not like to use many vegetables in it, just the green onion, bell pepper, Thai basil, and minced garlic with perfectly sauteed /seared tofu strips. They have such an umami flavor, which satisfies the taste buds.
What type of noodles are used in this recipe?
This noodles recipe calls for thick rice noodles. After boiling and smoking in the water, they give the perfect texture of chewy and silky at the same time. They are just delicious.
How to prepare rice noodles for cooking?
Follow the instructions for cooking. That's the best way of doing things right. However, if you are apprehensive about making them too soft while boiling, soak them in hot water for 10-12 minutes; noodles will become transparent white.
You can choose the softness according to your taste. I prefer just a little bit of bite in it. My favorite restaurant serves them exceptionally soft yet chewy, and they taste great.
Some of my popular noodle recipes,
What Ingredients are Needed?
Rice noodles- Thickest you can find; however, mine is just medium thick.
Any bell pepper or capsicum-- I have used red ones because they taste super sweet and fresh. They look pretty too.
Thai Basil -Traditionally, holy basil is used, but I never get that in my store, so I use Thai basil in all of my Thai dishes. That works well.
Green onion /scallion-
Garlic- No Asian flavoring is complete without garlic. I have used minced garlic here.
Extra Firm Tofu
Corn Starch
Oil
For Sauce Mix,
Dark Soy Sauce, Vegan Oyster Sauce, Sri Racha Sauce, a little bit of brown sugar or maple syrup, rice wine vinegar, and white pepper powder.
Please note that I do not use salt in my Asian recipes since all the sauces contain salt. If you want, you can undoubtedly use but use them sparingly. They will ruin the taste if used in excess.
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Ingredients
Method
- Cook noodles according to package instructions
- Whisk all the ingredients written under the sauce mix.
- Take a pan or wok and heat it with the oil.
- Cut the tofu into thick strips and coat them with cornstarch.Dust off the excess flour.
- Saute them in the wok till they look a little golden and crispy.If you want you can deep fry them as well.
- Remove them onto a plate.
- Add minced garlic and scallion to the pan.If you plan to use Thai chilies add them at this point.
- Stir them once and add bell pepper.Further more add the sauce mix ,noodles and tofu to the pan .
- Mix them and let them cook for some time till the sauce becomes thick and glossy .
- Add Thai basil and mix everything together.
- Switch off the flame.
- Your noodles are ready to enjoy.
What do you do with the thai chilis? I see them on the ingredient list but not in the cooking instructions? Thanks!
Thank you so much for pointing out the editing mistake.Use of thai chilies is optional.If you like extra hot stuff then only add .Thart will make your noodle very spicy.I have edited it and added the instruction.Thanks once again.
Smita