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Pad Mee Korat

Top view of plate with stir-fried noodles with egg and pork.

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5 from 1 review

Pad Mee Korat is a spicy rice noodles stir-fry that’s quick and easy to make and incredibly tasty! Ground pork and rice noodles get tossed with aromatics, egg, and veggies in a wicked delicious flavor-packed sauce!

Ingredients

Scale

For the Sauce:

  • 1.5 TBLS Canola Oil (or any other neutral flavored oil)
  • 3 Asian Red Shallots – thinly sliced (use ¼ of a medium red onion if unavailable)
  • 3 Garlic cloves – minced
  • ½ disc (about 25 grams) Coconut Sugar – (substitute with 12 TBLS crystalized coconut or brown sugar if you have that on hand instead) – shaved with a knife
  • 1 TSP White Sugar
  • 2 TSP Yellow Bean Sauce
  • 1.5 TBLS Fish Sauce
  • 1 TBLS Light Soy Sauce
  • 2 TBLS Tamarind Paste
  • ½ TSP Sweet Dark Soy Sauce
  • 1 TSP Thai Chili Powder, to taste (substitute with crushed red pepper chili flakes if unavailable)
  • ¼ cup Water

For the Pad Mee Korat:

  • 150 grams (5.3 ounces) Thin Dried Rice Stick Noodles (preferably 1mm wide)
  • 2 TBLS Canola Oil (or any neutral flavored oil with a high smoke point)
  • 200 grams (7 ounces) Ground Pork
  • 2 Garlic cloves – minced
  • 410 Red Chilies (Bird’s Eye preferred, but Holland or other small hot red chilies will work), to taste – chopped
  • 15 Prik Kee Nu Green Chilies (optional), to taste – chopped
  • 1 Egg – lightly beaten
  • 1 cup Mung Bean Sprouts – rinsed and drained
  • 3 Spring Onions – cut into 1-inch pieces
  • To Serve: Lime wedges for squeezing

Instructions

Prep:

  1. Prepare fresh ingredients: Mince the garlic, finely slice the shallots, and chop the chilies and spring onion. Rinse and drain the mung bean sprouts. Lightly beat the egg in a small bowl. Use a knife to shave the coconut sugar. Set everything aside.
  2. Soak the noodles: Soak the rice noodles in bowl filled with hot water for 5 minutes until softened. Drain and set aside.

For the Sauce:

  1. Make the sauce: Heat the canola oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the shallots and garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the coconut sugar and white sugar, and stir until dissolved. Stir in the Thai yellow bean sauce, fish sauce, light soy sauce, tamarind paste, and sweet dark soy sauce. Simmer for 30-40 seconds, then stir in the Thai chili powder and water. Let simmer for 10-20 seconds, then switch off the heat and transfer to a heatproof measuring cup or bowl.

For the Pad Mee Korat:

  1. Cook the pork: Heat 1.5 tablespoons of canola oil in a large wok (or a large deep sauté pan) over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the ground pork and cook for 1-2 minutes, breaking up the lumps with your spatula, until just cooked through.
  2. Stir-fry aromatics: Add the garlic and chilies and stir-fry for 30 seconds to combine.
  3. Add the noodles and sauce: Add the rice noodles and pour the sauce on top. Toss until almost all of the sauce has been absorbed.
  4. Scramble the egg: Push everything to the side of the wok and add the remaining ½ tablespoon of oil. Pour in the egg and allow to set for 15-20 seconds, then scramble and toss to combine with everything else.
  5. Add the veggies: Add the mung bean sprouts and spring onion. Toss for 30 seconds to combine, then switch off the heat.
  6. To Serve: Divide the Pad Mee Korat evenly onto plates and serve with lime wedges for squeezing.

Equipment

Notes

Ingredient Notes, Cook’s Tips, and FAQs

  1. Thai ingredients: Tamarind paste/concentrate and yellow bean sauce (fermented soybean paste) can be found in Asian or Thai specialty grocery stores, or you can order it online. Make sure to use a Thai tamarind paste and not an Indian one. Different brands will have varying levels of acidity, so you may need to adjust the amount indicated if yours is on the tangier side.
  2. Soak the noodles when you are about to start making the sauce. If you soak them too soon, they will clump together and stick to each other. You can also toss them with a bit of oil after draining to prevent sticking.
  3. Toss noodles using both tongs and a spatula when stir-frying. Use the tongs to lift the noodles up and drop them, then fold in the other ingredients with the spatula to combine. This way, the noodles will get coated with the sauce without clumping together.
  4. Can I make this with a different non-vegetarian protein? Ground chicken, turkey, beef, or shrimp will all taste great. I’ve also made this with thinly sliced skinless pork belly rashers. Depending on how fatty your pork belly is, you may need to scoop out and discard some of the rendered fat.
  5. Can I make this milder? Reduce the amount of (or omit) the fresh chilies and chili powder if you prefer a milder dish.
  6. Can I make this gluten-free? Use a gluten-free soy sauce, gluten-free fish sauce, gluten-free oyster sauce, and gluten-free sweet dark soy sauce like this GF kecap manis. Also, use miso paste instead of the yellow bean sauce. It won’t be the same flavor, but will still taste good.
  7. Can I make this vegetarian or vegan? Use crispy pan-fried tofu cubes, diced pressed firm yellow tofu, Omnipork®, Beyond Beef®, or other ground plant-based meat substitute instead of the pork. Also, use soy sauce instead of fish sauce (or a vegan fish sauce). If making this vegan, omit the egg as well. Add the tofu after stir-frying the garlic and chilies in step 2, then proceed with the rest of the recipe as indicated.
  8. Can I make this ahead? I do not recommend making it ahead as the noodles will absorb the sauce as it sits. Pad Mee Korat tastes best when eaten immediately after cooking, or at least within 2 hours of cooking. Heat it up in the microwave for a 1-2 minutes if not serving immediately.
  9. Recipe adapted from Marion’s Kitchen.

Nutrition