Drunken Noodles is the literal translation of Pad Kee Mao because the theory is that these spicy Thai noodles should be eaten with an ice cold beer and that they are a great cure for hangover. I can confirm both cases to be true!
This Thai noodle dish is a very popular both in Thailand and in Thai restaurants outside of Thailand. You will be surprised how fast and easy this recipe is to make!
Drunken Noodles!
Get Drunken Noodles from the streets of Thailand, and unless you have an exceptional spice-o-meter, you’ll be chugging down the beer in an attempt to cool the burn in your mouth.
Make this at home and you can control the heat!
The amount of chilli I’ve included in the recipe is mild enough for most people (I think), but enough so you can taste the heat. By all means, feel free to turn up the spice dial!
What you need
There are all sorts of variations of Drunken Noodles in Thailand and even more in the western world. In Thailand the two constants are chicken and Thai Basil, and quite often it came with baby corn as well, though from my research I couldn’t confirm that this was a “must have” in this dish.
Rice Noodles
Get the widest dried rice noodles you can find at your grocery store. Here in Australian supermarkets, the widest I can find is labelled “Pad Thai”, though ironically, it’s actually too wide for Pad Thai!
Thai Basil
There are actually two types of Thai Basil – regular Thai Basil and Thai Holy Basil. Drunken Noodles can be made with either.
Outside of Thailand, restaurants typically use regular Thai Basil because it is easier to find than Holy Basil. I even have difficulty finding Holy Basil in Thai grocery stores!
Is Thai Basil the same as regular basil?
Thai Basil is not the same as regular basil. It tastes like regular basil with a slight aniseed flavour. A very distinct flavour that you know and love about your favourite dishes at your local Thai restaurant like Drunken Noodles and Thai Chilli Basil Chicken!
Best substitute for Thai Basil
Regular basil! In fact, Drunken Noodles is traditionally made with Holy Basil which tastes more similar to regular basil than Thai Basil!
How to make it
As with all stir fries and stir fried noodles, this moves fast once you start cooking – around 6 minutes start to finish – so have everything ready to go before you start cooking!
Comparison to other popular Thai noodles
Whereas Pad Thai is nutty and sweet, Pad Kee Mao is spicy and savoury. Compared to Pad See Ew, the sauce of Drunken Noodles is lighter in colour and not as sweet.
Also, neither Pad Thai nor Pad See Ew does not have Thai Basil in it, and it is not as spicy.
Actually, Pad Kee Mao is essentially like Thai Chilli Basil Chicken stir fry with noodles added!
Better made at home
In Western Thai restaurants, Drunken Noodles are usually very saucy, oily and salty – too much so in my opinion, and very different from the streets of Thailand. So it’s really nice to be able to make a healthier yet just as tasty version at home!
And remember to crack open an ice cold beer to enjoy these Drunken Noodles with! – Nagi x
More Thai Food favourites
(Yes, I ❤️ Thai Food, in case you hadn’t figured it out!)
Watch how to make it
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Drunken Noodles (Pad Kee Mao)
Ingredients
Noodles
- 7 oz /200g dried rice noodles , wide (Note 1)
Stir Fry
- 2 tbsp oil (peanut, vegetable or canola)
- 3 large cloves of garlic , minced
- 2 birds eye chilli or Thai chillies , deseeded, very finely chopped (Note 2)
- 1/2 onion , sliced
- 200 g /7oz chicken thighs , cut into bite size pieces (breast ok too)
- 2 tsp fish sauce (or soy sauce)
- 2 green onions , cut into 3cm/2″ pieces
- 1 cup Thai or Thai Holy Basil leaves (sub regular basil, Note 3)
Sauce
- 3 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 4)
- 1 1/2 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 4)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Prepare noodles per packet directions.
- Mix Sauce in a small bowl.
- Heat oil in wok or large heavy based skillet over high heat.
- Add garlic and chilli and cook for 10 seconds. Don’t inhale – the chilli will make you cough!
- Add onion, cook for 1 minute.
- Add chicken and fish sauce, and fry until cooked, around 2 minutes.
- Add green onion, noodles and sauce and cook for 1 minute until the sauce reduces and coats the noodles.
- Remove from heat and immediately add basil, toss until just wilted, then serve immediately.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Drunken Noodles recipe originally published July 2014. Updated June 2019 with new photos, new writing, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Like my video shooting area isn’t a tripping hazard as it is, let’s add a giant fur ball into the mix. 🙄
(PS the wine is a PROP! I wasn’t having a cheeky glass at lunch!! 😂)
Absolutely delicious! I needed a bigger pot/pan or wok though- I felt my noodles didn’t get fried enough. I’ll definitely try it again. I also forgot the oyster sauce and used fish sauce instead. I’m going to try it again with the Oyster sauce! Thanks!
So glad you enjoyed it!! 🙂 Yes, big pan / wok is kinda essential for stir fries!! N x
Home run! First “restaurant-inspired” Asian recipe I’ve made at home that hit the mark, thank you, LOVE this flavor!
YAY!!! I’m SO SO GLAD! (PS Isn’t the flavour ridiculously delicious??!)
Great taste, great recipe. But…why chop sticks? I never got chop sticks in Thailand except for a soup with noodels?
Really?? OK< I'm confused. What did you get? Forks???
Fork and spoon as usual in Thailand. Don’t take that as a critic. I just wondered. Your receipe is absolutely delicious
I honestly don’t remember that! I’m browsing back over my pics from Thailand but the CUTLERY/chopsticks isn’t in any of the shots so I can’t remember!!! 🙂
Have something cool for you. I love it to read because it is fun and shows you how divert each culture is. http://highheelgourmet.com/2013/01/17/thai-eating-etiquette/ but also I remember that in the north where you get more dishes with noodles, you often get the chopstick in addition. So, now let me go to try another one of your receipe
Oh awesome! Thanks Marcel!! 🙂 I’ll have a read!
This recipe was AWESOME – not sure how such a simple sauce could taste so good, but it really works! And I didn’t even follow it exactly…
To make it vegetarian, I used “mushroom flavored soy sauce” or mushroom stir fry sauce, in lieu of oyster sauce, per substitution recommendations from the web, and it still turned out great! I thought the mushroom sauce wouldn’t add anything, but it definitely adds some depth to a soy-sauce-only recipe.
Also used regular basil because I couldn’t find reasonably-priced Thai basil, and it was great!
I know!! I always wonder that about Thai recipes! Oooh, I did not know of mushroom flavoured soy sauce before. That sounds interesting! It might be the answer to the question I get quite frequently for what to substitute oyster sauce with!
Thank you so much for this recipe! I cooked it this evening and it was delicious! My husband loved it as well and told me he would be happy if I could cook it once a week! 🙂
Hi Dorothee! I’m SO glad you enjoyed this! I’m making it for dinner tonight, your message made me crave it! 🙂 Thank you for coming back to let me know you loved it!! Nagi x
No worries!
I will have a look at the other recipes as well!
I was looking for a good Pad Thai recipe as I have tried it once and it was a disaster! lol
Dorothee 🙂
This was amazing!!! Whenever I try to make my favorite takeout dishes at home, it never tastes as good as from a restaurant, but this meal finally did. Thank you so much!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it April! And I know what you mean. There are plenty of recipes I’ve tried based on the description “better than takeout!” but they were nothing like restaurant style!! So I do tend to use that description very carefully 🙂 The other one you might like is Pad See Ew, Thai Stir Fried Noodles. I dare say that is better than takeout because it has all the flavour but it is much less oily!
Made this last night for dinner OUT.OF.THIS.WORLD!!!!
SO HAPPY you loved it Josie!! Isn’t it awesome?? Just like restaurants but so much less oily!! Thank you so much for coming back to let me know how much you enjoyed it!! 🙂 N x
Tried this for the first time tonight, loved it!!!! will definitely make this again.
thank-you, look forward to trying some more of your recipes.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it!! Thanks so much for coming back to let me know! I love Pad Kee Mao…you’ve got me hankering for spicy food now. 🙂
LOVE Thai nooldes! This one you made looks SO GOOOOD!
Thanks Kayiu!! I ADORE Thai noodles!!
OMG those chicken thighs look tender and juicy! I feel ashamed for not exploring more Thai recipes but so far I loved every recipe I tried. Your photos are great, the vegetables, chicken, and noodles look amazing.
I couldn’t stop staring at the second pic 🙂
Thank you so much Muna! I love your blog so much too. Healthy food from around the world….legendary cookbook idea!!
Wow, I was just talking to my husband how much I missed Thai food while staying in Japan for 5 weeks. We were talking about getting this noodles tonight, but ended up eating at home. Now with your recipe, we can skip visiting the restaurant and actually try making this dish for the first time at home! I just need to get basil! Your photography makes me super hungry and crave for this dish! 😀
Thanks so much for dropping by Nami! My mother and I are HUGE fans of Just One Cookbook!