Pad Woon Sen makes a great weeknight meal. It's a quick and easy stir fry of glass noodles, chicken, eggs, and veggies coated with savory Thai seasoning sauces. This Thai stir fry comes together in less than 30 minutes, has all of the main food groups, and is delicious to boot!
The last time my Thai parents-in-law came to visit, they brought us massive quantities of Woon Sen glass noodles. So many, in fact, that they overflow from the "noodle" basket and take up the majority of our pantry. After living with this abundance of woon sen noodles for a few months, I decided it was time to regain my pantry space. First up, this Thai glass noodle stir fry known as Pad Woon Sen.
What is Pad Woon Sen?
Pad Woon Sen is a Thai stir fried dish of glass noodles. Pad is the Thai word for stir fry and Woon Sen is the Thai word for glass noodles. Glass noodles are dried noodles made from mung bean starch. They're sometimes also called mung bean noodles, cellophane noodles, or bean thread noodles. These noodles are opaque when dry and become completely clear, like glass, once they're cooked.
Traditional Pad Woon Sen recipes call for glass noodles stir fried with a protein of your choice, egg, and vegetables such as cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, onion, and green onions. The dish is usually seasoned with Thai soy sauces and ground white pepper.
My father-in-law makes his pad woonsen sans tomatoes and cabbage, but with the addition of pickled garlic (gratiem dong / กระเทียมดอง). We love this twist on the standard pad woonsen. Pickled garlic adds a subtle sour flavor which plays nicely against the inherent sweetness of the carrots and onion. And in addition to soy sauce, I like to use oyster sauce and a little fish sauce for a multi-dimensional salty flavor.
Ingredients
- Woon Sen Noodles: Also known as glass noodles, bean thread noodles, or cellophane noodles, woonsen are dried noodles made from mung bean flour. They are naturally gluten free. Before cooking with them, they should be rehydrated in water for several minutes until they are soft and pliable. Once soft, you can use scissors to cut them into shorter lengths for easier eating if you like.
- Garlic: Garlic adds a wonderful depth of flavor to this dish. Chop finely and then stir fry with the pickled garlic until golden brown.
- Pickled garlic (optional): Pickled garlic adds a subtle sour flavor to this dish. It can be found at Southeast Asian markets as well as online. Cut each clove of pickled garlic into thin slices.
- Chicken: Chicken breast and thighs will both work in this stir fry, although thighs will tend to be more tender. If you prefer another meat such as pork or beef, those would also work well. Or you could leave the meat out of this dish if you prefer.
- Eggs: Eggs are added after the meat, and are scrambled in the pan with the other ingredients.
- Vegetables (Carrots, Onion, Green Onion): These vegetables should be sliced thinly and cooked until tender but still firm. Add the green onions right before taking the pan off the heat.
- Thai Seasoning Sauces (Oyster sauce, Thin soy sauce, Fish sauce): The combination of these salty seasoning sauces gives the dish a depth of flavor that soy sauce alone can't produce.
- Ground White Pepper: Ground white pepper provides a little kick of spice to this stir fry.
Instructions
Pad Woon Sen takes less than 30 minutes to make, from start to finish, making it a great choice for a weeknight meal. Simply follow these steps:
Soak the Woon Sen Noodles: Place the dried noodles in a bowl of water. Allow them to soak for about 10 minutes, until they are soft and pliable. While they are soaking, prepare the other ingredients.
Prepare the Other Ingredients: Chop the garlic (and pickled garlic, if using) finely. Cut the onion into slices, and the green onion and carrot into 2" lengths. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
Cook the Chicken: Add a mild-flavored oil to a wok over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic (and pickled garlic) and stir fry until they are golden brown. Next add the chicken and fish sauce. Allow the chicken to brown.
Cook the Eggs: Push the chicken to the side and add a little more oil to the pan. Once it's hot, crack the eggs into the oil. Scramble until they are almost done.
Cook the Noodles: Add the onion and carrot and allow to cook until just tender. Then add the soft noodles and seasoning sauces. Stir fry until the noodles are coated with sauce and all ingredients are cooked through.
Taste and Adjust: Add a dash of white pepper powder, then taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Finally, add the green onions and stir fry for 30 seconds more before removing from the heat.
Serving Suggestions
As Pad Woonsen has all of the major food groups, it could definitely be served as a stand alone meal. However, in Thailand, this dish is often served as part of a larger meal with several other dishes to enjoy as well. Any number of soups, salads, curries, and other stir fried dishes would go well with Pad Woonsen.
A small bowl of Nam Pla Prik could also be served as a condiment for Pad Woon Sen. It's made from fish sauce and sliced Thai chilis. Nam Pla Prik is used much like salt and pepper is used in Western cuisine. It's often on the table so that diners can season their own dish to their liking.
Storage and Reheating
If there are leftovers, Pad Woonsen can be saved in the refrigerator for several days. It can be reheated easily in the microwave. If you find the noodles have dried out slightly, adding a drop or two of water can help bring them back.
Although it's less well known than other Thai noodle dishes like Pad Thai and Pad See Ew, Pad Woonsen is a really delicious plate of noodles. We have been enjoying this noodle dish at least once a week recently. Perhaps soon we'll venture out and make some other dishes with Woon Sen noodles, like Yum Woon Sen, Suki Haeng, or Goong Ob Woon Sen. For now, though, I'm just happy that we're starting to make some headway on our pantry space issue!
Recipe
Glass Noodle Stir Fry | Pad Woon Sen | ผัดวุ้นเส้น
Ingredients
- 120 g Glass Noodles (Woon Sen) (3 40 gram packages)
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 head pickled garlic
- ¼ cup onion slices
- ½ cup chicken breast or thighs
- 2 eggs
- ½ cup carrots
- 3 stalks green onion
- 1 Tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 Tablespoon thin soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon fish sauce
Instructions
- Soak the Woon Sen Noodles: Place the dried noodles in a large bowl of water. Allow them to soak for approximately 10 minutes, until they are soft and pliable. Then cut the noodles to allow for easier eating.
- Prepare the Other Ingredients: While the noodles are soaking, prepare the other other ingredients. Chop the garlic finely, and slice the pickled garlic cloves into thin rounds. Cut the onion into slices, and the green onion into 2" lengths. Slice the carrots thinly into 2" matchsticks, and the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Cook the Chicken: Add approximately 1 Tablespoon of a mild-flavored oil to a wok over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the garlic and pickled garlic and stir fry until they are golden brown. Next add the chicken and ½ teaspoon of fish sauce. Allow the chicken to brown until it's almost cooked through.
- Cook the Eggs: Push the chicken to the side and add a little more oil to the pan. Once it's hot, crack the eggs into the oil. Scramble the eggs until they are almost done, then incorporate the chicken and mix together.
- Cook the Noodles: Add the onion and carrot slices and allow to cook until just tender, adding a spoonful of water if needed. Then add the soft Woon Sen noodles and the remaining sauces. Stir fry until everything is mixed together, the sauces are spread throughout the noodles, and all ingredients are cooked through.
- Taste and Adjust: Add a dash of white pepper powder, then taste and adjust seasonings as necessary. Finally, add the green onions and stir fry for 30 seconds more before removing from the heat and serving.
Andrea Houston
Delicious and easily adaptable! I can't believe ive always skipped over this at restaurants.
Charlene
This was perfect & delish! You made it so easy for me!
admin
So glad to hear it, Charlene!
Tamiflu
I have a small obsession with glass (vermicelli) noodles. They only take about 3 minutes to boil and taste great in salads, stir frys, meat dishes, etc. In other words, they help get dinner on the table a little faster; plus, they look pretty cool.
Ronny
Could you provide details on the cooking heat levels at each step?