To say that this recipe is an explosion of flavour is an understatement. This unique dish emerged from my desire to use the popular Mama Tom Yum instant noodles in a more creative, interesting way. So I turned it into one of the most popular dishes of Thai cuisine: pad kee mao, aka drunken noodles!
Cultural context: I explain all this in the video tutorial in the recipe card below, but here it is briefly: In Thailand, pad kee mao made using Mama noodles is already a thing lots of people do and love. So “Mama pad kee mao” is an existing dish. But normally you just use the noodles, and not the seasoning packets that come with. So the dish still tastes like a regular pad kee mao, but with a different kind of noodles!
But in this dish,I wanted to take advantage of the tom yum seasoning packets that come with the noodles,and combine it with the herbs ofpad kee mao.How bad could it be? Well,turns out not only was it not bad,it was AMAZING! Spicy and sour from the tom yum,but with the aromas of the basil and grachai à la drunken noodles. It was a total hit with my family members!
Tips for Those Who Like to Experiment
Here I'm using tom yum flavoured mama noodles, but you can also try other flavours! Pork and chicken flavours have more neutral flavours, so your dish will end up tasting more like the classic drunken noodles. But roast duck flavour or even green curry flavour would also be good and interesting!
One note: make sure you get ones where the noodles are these curly wheat noodles, as Mama does make some flavours in rice and glass noodles as well.
Mama Tom Yum Pad Kee Mao (instant drunken noodles stir fry)
Imagine the herbaceous aromas of the popular Pad Kee Mao (drunken noodles) combined with the spicy-and-sour flavour of tom yum soup...and put it all in a stir fry using Thailand's favourite instant noodles!
Ingredients
- 3boneless chicken thighs,bite-sized pieces
- 2teaspoonssoy sauce
- 5packsMama tom yum noodles ,or 3 x 90g packs of creamy tom yum flavour (see note 1)
- 1Tablespoonoyster sauce
- 2Tablespoonswater
- 1-3Thai chilies,optional,to taste
- 4clovesgarlic
- 1 ½ tablespoonneutral oil
- 5makrut lime leaves,torn into chunks,center rib removed
- 3Tablespoonsgrachai (fingerroot),finely julienned (see note 2)
- 5.3ozcrunchy veg of your choice,bite-size pieces (see note 3)
- 1 ½ cupsholy basil,regular basil,or Thai basil
Check Out Ingredients and Kitchen Tools I Use
Notes
- Mama CreamyTom Yum flavour is bigger than other flavours,so if using,you'll need 3 packs. For regular tom yum flavours, you'll need 5 packs. You can try this recipe using any other flavours of Mama you have,as long as it's the same type of wheat noodles; it'll be different but I have no doubt they will all be tasty!
- Grachai (aka krachai or fingerroot) can be bought fresh at some Southeast Asian stores,but more commonly they are available brined in a glass jar. If not available you can omit or substitute galangal.
- I used carrots and snap peas,but any crunchy veg will work. Also if you’ve got some red pepper of some kind,add that in for some colour.
FULL VIDEO TUTORIAL
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post,so make sure you watch the video to ensure success. If you enjoy them,consider subscribing to the YouTube Channel to not miss an episode. Thank you!
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Instructions
Mix the chicken and the soy sauce together and set aside while you prep other things
3 boneless chicken thighs,2 teaspoons soy sauce
Bring a large pot of water to a boil for boiling noodles. Meanwhile,break the mama noodle blocks into 3-4 pieces to shorten the noodles.
5 packs Mama tom yum noodles
Make the sauce by combining all the seasoning packets in a small bowl. Add the oyster sauce and the water and stir to dissolve the powder.
1 Tablespoon oyster sauce,2 Tablespoons water
In a mortar and pestle,pound the chilies and garlic together into a rough paste. Set aside. Alternatively you can finely mince the chilies and roughly chop the garlic.
1-3 Thai chilies,4 cloves garlic
- Once the water is boiling,add the noodles and cook just until the noodles loosen from their block shape,no more than 1 minute-they should be undercooked at this stage. Remove and rest the noodles in a sieve. (I recommend doing all your other prep first before cooking the noodles as the noodles tend to stick together if they sit for a long time and it’ll be harder to separate in the pan.)
In a wok over high heat,add just enough oil to coat the pan and once very hot,add the chicken and spread it out into one layer. Once the chicken is at least halfway cooked,and has browned underneath,toss the chicken and keep cooking until the chicken is fully cooked. Remove from the pan,leaving all the oil and juices behind.
1 ½ tablespoon neutral oil
Before you proceed,if you used creamytom yum flavour Mama,check the consistency of your sauce,and if it has thickened too much as it sat,add a splash of water to loosen it.
In the same wok,add the garlic-chili mixture and saute until the garlic is golden. Add more oil if necessary.
Add the lime leaves and grachai and stir for about 30 seconds in the oil. Add the veggies and cook until they’re about 70% done.
5 makrut lime leaves,3 Tablespoons grachai (fingerroot),5.3 oz crunchy veg of your choice
Add the cooked noodles,and pour the sauce on top of the noodles,then use tongs to toss to evenly mix the sauce and the noodles together. Once mixed,add the chicken,along with any collected juice,and toss to mix well. Turn off the heat,and toss in the basil just until mixed. Serve immediately,enjoy!
1 ½ cups holy basil,regular basil,or Thai basil