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Whole Wheat Pad Kee Mao

Pad Kee Mao is one of the most popular Thai dishes. It's the food that all Thai restaurant must have. Pad Kee Mao has a couple of different names; people also call it Basil Noodles and Drunken Noodles. We call this noodles dish Basil Noodles because it has Thai basil as one of the main ingredients, but have you ever wondered why it's called Pad Kee Mao or Drunken Noodles?

Why we call this noodles recipe "Pad Kee Mao or Drunken Noodles"

Whole Wheat Pad Kee Mao

Drunken Noodles!? What a name for a food. Does it sound like an alcoholic dish for you? It does for me (just a little bit). Pad Kee Mao and Drunken Noodles have the same meaning. It means tipsy noodles or tipsy food.

Pad means stir fry.
Kee Mao means an inebriated.
No, the Pad Kee Mao does not contain any alcohol, but it is the good food for people who have had too many alcohols drinks.

Basil Noodles, Drunken Noodles ingredients

Whole Wheat Pad Kee Mao Ingredients

Cook to order restaurants in Thailand mostly have an open kitchen in pretty much the same area as the dining area. Customers can see, smell, and sometimes feel the heat from the cooking area. All customers can sense when someone orders Pad Kee Mao. They can smell the garlic, Thai chili, and basil leaves stir frying in a wok from the kitchen. When you put crushed garlic and Thai chili in a smoking hot oil, the spices from them come out really well which interact well with your nose, and it could trigger a sneeze. The smell of those spices are really strong, and it's strong enough to wake all the tipsy people up to be conscious again.

Crushed Garlic & Thai Chili

After being hit by the smell of the spices, they'd be hit again by the flavor of the food. Pad Kee Mao is spicy, hot, and flavorful, but it's not sweet like Pad Thai or sour like Tom Yum soup. It's a perfect dish to freshen up before heading home after having some drinks.

Heathier Pad Kee Mao from Healthy Thai Recipe's Test Kitchen

I've been looking to cook Pad Kee Mao for a while, but I had to put it off because I couldn't find any healthy ingredients that I can use to replace the flat rice noodles. Until one day my husband came home with a box of whole wheat lasagna and told me that he wanted me to do a test kitchen recipe by using the lasagna noodles instead of the flat rice noodles.

Whole Wheat Pad Kee Mao

To transform the whole wheat lasagna to the noodles, I followed the instruction how to cook the whole wheat lasagna on the box. I took the strip on the side of the lasagna sheets off and cut half on the horizontal and another half on the vertical. Thus I had four pieces of the noodles from one piece of lasagna. I used the whole box which was about 12 oz. for three servings.

The result of the Pad Kee Mao's Test Kitchen

To be honest, I was so afraid this recipe would be a failure, but it wasn't! The whole wheat lasagna turned out to be a perfect healthier Pad Kee Mao. The taste of the dish had not change a bit. It was still spicy and savory. The aroma of the spices was still awesome. Yes, we sneezed quite a little bit while I was cooking, and it's a good sign. It meant the ingredients and instructions were right.

Whole Wheat Pad Kee Mao

The food came out great, but there's one thing that I concerned about with this recipe. The whole wheat lasagna became a bit dry after it's getting cold. I recommend to serve or eat the noodles right away after it's cook and still hot. Or if you have a tip to keep the pasta soft, please share it with me. That'd make my day.

Here's the recipe!

Whole Wheat Pad Kee Mao

Recipe Type: Entree

Author: HealthyThaiRecipes

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 10 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2-3

A healthier version of everyone's favorite Thai Noodles dish "Pad Kee Mao." Spicy, savory, and healthy, it is a must try <g class="gr_ gr_116 gr-alert gr_gramm gr_run_anim Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="116" data-gr-id="116">recipe</g>.

Ingredients

12 oz. uncooked whole wheat lasagna
1 lb. of large shrimp or any choice of protein
1 oz. of basil leaves
2.5 oz. of sliced mushrooms
3.5 oz. of snow peas
1 sliced red bell pepper
6 crushed garlic cloves
3 crushed Thai chili peppers
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon seasoning soy sauce
½ tablespoon oyster sauce

Instructions

Begin with cooking the whole wheat lasagna. Follow the cooking instruction on the box of the lasagna.
Cut the lasagna sheets half in the vertical and horizontal to transform them to the noodles.
Crush the garlic and Thai chili together.
Heat olive oil in the wok at medium high.
After the oil is smoking hot, add the garlic and Thai chili into the wok, follow with the snow peas and red bell pepper.
Stir-fry until the snow peas are soft then add shrimp. Stir-fry about 1-2 minutes or until the shrimp is cooked.
Add the whole wheat noodles, mushrooms, and basil leaves into the wok.
Stir them for few times and add fish sauce, oyster sauce, and seasoning sauce.
Stir fry until the mushrooms and basil leaves are soft.
Turn oof the stove and enjoy while it's still hot.