Hot & Crazy Noodles Apocalypse Style

Hot & Crazy Asian Noodles Apocalypse Style
Hot & Crazy Asian Noodles Apocalypse Style

Before the food allergy apocalypse hit, one of the things I really liked was Thai food, and one of the dishes I really enjoyed at Siam Orchid, our local Thai place, was Hot & Crazy Noodles, which is a spicy version of Pad Sei Ew (or whatever spelling variant of Thai anglicized you might find).  It’s probably a safe-ish dish for me still, but going to Thai places reminds me of all the curry and satay and other yummy dishes that I now cannot eat because of the whole coconut thing, so I just don’t go.  But I’ve been thinking a lot about it lately, so I thought I’d try to do my own version.

Hot & Crazy Asian Noodles Apocalypse Style

Makes 4-6 servings (if you are cooking for one or two people and don’t want tons of leftovers, cut the portion amounts in half).

Marinade for Chicken

Other Ingredients

  • 1 lb of sliced chicken breast
  • 8 oz of dry rice noodles (check labels, make sure only ingredients are rice and water)
  • 1 teaspoon of canola oil
  • 1-2 Tablespoons of chili oil (make sure it’s gluten free, I used Hokan Chili Oil )
  • 1 carrot, sliced thinly
  • 1 small to medium onion, sliced thinly
  • 1 cup of snow peas or sugar snap peas, washed
  • 1 small zucchini, sliced thinly
  • 2-4 stalks of asparagus, cut in bite size pieces
  • 1-2 green onions, both green and white parts, sliced
  • 2 cups of mung bean sprouts approximately
  • 2 Thai chilis
  • 2 cups of baby bok choi leaves, washed and detached from heads of baby bok choi
  • 10-15 Thai basil leaves to taste

Sauce for Noodles

First, mix the soy sauce and the baking soda for the chicken marinade in a small bowl and then add the sliced chicken, mixing it well.  Put it aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the rice noodles and cook according to the directions on the package (mine said about 6-8 minutes). When done, drain the noodles using a colander and then place them back in the pot, tossing them with the canola oil so that they are less likely to stick together.

Cooked and Drained Rice Noodles
Cooked and Drained Rice Noodles

Using some of the chili oil, coat the bottom of your wok (or skillet in my case, I know I used to have a wok, but I have no idea where it went), turn the heat to medium high and cook the chicken in batches so it fries and doesn’t just steam.  Once you have finished one batch, place it aside in a large bowl and cook then next batch, again placing it the large bowl when it’s cooked.

Chicken cooked in batches
Chicken cooked in batches

Using a bit more of the chili oil if needed, start stir frying the carrot, onion, peas, zucchini, asparagus, green onion, bean sprouts, thai chili, baby bok choi leaves, and thai basil leaves in batches, adding them to the large bowl when cooked.

Stir-fried Veggies
Stir-fried Veggies
Stir-fried Veggies
Stir-fried Veggies
Stir-fried Baby Bok Choi and Basil
Stir-fried Baby Bok Choi and Basil

To make the sauce for the noodles, whisk the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, Sriracha, Hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, corn starch, sugar and szechuan peppercorns together in a little bowl.  Using a little of the chili oil, stir fry the cooked noodles in your wok/skillet and add the sauce for the noodles, mixing well, until the noodles are hot and thoroughly coated with the sauce.

Cooked Noodles Coated in Sauce
Cooked Noodles Coated in Sauce

Once the noodles are coated and nice and hot, place them in the large bowl with the other ingredients and mix all the ingredients in the bowl thoroughly.

All cooked ingredients being mixed in bowl
All cooked ingredients being mixed in bowl

Once mixed, serve them immediately while they are nice and hot, and have some of the Sriracha and Hoisin available as condiments so your family and/or guests can doctor their portions to their taste.  Enjoy!

Hot & Crazy Asian Noodles Apocalypse Style
Hot & Crazy Asian Noodles Apocalypse Style

    6 comments

    1. I love when Thai dishes include lots of veggies, like this one does. (When I’d go out for Thai, I would always debate with myself whether it was worth asking for “extra veggies” and paying another dollar or two.) I’ll try this sometime with tofu. 🙂 Thanks for the recipe!

    2. Thanks!

      I’d say rather than leaving it all out, cut it way back. The Sichuan peppercorns are a very different type of spice, and worth trying even if you don’t “like spicy.” And my personal favorite thing about sriracha is that you don’t need to cook it in for the flavor — so add a dash, and if that’s not enough, add a bit more after cooking.

      Also, I believe traditional pad see ew has egg, which this version doesn’t.

      1. Although, honestly, I didn’t cut up the fresh Thai chili peppers finely enough, and I got a big chunk of one that made my mouth go numb. And I’m a fire breather, so you might want to skip the fresh Thai chili peppers.

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