30-Minute Thai Shrimp Drunken Noodles

Anything Thai takeout that I've tried is always amazing: curry, pad Thai, peanut sauce, and allll the different choices of noodles and rice dishes. This time around, I tried out Thai drunken noodles (also known as Pad Kee Mao). Despite the title, these don't actually have alcohol in them, though you can enjoy some on the side!

These are a very savoury, salty, and spicy (if you like) noodle dish. It's a little less nutty and sweet than Pad Thai but more savoury and spicy. I added a lot of veggies, shrimp, some spicy chipotle chilis (though you can go more Thai and use Thai red peppers), and rice noodles with the perfect amount of sauce topped with red pepper oil.

Serves: 6

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

15-20 large shrimp, pre-cooked (you can get the uncooked, just put aside more time to cook them before the vegetables)

1 cup zucchini, chopped

3/4 cup broccoli, chopped

1 red bell pepper

1/2 cup frozen peas

3/4 cup mushrooms

1/2 cup basil, roughly chopped

1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 cup peanuts or cashews

1/3 cup soy sauce

3 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp honey

Pepper, to taste

2 chilis in adobo sauce, chopped

1 package wide rice noodles (300g)

Oil for cooking

Directions:

1. Chop the zucchini, broccoli, bell pepper, mushrooms, and the spicy pepper you choose to use, making sure you wash your hands right after! Grate the ginger and crush the garlic.

2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Then, take the pot off the heat and add the noodles, letting sit in the heat for 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, heat a large saucepan to medium heat and add 1 tbsp oil, the garlic, basil, ginger, and the chopped vegetables and peas. Cook until tender.

4. While the vegetable cook, add the sauces, chopped spicy peppers, peanuts/cashews, honey, and pepper into a bowl and combine.

5. When the noodles are soft, remove them from the water and add 2 tsp oil and mix so they don't stick together.

6. Add the sauce and shrimp to the saucepan with the vegetables and bring to a bubble, letting it thicken. Then, remove from heat.

7. Add the noodles to the saucepan and mix with the sauce. Top with extra basil, red pepper oil (see notes), and a squeeze of lime juice.

You can switch these for your favourite veggies, there's no right or wrong!

Notes:

1. For red pepper oil: add 3/4 cup of whatever oil you have and 2 tsp red pepper flakes into a small jar and keep for future recipes. It's so easy but a great option to top stir-fries, curry soups, or whatever you want.

2. Use whatever meat/alternative protein you want or have, anything would go great with this dish!

3. You can put as many vegetables as you like into this dish, making it a healthier option. Additionally, you can add as much or as little spice as you like. It tastes good with this dish so don't be shy.

4. I understand that it may be more difficult for some to have some of the ingredients like the fish sauce or sesame oil in their pantry or find them in the store but if you want to try out more Asian-inspired dishes, I'd recommend investing in them. They are actually quite cheap, last for what seems like forever, and are used in almost every Asian-flavoured dish.

If you're looking for something a little different to add to your weeknight stir-fries or make your own takeout dish when you're craving it, you should definitely add this to the lineup!

Thanks for reading! I hope you're having an amazing week so far! Be sure to subscribe to get blog newsletters or follow and like my Instagram and Facebook pages to get regular updates on my recipes!

Have a great Wednesday! :)