Spicy Drunken Noodles

These Spicy Drunken Noodles are made with broccoli, red bell pepper, rice noodles, garlic, ginger, and Thai chilies. 

This Drunken Noodles dish is a very popular in Thailand as well as the United States. When I went to Thailand in the summer of 2013, I loved eating these noodles for lunch on the beach of the Phi Phi Islands with a nice cold beer. I was living the life!

I have seen people use baby corn and Thai basil in the drunken noodles. Thai basil is not the same thing as regular basil. Thai basil has a sweet, anise quality flavor. There are a ton of variations to the drunken noodles but this one was my favorite. I used broccoli and a red bell pepper. You will need oyster sauce and fish sauce, which are usually sold in the ethnic section of your grocery store. You can also buy the wide dried rice noodles in that section as well. Do not feel intimidated by using fish sauce, it really makes the dish so delicious and savory!

If you like these noodles, feel free to try my Pad Thai or my Pho Tai.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Substitutions
• Variations
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top tip
• Spicy Drunken Noodles
• Food safety

Ingredients

• Wide dried rice noodles
• Oil
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Bell pepper
• Broccoli
• Thai chilies
• Onion
• Fish sauce
• Green onions
• Oyster sauce
• Light soy sauce
• Light brown sugar

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Prepare the noodles according to package instructions.

Mix the oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, and water in a bowl and combine. This is your sauce!

Heat oil on medium high heat in a large skillet or wok.

Add the onions, garlic, ginger and chilies. Cook for about 3 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and add the fish sauce, bell pepper and the broccoli. Cook and stir until the broccoli florets and bell peppers are soft and cooked through. Add the cooked noodles, green onion, and the sauce and cook until the sauce reduces and coats the noodles.

Hint: Make sure the noodles are still hot when mixing in with the sauce.

Substitutions

Sugar: I love using brown sugar for this recipe, so its not super sweet. If you prefer to use honey, maple syrup or granulated sugar, equal parts will work.

Soy sauce: You can use tamari, shoyu sauce, or coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.

Noodles: You can totally use spaghetti for this recipe, I have tried it. Both Chinese egg noodles and spaghetti work wonders.

Broccoli: For best results, use a fresh head of broccoli. You could use frozen broccoli and defrost it as well.

Variations

Cooking is a chance to be creative! Have fun with it and feel free to make your own variation.

• Spicy - add chili pepper flakes while cooking to imbue heat into the dish.
• Kid friendly - Chop the broccoli and peppers finely to mix in the noodles to get your children to eat their veggies.

Check out this EASY FLAT LO MEIN WITH MUSHROOMS AND BELL PEPPERS!

Equipment

Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.

I love using my Caraway pots, pans and baking sheets for best quality. Get yourself a discount by clicking here!

Storage

This will be good in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.

Top tip

Make sure the noodles are still hot when mixing in with the sauce.

Print

Food safety

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.