Name: Pad Woon Sen (Glass Noodle Stir Fry)
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Ingredients: 150 g bean thread noodles (glass noodles); 400 g tofu; 1/2 white onion; 1 thumb-size ginger piece; 2 garlic cloves; 1/4 red bell pepper; 150 g napa cabbage; 6 shiitake mushrooms; 2 carrots; 3 Scallions; 1/2 tomato; A handful fresh cilantro; 1 lime; 2 tablespoon vegan oyster sauce; 1/4 teaspoon white pepper; 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce; 1/4 stock cube; 1 tablespoon water; 1 teaspoon brown sugar

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This Thai glass noodle stir-fry is one of our favorite recipes to enjoy at home. Easy to make with simple ingredients, Pad Woon Sen is the perfect dish to cook when you are busy but still want something umami-packed and delicious for dinner. Our Pad Woon Sen is vegan, as we use tofu as the main protein.

What is Pad Woon Sen

Pad Woon Sen is a Thai noodle dish made with bean thread noodles, as well known as cellophane noodles.

This noodle dish combines stir-fried crunchy vegetables, protein (meat, fish, egg, or tofu), and a rich and umami-packed stir-fry sauce.

The noodles used for this recipe are nice and chewy, being really similar to the noodles used to make Japchae. Mung bean noodles are made with the start of mung beans, as well called Cellophane noodles.

Our Glass Noodle Stir-fry is totally vegan as we use tofu as the main protein and vegan oyster sauce to make a delicious stir-fry sauce.

Difference between Pad Woon Sen, Pad Thai, and Pad See Ew

Pad Woon Sen, Pad Thai, and Pad See Ew and all stir-fried Thai noodle dishes with similar ingredients and cooking method. Their main difference is the type of noodles and sauce used to cook these very popular Asian dishes.

Pad Woon Sen. This recipe is made with mung bean noodles and the sauce is savory and rich containing oyster sauce and dark soy sauce.

Pad Thai. Pad Thai is made with flat rice noodles and the sauce is sweeter containing tamarind.

Pad See Ew. This last dish combines the sauce used to make Pad Woon Sen with flat rice noodles.

Our Pad Woon Sen recipe is:

Vegan
Thai-inspired dish
Noodle stir fry
Easy to make
Packed with crunchy vegetables
Mildly spicy
Umami-packed

How to make the best Vegan Pad Woon Sen

Ingredients

Noodles. The first ingredient you need to get to make the perfect glass noodle stir-fry is the right type of noodle. The noodles used for this dish is cellophane noodles, as well called bean thread noodles or mung bean noodles. You can find them online or in an Asian markets or supermarkets. Rice vermicelli noodles are similar when dry but you can tell the difference after soaking them. They don't get as chewy and are not the right type of noodles for this stir-fry dish.

Plant-based protein. Our recipe is vegan, as we use tofu to make our Pad Woon Sen. We pan fry the tofu separately so it gets nice and crunchy before adding it to the Pad Woon Sen. You can as well use an air fryer to cook it (it takes around 12 minutes at 180C). Other plant-based proteins you can use are seitan or tempeh. For a vegetarian recipe, you can add scrambled eggs.

Vegetables. You can add any vegetable of your choice to this dish, but our favorite combination to give your noodle dish the perfect balance of textures and flavors is garlic, ginger, onion, napa cabbage, red bell peppers, carrots, tomato, shiitake mushrooms, and scallions or spring onion.

Pad Woon Sen Sauce. Our Pad Woon Sen sauce is umami-rich combining vegan oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, vegetable stock, brown sugar, and white pepper. It is really similar to the sauce we use to make our Vegan Chop Suey. Originally, this recipe contains fish sauce, but our Pad Woon Sen is vegan. You can though, make your own vegan fish sauce if you want to add extra flavor!

Toppings. Our Pad Woon Sen is served with fresh chopped cilantro, lime juice, and chili flakes to add a little bit of heat.

Step-by-step Method

Soak the noodles in hot water for about 3-4 minutes or room temperature water for 15 minutes. Don't worry if they are still a bit al dente, they will finish cooking in the wok or pan. Drain the glass noodles and reserve.
Prepare the stir-fry sauce. Using a small bowl, combine the vegan oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, vegetable stock, sugar, and white pepper. Mix well all the sauce ingredients and reserve.
Fry the tofu. We pan-fry the tofu but you can bake or air-fry the tofu pieces as well. To air fry the tofu, cook for about 12 minutes at 180C. Remember to keep moving the tofu pieces while air frying so they cook evenly.
Stir fry the vegetables. For this recipe, we use our wok but you can use a big pan as well. Finely chop or grate the garlic and ginger, cut the onion, napa cabbage, bell peppers, carrots, shiitake mushrooms, and green onion into thin slices, and quarter the tomato. Heat some coconut or olive oil in your pan or wok to medium-high heat and stir fry the vegetables, reserving the spring onions for later. Keep stirring to make sure they are cooking evenly. You want the veggies to be cooked but keep a bit of a crunch.
Add the noodles, stir-fry sauce, pan-fried tofu, and spring onions. Stir and cook for 2 minutes.
Add chopped cilantro, optionally some chili flakes or hot sauce, and drizzle some lime juice.

Serving Suggestions

This glass noodle stir-fry is normally served as a main dish as it has everything you need. When we make this Thai recipe, we like to cook some Rice Paper Rolls as an appetizer.

If you enjoy spicy food, we strongly recommend adding some chili sauce such as sriracha, chili flakes, or spicy oil.

You can keep any leftovers in the fridge in an air-tight container for 2-3 days. To reheat, add some oil to a pan or wok and add the leftovers. Stir until warm and serve.

Variations to our Pad Woon Sen recipe

Make it low carb. You can make this recipe using zucchini noodles. Live eat learn has a great post about how to make the perfect zucchini noodles.

Make it vegetarian. You can add one or two eggs at the end. Push all the veggies and noodles to one side of the pan or wok and break the eggs on the other side. Stir the eggs, cook for 1 minute and mix with the rest of the ingredients.

Change the veggies. We made this recipe with our favorite combination of vegetables for stir fries but you can add more or a few veggies to your taste. Great alternatives are green beans, zucchini, baby corn, or bamboo shoots.

Make it spicy. If you enjoy spicy food, add some chili sauce such as sriracha, chili flakes, or spicy oil before serving.

Vegan Thai Noodle Stir-fry with tofu, lime and fresh cilantro

FAQ & Tips

Is Pad Woon Sen gluten-free? Normally, Pad Woon Sen will contain gluten because of the sauce. You can use tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), white pepper, sugar, and stock to make a gluten-free sauce.
Is Pad Woon Sen traditionally vegan? No, Pad Woon Sen is normally made with chicken, pork, or seafood. Our Pad Woon Sen recipe is a vegan version using tofu as protein, vegetables and vegan oyster sauce.
Can I make Pad Woon Sen using different noodles? You can use rice vermicelli noodles but they won't be as chewy as mung bean noodles. Sweet potato noodles, used to cook Korean Japchae, are another great option when making Pad Woon Sen as they have a really similar texture and cooking process to bean thread noodles.
To make it easier when mixing the noodles with the rest of the ingredients, you can cut the noodles into smaller pieces.
What can you use if you don't have Vegan Oyster Sauce? This may be a bit difficult to get but if you have an Asian supermarket nearby, they will most likely have a vegetarian oyster sauce made with mushrooms or you can find it online. You can use mushroom powder as well or simply skip this ingredient.

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5 from 11 votes