Pad woon sen (stir-fried glass noodles)

Deliciously chewy, mung bean noodles are habit-forming. Just make sure you snip them to make their slipperyness manageable.

Pad woon sen (stir-fried glass noodles). Credit: Sharyn Cairns

• serves

  2

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 100 g dried glass (mung bean/bean thread) noodles
• 2 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tbsp fish sauce sauce
• ½ tsp white sugar
• 2 tbsp peanut or vegetable oil
• 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 150 g fatty pork mince
• ½ tsp freshly ground white pepper
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 100 g snake beans or green beans, sliced into 1 cm rounds
• 100 g snow pea sprouts, cut into thirds

Sweet pickled tomato

• 125 ml (½ cup) brown rice or white vinegar
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 6 grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 cloves garlic, bruised
• 1 small dried red chilli

Soaking time 30 minutes

Instructions

To make the sweet pickled tomato, combine the vinegar and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the simmer and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, add the tomato, garlic and chilli and set aside.

Soak the noodles in warm water for 30 minutes, then drain well and snip into manageable lengths with scissors.

Combine the sauces and sugar together in a small bowl and set aside. 

Heat the oil in a wok or large frying pan over high heat until it shimmers and begins to smoke. Add the garlic and cook for 10 seconds or until aromatic, making sure it doesn’t colour. Add the pork and stir-fry for 2 minutes or until the water begins to leach out and the pork begins to crisp up.

Add the noodles and cook for 3 minutes, tossing every minute or so, until cooked through. Add the sauce mixture, stir through evenly, and cook for 1 minute.

Add the snake beans, snow pea sprouts (reserving a handful to garnish) and pepper and cook for 1 minute or until the snake beans are tender.

Serve the noodles with the reserved snow pea sprouts and sweet pickled tomato scattered over.

Photography by Sharyn Cairns. Styling by Lee Blaylock. Food preparation by Tiffany Page.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.