How to make Chin Chin’s Beef Pad Seuw
This beef pad seuw is melt in your mouth 6 hour slow cooked beef, tossed through rolled rice noodles and Chinese broccoli. The sauce is salty with a touch of sweet and full disclosure; It’s totally addictive!
For those of you who know me, you know one of my favourite Melbourne restaurants of all time is Chin Chins. I just love everything about it! The food, the location, the atmosphere, the cocktails. EVERYTHING!
I will happily wait three hours to get a table because I know the end result is going to be totally worth the wait. Am I crazy??? Probably, but so are most Melbourne Foodies.
It’s made easier by the awesome bars you will find along Flinders Lane to have a drink and even a bit of a dance while you wait.
Seriously though, any Melbourne foodie will know that Chin Chins is pretty much a Melbourne icon. Benjamin Cooper is a cut above the rest.
At Chin Chins the beef pad seuw of braised wagyu beef, gai laan (Chinese broccoli) hand rolled rice noodles and crispy shallots is one of our favourite dishes. You would not believe my excitement when my husband recently bought me the Chin Chin cook books! The first thing I did was flick through the pages and squeal with utter excitement when I saw that this recipe was in the book!
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Beef Pad Seuw
Beef Pad Seuw otherwise known as Pad See ew, is a popular Thai stir fry made with rolled rice noodles, Chinese broccoli and beef or chicken.
Pad translates to stir fried and See Ew means soy sauce. It’s definitely all about the sauce in this recipe. Just like Pad Thai this is more of a dry stir fry but the sauce has so much flavour and the rolled rice noodles soak it all up beautifully.
Don’t let the process of slow cooking the meat put you off because It’s really easy. Once you have all your ingredients for your stock you let the slow cooker or your stove do the hard work. Once the meat is done you will be left with mouthwatering beef that easily breaks apart. The stir fry itself takes under 10 minutes.
What is a master stock
The recipe uses a master stock to braise the meat. Master stock is basically a stock that is reused time and time again. Once the meat is cooked, the stock is then drained, reboiled and frozen until needed again. The theory behind it is that every time the stock is reused It’s more richer and full of robust flavour.
You must use the same meat when reusing the master stock, don’t mix your meats. When you are ready to reuse the master stock again you simply defrost the frozen master stock, top it up with some water, ginger, garlic and spring onions. Then your good to go. I have reused mine 4 times now and every time my noodles come out with even more flavour as a result!
I must admit the first time I saw the ingredients list for the stock I was a little intimidated. However, you only need to source these ingredients once and you are set to make this recipe over and over again.
My tip is to take a snap shot of the ingredients and visit your nearest Asian grocer. Show them what you need and they will help get it all for you. Thats the easiest way.
Once you have prepared your master stock the meat can be braised on the stove top in a cast iron pot or in a slow cooker. I have tried both methods and both come out equally as good.
Ingredients For Master Stock
Mekong Whisky (A spicy sweet Thai whiskey you can substitute with white rum)
Shao hsing (also known as Shaoxing wine, this can be found in the Asian section of your supermarket. It contains water, rice, wheat, salt and caramel)
Dark soy sauce
Light soy sauce
Yellow rock sugar (available from your Asian grocer, yellow rock sugar is made from palm sugar. It comes in large irregular shape clumps resembling rocks.
Garlic
Ginger
Spring onion
Cardamom pods
Star anise
Cassia bark (Also known as cinnamon bark or Chinese cinnamon. Although it is not the same as regular ground cinnamon or cinnamon sticks you could use cinnamon sticks as a substitute)
How to make the Master Stock
So now you have done the hard part, you have sourced all the ingredients and you are ready to make your master stock.
Put all the ingredients in a large pot along with 2 litres of water and bring to the boil to allow the sugar to dissolve. Its then ready for the meat to be added.
Thats it!!!
What you need for the Pad Seuw
Vegetable oil
Beef chuck
Eggs
Cheong fun (fresh rolled rice noodles which you can get from an Asian grocer)
Soy sauce
Gai lan (Chinese broccoli, you could substitute with pan choy or bok choy )
Ginger
Coriander
How to make the Pad Seuw
Heat the oil in a pan and sear the beef. You want a good caramelisation on all sides. Place the meat in a large heavy based pot with the master stock and simmer gently for 5-6 hours.
When It’s cooked, remove from the stock, allow to cool for at least 10 minutes, then slice or pull apart. (I find by this time it is so tender it will easily pull apart using 2 forks)
Heat the extra oil in a wok and crack in the eggs. Give them a stir to mix then continue cooking until the oil starts to foam. Add the noodles and soy sauce and stir- fry until the noodles soften and absorb the soy sauce. Around 3-4 minutes.
Add gai lan, kecap manis and oyster sauce. Stir-fry to combine, then cook until the sauce caramelises.
This dish should be a dry stir-fry, so ensure the sauces have reduced and absorbed. Add the beef and quickly toss to warm it through. Season with pepper and ginger, then serve garnished with coriander and crispy shallots.
So there you have the step by step instructions for making Benjamin Coopers Beef Pad Seuw just like they serve up at Chin Chin Melbourne.
It’s a little bit of effort for an amazing dish you will want to make again and again! I really hope you enjoy it as much as we do!!
XX
Tools to make the job easier
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Beef Pad Seuw
Ingredients
MASTER STOCK
- ½ cup Mekong whiskey
- ½ cup shao hsing
- ⅓ cup dark soy sauce
- 2 tbsp light soy sauce
- 80 g yellow rock sugar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 large knobs ginger
- ⅓ bunch spring onion trimmed and roughly chopped
- 1 tsp cardamom pods
- 3 star anise
- 1 piece cassia bark
PAD SEUW
- ¼ cup vegetable oil plus 2 tbs extra
- 600 g beef chuck
- 2 eggs
- 1 packet cheong fun (fresh rolled rice noodles) separated
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 stems gai lan cut into 5cm lengths
- 2 tbsp kecap manis
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- large pinch white pepper
- 1 small knob ginger, julienned
- ¼ bunch coriander leaves picked
- 2 tbsp crispy shallots
Instructions
FOR THE MASTER STOCK
- Put all the ingredients in a large pot along with 2 litres of water and bring to the boil to allow the sugar to dissolve. Its then ready for the meat to be added.
PAD SEUW
- Heat the oil in a pan and sear the beef. You want a good caramelisation. Put it in a large heavy based pot with the master stock and simmer gently for 5-6 hours.When It’s cooked, remove from the stock, allow to cool, then slice or pull apart.
- Heat the extra oil in a wok and crack in the eggs. Give them a stir to mix then continue cooking until the oil starts to foam. Add the noodles and soy sauce and stir- fry until the noodles soften and absorb the soy sauce.
- Add gai lan, kecap manis and oyster sauce. Stir-fry to combine then cook until the sauce caramelises. This dish should be a dry stir-fry, so ensure the sauces have reduced and absorbed. Add the beef and quickly toss to warm it through. Season with pepper and ginger, then serve garnished with coriander and crispy shallots.
Notes
Have you made this recipe? Don’t forget to tag me in your posts @mrsfoodiemumma using the hashtag #mrsfoodiemumma
Ooooh this looks so good! I can’t wait to try it out ❤️ x
Becky I am so excited for you 🙂
Silly question but do you add any water to the master stick?
Not a silly question at all, yes all the ingredients are added to the pot along with 2 litres of water 🙂
Hi thank u for posting this recipe ! I have been dying to make it but couldn’t find the actual recipe for the master stock! If I can ask where did u purchase the noodles from? I’m not having any luck finding them (even at Asian grocer)
Hi Nadia, the full recipe is at the bottom of the post including how to make the master stock. The noodles can be tricky to find, I get mine from an Asian grocer at pacific Werribee shopping centre. You could substitute for flat rice noodles but if you can find the rolled ones they are just so good!
Thanks for the reply! I actually found them in a place in box hill- lucky for me I had dr app in that area so I stopped by the Asian grocer ! I actually bought all the ingredients to make the actual rolled rice noodle ! Thank god I found them pre made! My master stock is cooking away atm I’m about to add the meat! Won’t be ready till tomorrow though! I started late ! Thanks for replying!
Hi nadia,
Sorry for the late reply I have been out of action for a while. Thats great you found the rolled noodles!! It’s so much better with those noodles 🙂 and go you for wanting to make your own noodles! One day you will have to try it out!!
Hi,
I was thinking of making the master stock and cooking the beef today and then putting together the stir fry tomorrow. Do you think would work? Being at home for 5-6 hours can be a bit difficult during the day.
Hi Stefania, yes you can definitely make the meat the day ahead! the meat is reheated when it’s tossed through the noodles. just make sure you take it out of the fridge and bring it to room temperature before you add it in 🙂
Hi Marie,
Can I ask if the recipe was in the original (black cover) cookbook or the new Feed Me one?
I want to buy it for a friend and this is her favourite dish from Chin Chin so I want to make sure I buy the right one!
Thanks!
Hi Anita, It’s in the original black cover book 😉
AMAZING!! Worth the effort to slow cook the meat it’s just melt in your mouth! Will be making this again.
Thank you Sarah! How good is it right!!!
Wow thanks so much for taking the time to put this together Marie!! I’m a big Chin Chin fan and this did not disappoint!!!!
Thank you so much for your wonderful feedback Andrea!!
Hi Marie,
I love this dish, but i was wondering for the master stock if you put a lid on the cast iron pot or fo you just leave it off?
Hi Daniel, yes you put the lid on
Hi there. Just wondering if white rum is needed or if it can be left out?
Hi Taylor, the recipe originally calls for Mekong whiskey which you can substitute for white rum but you could leave it out all together if you prefer.
Hi,
I’m making this in the slow cooker. Did you strain the mast stick before adding it or just pour everything in. Ta
Hi Liana, no need to strain the stock when your cooking the meat. However after the meat is done, strain the stock and pour the liquid into a freezer safe container and freeze for the next time you make this dish. the broth gets more flavoursome every time!