Noodles · Thailand

How Many Calories in Pad Woon Sen?

Also known as ผัดวุ้นเส้น, Pad Wun Sen, Thai Stir Fried Glass Noodles, Phat Wun Sen.

Glass noodles stir fried with egg, a little pork or prawn, cabbage, tomato and spring onion in oyster sauce. Ordered as a plate on its own or spooned over rice at any made to order (tam sang) stall for 50 to 60 baht.

335kcal / 1 plate
A 240g plate of pad woon sen is about 335 calories, based on the Thai figure of 140 calories per 100g. Glass noodles are the lightest noodle on the menu at around 85 calories per 100g cooked, so the calories mostly come from the tablespoon of oil and the egg. Over rice it becomes a 560 calorie plate.

Nutrition facts

Per 1 plate (240g)AmountPer 100g
Calories335 kcal140 kcal
Protein14 g6 g
Carbs38 g16 g
Fat14 g6 g

Where the calories come from

Glass noodles, cooked120g
100 kcal
Egg50g
75 kcal
Pork slices40g
70 kcal
Cabbage, tomato, spring onion, celery50g
15 kcal
Cooking oil8g
72 kcal
Oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar10g
15 kcal

The real talk

Glass noodles are mung bean starch, and once they soak up water they sit at about 85 calories per 100g. That is half of what egg noodles or sen yai give you. A stall plate uses roughly 120g of cooked noodles, which is only 100 calories, so the noodle itself is not the issue. The remaining 235 calories are the egg, the pork and the oil in the wok.

The oil is the part you cannot see. A tam sang cook pours 1 to 2 tablespoons into the wok for each plate, and glass noodles soak it up like a sponge. That is 70 to 140 calories that never show up on the menu. Published Thai figures for the dish run from 226 to 265 for a small plate up to 350 for a full stall serving, and the spread is basically how heavy the cook's hand is with the oil.

One thing to know: glass noodles are pure starch with almost no protein, so this plate only gives you about 14g of protein, mostly from the egg and the 40g of pork. If you are eating it as a meal, ask for extra egg (kai song) or order it with prawns. Each extra egg adds around 75 calories but doubles the protein.

How the portions compare

265 kcal
Small plate (light oil)
335 kcal
Standard stall plate
560 kcal
Over rice (khao pad woon sen)

Pad Woon Sen variants, ranked by calories

VariantCaloriesNotes
Pad woon sen with prawns310 kcalPrawns are leaner than pork
Pad woon sen with pork and egg335 kcalThe standard order
Pad woon sen with extra egg410 kcalTwo eggs, better protein
Khao pad woon sen560 kcalServed over a plate of rice

How to eat it lighter

Common questions

Are glass noodles lower in calories than rice noodles?
Yes. Cooked glass noodles are about 85 calories per 100g against roughly 110 for sen yai and 140 for egg noodles. The catch is they absorb more oil in the wok, which closes part of the gap.
Is pad woon sen good for weight loss?
It is one of the better tam sang choices at 335 calories a plate. Order it without rice and with an extra egg, and you have a 400 calorie meal with about 20g of protein.
How many calories in pad woon sen with rice?
About 560 calories. The 240g of rice under it adds around 225 calories, which is more than the noodles themselves.

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Calorie and macro figures are estimates for a typical street stall or food court serving. Actual numbers vary by stall, recipe and portion size. Use them as a guide, not gospel.

Calorie figure based on foodmany.com 140 kcal per 100g scaled to a 240g stall plate; hdmall.co.th lists 265 kcal per smaller plate; calforlife.com user entry 226 kcal. Macros estimated from the ingredients.

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