Pad Thai Noodles

Ingredients

Serves 2

For the Sauce

• 2 tbsp fish sauce

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• 2 tbsp light soft brown sugar

• 4 tsp tamarind paste

• juice of 1/2 lime (optional)

• pinch of chilli flakes

For the Noodles

• 70g baby corn

• 70g sugar snap peas

• 1 green chilli

• 2 spring onions

• 1/2 red onion

• 1 clove of garlic

• 2 eggs

• 100g flat rice noodles

• 12 king prawns

• 2 tbsp groundnut or vegetable oil

Toppings

• handful of chopped fresh coriander

• handful of chopped toasted peanuts

Method

There is a lot of prep here but I prefer to do everything in stages to make the process less stressful as it cooks so fast you can get yourself tied in knots pretty easily.

Start by chopping the corn and sugar snap peas into bitesized bits then half and slice the green chilli. Now chop the spring onion and red onion into slices about half a centimetre thick and finely chop the garlic. You should now have a board full of ingredients you can put to the side ready to cook.

Next up is to crack the eggs into a glass and beat them before setting aside with the vegetables.

For the sauce just combine all the ingredients in another glass and give a good mix.

Now chop the dry noodles in half before putting in a bowl and covering with boiling water for 3 minutes. Halving them makes the whole process of combining the ingredients in the wok so much easier. If left whole they tend to just get tied up and you get an impenetrable lump of noodles which the veg can't mix with. After 3 minutes drain and run under cold water to stop the cooking process.

Last bit of prep is to do the toppings, chop the fresh coriander and toasted peanuts. To toast peanuts just place on a baking tray and put in the oven at 180c or 360f turning halfway for 15 minutes until they have browned but not burned.

That's a lot of bits sitting next to the hob so now you are ready to cook. You can do this all at once but I prefer to do it in stages as the pan can become too crowded otherwise.

Heat a wok or large frying pan and add the oil (any type here will do apart from olive oil as that tend to fight with the flavours too much) before throwing in the prawns or any other meat you are using. Fry for a few minutes until they are cooked through before removing to a bowl. Then throw in the veg, onions, chilli and garlic and stir fry again for a few minutes until they start to bend. Remove and add to that same bowl.

Now throw in the beaten egg and every so often gently move it around so you get little chunks of cooked egg that will run through the dish. Once the egg is cooked throw in the cooled noodles, all of the previously cooked ingredients and the sauce. Fry until the whole dish is cooked through and the noodles have absorbed the sauce. You shouldn't have any pools of it left at the bottom and it will only take a few minutes. The finger test is best here to check it's all heated through.

Now just serve up and top with the fresh coriander and peanuts.