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pad thai noodles

Here I give the recipe for a prawn version, but alternatives are chicken - add much earlier to make sure it cooks through, or vegetarian - which vegetables get used depends on what you have. The fish sauce could be substituted for lime juice.

4 portions of noodles, preferably rice noodles

1 red onion, or a handful of spring onions

4 cloves of garlic

1-2 tsp grated fresh ginger

1 red pepper, deseeded

2 handfuls of mange toute

half a mug of roasted peanuts

large handful of coriander

3 tbsp vegetable oil

2 desset sp Thai fish sauce

pinch of chilli (or use finely chopped fresh chilli and add with the onions)

2 handfuls of cooked peeled prawns

3 eggs, beaten

Cook the noodles as per the instructions on hte packet - drain and set aside. Slice the onion finely, crush the garlic, prep the ginger, put these in a bowl together. Slice the other veg. Crush the peanuts using a pestle and mortar until they look like crumbs. Chop the coriander finely.

In a wok or deep frying pan, add the oil and heat until pretty hot, then add the onions garlic and ginger. when they have cooked for a few minutes, add the other veg, cook for a further minute or two, then add the fish sauce and chilli powder. Add the prawns and noodles and heat through.

Now add the beaten egg, and mix carefully, aiming to coat all of the noodles with egg. As soon as the egg takes on a cooked appearance, kill the heat and add the coriandar and nuts.

Serves 4, or 2 adults and a greedy teenager...