Food Around the World - Pad Thai with Prawns and Eggs Strips

I am completing the series with this recipe. I love Thailand and besides the beauty, the cuisine is a favourite of mine. Fresh ingredients play a large part in good cuisine and I hope I have inspired you to grow or source your own. It will instantly improve the taste of anything you cook. I am a great fan of making my own sauces rather than buying them, and so include the recipe to make your own where I can.

This recipe is made up of two parts. The first is to make an authentic pad Thai sauce and the second is to cook the other ingredients in the sauce.

Sauce

1T tamarind paste

1/4 cup chicken stock

3T fish sauce

1T Soy sauce

½ t cayenne pepper

pinch ground white pepper

4T palm sugar or brown sugar

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and stir over a very low heat until the tamarind paste and sugar dissolves. When taste-testing, keep in mind that the pad Thai sauce should taste sweet first, followed by spicy-salty and sour last. Add more sugar if it tastes too sour to you, or add more chilli. The sauce will taste almost too strong at this point, but once mixed with the noodles, the flavour will be perfect.

250g rice noodles

1T peanut oil

20 large prawns

100g bean sprouts

50g fresh coriander

Pad Thai sauce

2 eggs, beaten

Limes and garlic chives to garnish

Place the noodles in a large bowl and cover with boiling water.

Heat the oil in a wok and stir fry the prawns.

Drain the noodles and add to the wok together with the sprouts, coriander and sauce. Toss together and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs and allow to cook without stirring for 1 minute. Toss the eggs with the other ingredients.

Serve hot and garnish with lime wedges and chives.

Any meat works well with this dish.

Make a large batch of the sauce and bottle. The sauce will keep for up to 2 weeks in a sterilised glass jar in the fridge.