This is another really quick dish that’s great for the van. This is loosely based on an Asian dish, Phad Thai, and has lots of flavours: sweet, chilli and lime and a depth that only fish sauce can add.
by Martin Dorey
Also, rice noodles are fantastic because they don’t need cooking on the hob. All you have to do is soak them in boiling water for a few minutes until they soften enough to add to your dish. If you can’t find them at your local supermarket, try an Asian supermarket. They are cheap and will store for ages.
INGREDIENTS / Serves Four
- 1 pack of rice noodles (around 3-400g)
- 400g of peeled and cooked king prawns
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- Splash of toasted sesame oil (optional)
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, chopped or crushed
- 1 tsp of brown sugar
- A bunch of spring onions (5-7), roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp of fish sauce
- 2 tbsp of soy sauce
- A bunch of fresh coriander, chopped coarsely
- 2 large eggs
- 1 x lime
- A large handful of ready salted peanuts, crushed.
METHOD
Boil a pan full of water. When boiling, remove from the heat and add the noodles. Make sure they are all covered. Leave them to soak while you cook the rest of the dish, but be careful not to leave them in for more than about 5 minutes.
When they feel that they are almost done, drain and then rinse in cold water. Then, if you have it – although not essential – pour on a little toasted sesame oil and stir in to the noodles. This will help to stop them sticking and becoming claggy. Leave until you are ready to use them.
In a large frying pan or wok (if you have one aboard), heat up the cooking oil on a med / high flame and cook the spring onion, along with the chilli and garlic for just a couple of minutes.
Add the prawns and cook for a minute or so, then add the sugar, fish sauce, soy sauce and stir, then add the cooked noodles and the coriander. Mix around gently once.
Next, move everything to one side of the pan and break the two eggs into the empty half. Scramble the eggs quickly and mix in with the noodles. Remove from the heat.
Squeeze lime juice all over and then serve in bowls. As a final garnish sprinkle over each bowl with half of the peanuts.
Martin Dorey is a writer, surfer, VW owner and keen shrimper (he was also the presenter of a BBC2 TV show called ‘One man And His Campervan’ and the author of ‘The Camper Van Cookbook’. Martin is a surfer first and an authority on the apostrophe second. He can often be found eating out of rock pools.
martindorey.com