Recipe: Pad Thai

PAD Thai is my ultimate ‘meal for one’ recipe. It’s healthy, easy to make, and you can use whatever vegetables you have in the fridge. Traditionally Pad Thai is made with tofu, meat or seafood, but I find the sticky, sweet-sour-spicy mass of noodles so delicious with just vegetables. You can buy all the sauce ingredients in a good Asian supermarket – keep them to hand and you’ll be able to whip up tasty Pad Thai at a moment’s notice.

Pad Thai (serves 1)

2 tbsp peanuts
1 tbsp flavourless oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
5 mushrooms, sliced
1 red chilli, finely chopped
70g medium thickness rice noodles
3 spring onions, cut into 1 inch lengths
2 tbsp finely chopped coriander
Lime wedges

For the sauce:
230ml water
½ tsp chilli powder
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
tbsp lime juice or tamarind paste
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp kecap manis
1 heaped tbsp dried shrimp

Stir all the ingredients for the sauce together in a jug. Set aside. Toast the peanuts in a dry frying pan over a medium heat and set aside to cool. When cool, grind to a rough powder in a pestle and mortar or mini chopper. Heat the oil in a medium frying pan or wok on a high heat. Add the garlic, pepper, carrot, mushrooms and chilli and stir-fry for a few minutes, until starting to soften. Add the noodles and pour in the sauce.

Stir-fry over a high heat, stirring frequently, until the noodles have absorbed all of the sauce. Taste one to check – if they are still too firm, add a splash more water and stir-fry until absorbed. The mixture should be sticky but not completely congealed. Add the spring onions and stir-fry for another minute. Serve sprinkled with the coriander and peanuts, with lime to squeeze over.

• Elly blogs at nutmegsseven.co.uk