Pad Thai with Prawns

Ingredients

• 200 g flat rice noodles
• 250 g raw king prawns, peeled, deveined
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 100 g bean sprouts
• 3 spring onions, sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp soft brown sugar
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 40 g roasted peanuts, roughly chopped
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• Pickled cucumber, to serve
• Fresh coriander, to serve
• steamed jasmine rice, to serve
• quick cucumber and rice vinegar salad, to serve

Method

1. Soak the rice noodles in just-boiled water for 6–8 minutes until pliable but still with a little bite at the centre — they'll finish cooking in the wok, so undercook them now. Drain and rinse under cold water to stop them in their tracks, then leave to drip.
2. Whisk the fish sauce, tamarind paste, brown sugar and rice vinegar in a small bowl until the sugar fully dissolves. Taste it — it should land sharp, salty, sweet, all three loud. The fish sauce is doing the seasoning work here, so trust it.
3. Pat the prawns dry on kitchen paper and season lightly with salt and pepper. Wet prawns steam instead of searing, and you want a quick blast of colour on them.
4. Heat the oil in a wok over high heat until it shimmers and you see the first wisp of smoke. Add the garlic and stir for no more than 30 seconds, until fragrant and pale gold — don't let it go past that. Burnt garlic turns bitter and you'll taste it through every mouthful.
5. Tip in the prawns in a single layer and don't crowd them — if your wok is small, do this in two batches. Toss for about 2 minutes until they're just pink and curled into loose Cs. Push them up the side of the wok.
6. Pour the beaten eggs into the cleared space and leave them for 20 seconds to set on the base, then scramble into soft curds — about a minute, no more. They'll keep cooking once the noodles hit.
7. Add the drained noodles and pour the sauce straight over the top. Toss vigorously with tongs or two spatulas for 2 minutes, lifting from the bottom so every strand gets coated. The noodles will go from slick to glossy as they drink the sauce in — that's what you're listening for, the sound shifting from splashy to sticky.
8. Throw in the bean sprouts and most of the spring onions and toss for a final 30 seconds. You want the sprouts hot through but still snapping when you bite them. Taste a noodle now — adjust with a splash more fish sauce if it needs salt, or a squeeze of lime juice if it needs lift. Adjust at the wok, not at the table.
9. Pile into bowls, scatter generously with the chopped peanuts, the remaining spring onions and the chilli flakes, and tuck a fat lime wedge in alongside for squeezing over. Serve with steamed jasmine rice and the quick cucumber salad on the side.