Pad Thai

Ingredients

• 4 1/2 ozrice noodles
• 3lime, juice of 3 for the sauce; likely for serving as wedges
• 1/2 tspcayenne pepper
• 2 tspdark brown sugar, or use light brown sugar
• 2 tbspfish sauce
• 2 tbspvegetable oil
• 7 ozjumbo shrimp, cooked or raw, peeled
• 4scallions, finely sliced
• 5 ozbeansprouts
• 1 ozpeanuts, roughly crushed
• coriander, roughly chopped
• sweet chili sauce, to serve

Method

1. 1

   Sit the rice noodles in a large heatproof bowl and cover them with just-boiled water. Leave for 4 minutes, then drain and run cold water over them so they stop softening.

2. 2

   Squeeze the limes and stir the juice together with the cayenne, dark brown sugar and fish sauce until the sugar has dissolved. Set the bowl next to the stovetop — from here on the cooking is fast.

3. 3

   Get the oil hot in a wok and add the shrimp, tossing them for a minute or two until heated through.

4. 4

   Add the scallions and the drained noodles and toss everything together, then pour in the lime and fish sauce mixture.

5. 5

   Scatter in the beansprouts with half the peanuts and half the coriander. Keep tossing for 1 minute, long enough to heat through but not so long that the sprouts go limp.

6. 6

   Turn it out onto a warm platter, top with the remaining peanuts and coriander, and put lime wedges and sweet chili sauce on the table.