Pad Thai

Dietary: vegan and wheat free

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

100g Thai rice vermicelli noodles cooked & drained

100g cashews

1 large red pepper, thinly sliced

3 green chillies, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 lemongrass, thinly sliced

Large bunch of spring onions, thinly sliced

Large handful of bean sprouts, rinsed & drained

2tbsp Tamari (wheat free soy sauce)

1 tbsp of tamarind liquid

Juice of half a lime

Large handful of freshly chopped coriander leaf

Sunflower oil for frying

Choice of garnish

chilli, coriander leaf, spring onion, fried shallots (you can buy them pre made in Asian stores or fry your own), pea shoots, lime wedges

Method:

Heat a large wok and first of all add the cashews and keep them moving until they are golden. Straight away decant them onto a plate to cool or they will burn.

Add a little vegetable oil and fry the marinated tofu (see recipe), don’t move it around too much or it may break up. When the tofu is turning golden and looks crispy remove it from the pan and set aside with the cashews.

Add another splash of sunflower oil and re heat the wok.

Stir fry the chilli, garlic & lemongrass, until the garlic is just golden.

Add the red pepper, fry until softened.

Stir fry & then add the vermicelli, tamari, tamarind & lime juice, making sure everything is well mixed.

Add the cashews, tofu, spring onions, bean sprouts & check the seasoning before adding the coriander leaf.

Serve with your choice of garnish.

Tips: Tamarind liquid is just made by dissolving a walnut size piece of wet tamarind in a little boiling water. Take out any seeds then use; it has a sour sweet flavour.

Traditionally Pad Thai would also include eggs-if you want to include them simple whisk two eggs and add them to the Pad Thai after you have added the noodles, tamari, tamarind and lime. You will need to move the noodles etc to one side as you add the eggs and let them cook until set (like an omelette) before stirring through the dish.