Thai Noodle and Prawn Salad

Yesterday Kerri commented that she was craving some sort of Thai style salad with lime juice and fish sauce in it and remembered the one we had made in this dinner. So we tried something similar, but it was not as successful this time because we could not get the bean vermicelli at the last minute and used rice vermicelli instead.

The flavour combinations were good though, the hot, sour and salty dressing with just a dash of sweetness soaking into the noodles and prawns, being freshened up by all the finely chopped, crunchy vegetables and the coriander. The main drawback was that the noodles had gone a big soggy – we either end up with those particular noodles being underdone or overdone, hard to get them right. Certainly something to try again, but with the correct noodles!

Thai Noodle and Prawn Salad (based on a recipe from the Blue Elephant book)
Serves Two

200g vermicelli
1 green chilli
4 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp lemon juice
4 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp vegetable oil
200g prawns
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 large shallots, finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped
2 small carrots, shredded

Cook the vermicelli as per the packet instructions.

Coarsely grind the chilli with two cloves of garlic and mix with the sugar, lemon juice and fish sauce.

Crush the remaining cloves of garlic and brown in some oil.

Cook the prawns in boiling water for 2 minutes and then drain.

Combine all of the above and sprinkle with coriander.