Curry mee

I think this is officially my new favourite noodle dish. It's very spicy, sweet with coconut milk and jaggery, and bursting with sweet prawns, meaty pork balls, and tender crisp vegetables. Don't let the number of ingredients put you off - once everything's assembled, it cooks quickly and easily, and results in a supremely satisfying bowl of spicy goodness.

Recipe

If you want a more elegant presentation, you can restrict the amount of vegetables, meat and garnish you throw on there, so it looks neater. However if you're not worried about neatness, pile the good stuff on!

• 1 tsp oil
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp minced lemongrass
• 1/2 cup minced onion or shallot
• 1 tsp shrimp paste
• 3 tsp minced red chilli
• 1-2 large dried chillies
• 1/2 tsp coriander powder
• 1/4 tsp ground pepper
• 1 tbsp dried shrimp, minced or ground
• 2 cups chicken or fish stock
• 2 tbsp brown sugar or jaggery
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 4-6 cubes of deep fried tofu
• 2 handfuls bean sprouts
• 1 portion of wheat noodles (ramen or similar)
• 1 portion of rice noodles (vermicelli or medium thickness)
• Cooked meat of your choice (in this example I used prawns, crab sticks, and pork balls. Fish balls, cockles, cubes of pig blood, and char sui pork slices are all popular options)
• Veg of your choice (in this example I used spring onions, asparagus and mooli)
• Garnish of your choice (sliced spring onions/scallions, deep fried shallots, shredded mooli or carrot, coriander or Thai basil leaves, etc.)
• Chilli sauce to serve

Heat the oil in a large pan and set a second smaller pot of water on to boil. While it's heating, prepare your garnishes.

In the large pan, add the garlic, lemongrass, onion or shallot, shrimp paste and minced chilli to the oil. Cook a minute or two, then add the dried chilli, coriander, pepper, and dried shrimp. Cook another minute or two, then add the brown sugar and stock, then the tofu. Bring to a boil and simmer.

After about 5 minutes, when the liquid has reduced a bit, add the coconut milk and continue to simmer. At this stage also add any meat or veg you need to cook, then add any you want to warm up.

In the second pan, add the two types of noodles and cook. Remove and keep warm, then blanch the bean sprouts.

Divide the noodles between two bowls and top with bean sprouts. Pour the sauce with the vegetables, tofu and meats over the noodles, and top with your garnishes and chilli sauce to taste.

Serves: 2
Preparation and cooking time: 20-25 minutes