This is the kind of recipe where you can swing by the grocery store on your way home from work, pick up a few bits, and have a great meal on the table within ten minutes of arriving in your kitchen. Just get all your stuff ready for this one–when you start cooking, it all kicks off! Good luck.
Serves 2.
a thumb-sized piece of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1 fresh red chile
a small bunch of fresh cilantro
peanut or vegetable oil
1/2 lb large shrimp, raw, peeled
1 heaped teaspoon five-spice powder
1 t cornstarch
1/2 C fresh corn kernels
a small handful of snow peas
2 T soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
1/2 t honey
1 t sesame oil
a handful of frozen peas
7 oz rice sticks or vermicelli
a small handful of beansprouts
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To prepare:
Put a large pan of water on to boil.
Peel and finely slice the ginger and garlic.
Finely slice the chile.
Pick the cilantro leaves from the stalks and put to one side, then roughly chop the stalks.
To cook:
Preheat a wok or large frying pan on a high heat and once it’s very, very hot add a good lug of peanut oil and swirl it around.
Stir in the cilantro stalks, ginger, garlic, chile, shrimp, and five-spice powder, and fry for a minute.
Add the cornstarch, corn, and snow peas and give them a good toss or stir for another minute.
Stir in the soy sauce, lime juice, honey, sesame oil, and frozen peas.
Add the rice sticks (or vermicelli) to the pan of boiling water and use a wooden spoon to break them up a bit.
Cook for just 2 minutes, no longer.
Drain the rice sticks in a colander over a bowl, reserving the cooking water.
Add a large spoonful or ladleful of the cooking water to the wok and cook for a further minutes or two.
To serve:
Use tongs to divide the rice sticks between your serving bowls, or to lift them on to one large serving platter.
Spoon the shrimp, veggies, and any juices over the top and sprinkle with the beansprouts and cilantro leaves.
