Chilli Crab Noodles

Another quick and easy – and lipsmackingly tasty – recipe for you. It is jam packed with those wonderful sweet, sour and salty Asian flavours and fresh green herbs that most of us find irresistible. If you are not allergic to them, a handful of chopped peanuts gives an additional texture and flavour. I used masses of fresh herbs because I love them, but you could omit the mint or use less coriander if you prefer. If you are cleverer than me, buy a fresh crab and prepare it yourself – as usual, I cheated and bought two 100g of mixed crab meat from my local supermarket.

Chilli Crab Noodles

Ingredients serves 4
250g rice noodles
2 large red onions, finely sliced
4 garlic cloves, fineley sliced
2 chillies, finely sliced
2 glugs of sunflower or groundnut oil
4 tbsp ketchup
2½ tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp fish sauce
200g mixed crabmeat
Juice of 2 limes
4 finely sliced spring onions
Handful salted peanuts, chopped
Fresh coriander, 2 tbspn chopped
Fresh mint, tbspn chopped
Lemon

How to prepare
Cook the noodles according to the pack instructions, then drain and run under cold water to rinse off the starch and stop the cooking process and set aside.

Heat a large wok or deep sided frying pan and fry the onions with the oil over a high heat, stirring, until caramelised and softened. Add the garlic and chillies, then fry, stirring, for 1 minute.

Mix the ketchup, soy sauce and fish sauce in a small bowl and add the sauce mixture to the pan and let it warm through. Then add the noodles, lime juice and crabmeat and toss everything together. Take off the heat and stir in the  spring onions, mint, coriander and a big squeeze of lemon. Season well with a little salt and a lot of pepper.