Soba noodles with prawns, herbs and passion fruit vinaigrette recipe

A pile (or pint) of pink prawns is as British as cricket, but for the purposes of this dish, I think king prawns have more of a wow factor. Serves two.

80ml groundnut oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
12 sustainably sourced raw king prawns, shelled but with their tails left intact (or 36 raw British prawns)
1 tsp ground turmeric
Salt
170g soba noodles
2 tsp coriander seeds, lightly toasted and gently crushed
1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
7 passion fruit, pulp strained through a sieve to make 60ml juice
2 limes, juiced, to make 4 tsp
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp soft dark brown sugar
15g coriander leaves
10g mint leaves, roughly torn
1 tsp black sesame seeds (or white), toasted

Heat 60ml oil in a medium saute pan on a high flame. Add the garlic, prawns, turmeric and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. Fry for a minute or two, until the prawns turn pink, then tip into a large bowl and leave to cool. They’ll finish off cooking in the residual heat.

Bring a pan of well-salted water to a boil, then cook the noodles according to the packet instructions (they vary from brand to brand): you want them to be tender but still with some bite. Drain, rinse under running cold water and drain again, then add to the prawn bowl with the coriander seeds, chilli and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. Toss and set aside.

In a second bowl, whisk the passion fruit juice, lime juice, fish sauce, sugar, remaining four teaspoons of oil and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt. Spoon half the dressing and half the herbs over the noodles, and toss to combine. Transfer the noodles to a serving platter, top with the remaining herbs, drizzle over the remaining dressing, sprinkle the sesame seeds on top and serve immediately.

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