Ingredients

• 2 heaped tbsp grated palm sugar
• 5 tbsp Thai fish sauce
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice
• vegetable oil
• for deep fat frying
• 125g/4½oz vermicelli or thin rice noodles
• 5 Thai shallots or 1 banana shallot
• thinly sliced
• 400g/14oz raw tiger prawns
• peeled and deveined (feel free to leave the shell on some of the prawns if preferred)
• 1 small thumb-sized piece fresh root ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• grated or crushed
• thumb-sized piece galangal
• finely grated
• at least 3 spring onions
• cut lengthways and thinly sliced
• 150g/5½oz beansprouts
• 3 kaffir lime leaves
• finely sliced
• 200g/7oz freshly picked white crab meat
• handful coriander leaves
• roughly chopped
• handful picked mint leaves (do not chop or the leaves will go brown)
• handful picked holy basil (normal basil will do if not available)
• 1 long red chilli
• sliced on the diagonal for garnish
• 2 limes
• cut into wedges

Directions

• For the dressing
• add the palm sugar and fish sauce to a small bowl and mix well to dissolve the sugar. Add the lime juice and set aside.
• For the crispy noodles
• heat the oil for deep-fat frying in a deep fryer
• wok or large saucepan to 180-190C/250F-375F. When it is ready
• a small cube of bread should become crisp and golden-brown and float to the top in a few seconds. Cook the vermicelli - do this in batches. Fry until puffed up and turning a pale golden-brown colour. Carefully remove using a slotted spoon and drain on a plate lined with kitchen paper.
• Add three tablespoons of vegetable oil to a wok or saucepan. Fry the Thai shallots (or banana shallot) until crisp. Remove from the pan and set aside to drain on kitchen paper.
• Add another tablespoon of vegetable oil to the wok. When hot
• add the prawns and stir or toss until slightly opaque.
• Add the ginger
• garlic
• and galangal and fry for a couple of minutes. Stir until the prawns are cooked – no longer than a minute. Transfer into a large bowl with the crisp shallots.
• Add the spring onions
• bean sprouts
• lime leaves
• and crabmeat. Pour in the dressing and the herbs. Mix well
• but gently as you do not want to bruise the herbs - use your hands for this.
• Layer the salad up in a large serving bowl
• by putting a layer of crisp noodles on the bottom and a layer of prawn and crab mixture on top
• then repeat until you have used up all the ingredients. Garnish with slithers of chilli and lime wedges and serve straight away.