Goong Ob Woon Sen (Baked Glass Noodles with Prawns)

Using up the rest of the huge box of prawns I had meant thinking of more recipes I could put them in. This one seemed a great one with which to continue the recent trend for seafood and/or Chinese influenced Thai dishes. The Chinese influence can clearly be seen in the use of clay pot cooking and ingredients such as sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing rice wine. A word of advice, check if the pot you're using is safe to go on the stove- mine wasn't so I oven baked my dish which was perfectly fine and certainly healthier- many versions of this in Thailand start with a thin layer of lard to stock everything sticking!

It takes a bit of time to cook but is easy to do and as a one pot dish- makes the washing up after easier!

For two people use:

• 2 sleeves/blocks of glass noodles (woon sen) made from mungbean flour
• 10/12 very large tiger prawns
• a handful of coriander leaves, ripped up
• a small bunch of coriander roots/stalks, chopped
• a 2 inch piece of peeled ginger, chopped
• 4 peeled cloves garlic
• a dessert spoon of black pepper
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• a big splash of light soy sauce
• a small splash of dark soy sauce
• a small splash of Shaoxing Chinese rice wine
• a big splash of oyster sauce
• a small splash of sesame oil
• 1 cup chicken stock

Boil the kettle and pour over the dry glass noodles, letting them soak for about 10 minutes until soft. Pop the oven on to heat up, about 180C/ 360F.

Use a pestle and mortar to make a rough paste of the black pepper, coriander roots/stalks, ginger and garlic; throw this into your baking dish. In a separate bowl/jug, mix up the liquid ingredients (soy sauces, oyster sauce, sesame oil and Shaoxing rice wine). Back to the baking dish and on top of the paste put the drained glass noodles, followed by the sauce you've just made up. On top of everything arrange the prawns and scatter over the spring onions. Place the lid on the dish and cook for 30-40 minutes; the noodles will be soft and crispy near the edges. Sprinkle the chopped coriander leaves over and mix everything together before getting stuck in together.