My love affair with Thai food started long before I visited Thailand a few years back, but my tastebuds came alive when I tasted the authentic street food and incredible variety of food that Thailand has to offer.

My favourite Thai meal? Always has and always will be Pad Thai.

Traditionally Pad Thai is made with rice noodles, which are stir-fried with eggs and tofu, and flavoured with tamarind pulp, fish sauce, dried shrimp, garlic, red chilli pepper and palm sugar, and served with lime wedges and chopped peanuts.

I decided to mix things up a bit and make a Raw Pad Thai, using Kelp Noodles and substituting a few of the other ingredients.

And the result? A deliciously fresh meal with an explosion of flavours, leaving you wanting more! And I bet you’re wondering about the flavour of the Kelp Noodles. Nope, they don’t taste like seaweed at all. In fact they are really similar to rice noodles. The only difference? Kelp Noodles are fat-free, low in carbs & calories, and are made from raw kelp (a sea vegetable) which contains a rich source of trace minerals & iodine.

Method

* Mix together all of the noodle ingredients in a large bowl.

* Blend all of the sauce ingredients in a food processor.

* Toss the sauce with the noodle ingredients and either and leave the flavours to infuse for about an hour.

* Just before serving, divide onto plates and garnish with extra coriander, chilli and cashews & a lime or lemon wedge.

Aroi mak (very delicious!)