What I love about this recipe is that you can tailor it to your mood and dietary requirements. I’ve always wanted to try laab – a traditional Thai/Laoation dish normally made with meat. This recipe replaces the meat with mushrooms, peanuts and ground rice. The latter (part of the traditional recipe) adds a lovely crunchy texture. It is vegan if you use vegan fish sauce but benefits from the wonderfully pungent Nam Pla if you eat fish. Originally by Yotam Ottolenghi and his team, I’ve taken a few liberties, such as giving options of using very fine wheat noodles and homemade lightly pickled cucumber. It keeps well overnight if you want some more for tomorrow’s lunch – just keep the different elements separate. It really helps if you have a blender if time is short

 The laab:

16g basmati rice

300g mushrooms (I use chestnut ones), very finely chopped or lightly blitzed in a blender

60g roasted (ideally unsalted) peanuts, very finely chopped or lightly blitzed in a blender

2-3 pinches of chilli flakes

1 ½ tbsp light oil 

½ tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)

½ tbsp soy sauce (you might need less if using salted peanuts)

1 tbsp lime juice (you’ll need 2-3 limes for the different parts of this recipe)

The noodle salad:

150g French beans, trimmed and cut into thirds lengthways

100g vermicelli rice noodles or very fine wheat noodles

½ - 1 mild red chilli, very finely diced according to taste

½ banana shallot

¼ cucumber (100g) quartered, deseeded, cut into 2mm thin slices or lightly pickled cucumber

2 pinches of salt

The dressing:

35ml tamarind paste

20-30 ml agave syrup, according to taste (maple syrup or honey also works)

1 tbsp fish sauce

½ tbsp soy sauce

1 ½ - 2 tbsp lime juice, according to taste

1 ½ tbsp groundnut oil

To serve:

4g torn mint leaves

4g torn thai basil leaves

6g torn coriander leaves

• Put the rice into a small pan and dry fry over a low heat for 10 minutes or until the rice begins to colour and smell nutty. Take off the heat and once cool grind/blitz to a very fine powder.

• Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to the instructions. Drain, run under cold water and add to a large salad bowl.

• Meanwhile, cook the beans in salted boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and run under cold water. Add to the noodles. Then add the cucumber, chillies, shallot and salt. Stir well and set aside to infuse flavours. 

• In a separate small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients, starting with the lowest amount of agave and lime juice, and adjust according to your taste. When happy with the balance, add a tablespoon of the dressing to the noodle salad, and stir well. Set aside

• Heat 1½  tablespoons of oil in a large pan over a medium to high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook for 12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has cooked away and the mushrooms have browned. Add the chilli flakes and cook for 2 minutes more. Take the pan off the heat and stir through the ground rice, peanuts, fish sauce, soy (you might need less with salted peanuts) and lime juice. Stir well and check the flavour balance. Add some of the dressing to the mixture.

• To serve, divide the noodle salad between two wide bowls, sprinkle with some more dressing, then crumble over the mushroom laab. Strew with the herbs.