Lara Lee’s recipe for tom yum fried rice

A weeknight fried rice that’s spicy, sour and intensely savoury. Using shop-bought paste and leftover cooked rice or microwave rice makes easy work of this dish based on the popular Thai soup. The paste sings of tom yum’s flavours, with galangal, lemongrass, chilli and lime leaf, while the extra aromatics boost the fragrance and vibrant punch. Tom yum paste (I like Maesri’s) and lime leaves are available at supermarkets, Asian grocers and online.

Tom yum fried rice

Prep 20 min
Cook 25 min
Serves 2

Peanut oil, or other neutral oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
30g ginger, peeled and finely chopped or grated
1 lemongrass stalk, white part only, finely chopped
3 makrut lime leaves, deveined and very thinly sliced
10g coriander (ie, a small handful), leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
2 spring onions, trimmed and thinly sliced
2½ tbsp tom yum paste
2 tsp tomato paste
12 large peeled prawns, peeled but tails left on, and deveined (215g)
80g brown or white mushrooms, sliced
8 cherry tomatoes (100g), halved
250g cooked and cooled jasmine rice, or 250g cooked and cooled microwave rice
1½ tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 lime, cut into wedges
2 eggs
Cucumber slices, to serve
Shop-bought fried shallots, to serve

Put a tablespoon and a half of oil in a wok on a medium-high heat. Add the garlic, ginger, lemongrass, lime leaves, coriander stalks and half the spring onions, and cook, stirring, for a minute.

Add the tom yum and tomato pastes, and cook for a further 30 seconds. Add the prawns and cook, stirring, for a minute or two, until just cooked through and coated in the paste. Using tongs, transfer the prawns to a plate, leaving the paste mix in the wok.

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Add the mushrooms to the wok and cook, tossing frequently, for a minute; add a small splash of extra oil, if need be. Add the tomatoes, cook for 30 seconds, then add the rice, fish sauce and sugar, and cook for another minute, until heated through.

Return the prawns to the wok with the remaining spring onion, toss to combine, then take off the heat and squeeze over lime juice to taste – about a quarter to half a lime.

Put a tablespoon of oil in a medium-sized frying pan on a medium-high heat, then, once it’s shimmering, crack in the eggs and cook for two to three minutes, until the whites are partially cooked and the edges are turning crisp. Turn down the heat to medium-low and keep on the heat until the whites are cooked through.

Divide the rice between two plates or shallow bowls, top with the prawn mix, a fried egg, the cucumber slices, fried onions, coriander leaves and remaining lime wedges, and serve.

Lara Lee is the author of A Splash of Soy, published by Bloomsbury at £22. To support the Guardian, you can order a copy for £19.80 plus P&P at guardianbookshop.com