Peppery Thai basil noodles

My husband and I went to New York in April and after visiting this church (we thought we might see Tim Keller! We didn't, but it was still pretty cool) we went for a late dinner in Greenwich Village. We only had four days in the city and we wanted to make the most of our time there, so a look at the Village area at night was better than nothing.

We came across a very good value Thai restaurant (our wallets were feeling a bit battered!). We chose noodle dishes and were both disappointed by our choices - mine was too bland and my husband's was too spicy. Once we had swapped, I was in heaven! He had chosen a very peppery basil noodle dish which I have attempted to re-create (I say "attempted" to be modest - it was pretty darn tasty!).

Peppery Thai basil noodles
To serve one


1 carrot
2 chesnut mushrooms
small handful of curly kale (or your favourite greens) 
40g buckwheat (or your favourite) noodles
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 tsp red peppercorns
2 tbsp fish sauce (or nam pa)
3 tsp sugar
3 or 4 sprigs of fresh basil (I used regular basil but I'm sure it would taste even better with Thai basil)

Peel the carrot and chop into thin sticks. Boil a half-full kettle. Spray a wok with cooking spray or 1 tsp oil and add the carrots once the pan is hot. Chop the mushrooms and curly kale into thin slices and add them to the pan when the carrots are starting to char on the edges. Keep moving everything around the pan by flipping it, or stirring.

Add the noodles to a bowl with the boiling water from the kettle and leave for 5 minutes or until tender. Grind the peppercorns in a food processor or pestle and mortar. Drain the noodles and add to the wok with a few tablespoons of the water the noodles were soaking in. Add the peppercorns, fish sauce, sugar and basil and stir thoroughly.