Honey, Chilli and Coconut Prawns With Ho Fun Noodles

This is a lovely warming dish that feels like the kind of guilty pleasure you'd get from a Chinese takeaway, but in fact, with a few simple tweaks and measuring of all the naughty ingredients, such as the oils and honey, is actually a healthy balanced meal with a good protein:carb:vegetable ratio.

Ho fun are a wide flat noodle and are much better fresh if you can find them - they sell them in most Asian supermarkets and they work really well with this dish. If you can't find them, substitute for another low-calorie rice noodle such as Mama, and if you're on a reduced carb diet, omit from using them at all.

The tiny amount of desiccated coconut adds a fantastic sweetness along with the honey which puts me in mind of a sweet and sour dish, and is balanced well against the sriracha, five spice and shaohsing wine.

The below serves two and comes in at 520 calories per portion with a 100g portion of stir fried hot tun (Chinese greens) - I must stress how important it is to weigh out ingredients if like me you are on a fat fighting/ healthy eating journey as otherwise this could be a seriously calorific dish - by sticking to the below quantities this is a fantastic mid-week meal.

Honey Chilli and Coconut Prawns with Ho Fun

Here's how:

• 200g king prawns
• 200g fresh ho fun noodles
• 1 green pepper
• 2 carrots
• 50g sweetcorn
• 100g broccoli
• 50g fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp sriracha sauce
• 1tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp shaohsing wine
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp coconut oil
• 2 tsp runny honey
• 1 tsp Chinese five spice
• 20g desiccated coconut

Firstly prepare everything as this takes very little time to cook. Crush the garlic and peel and slice the ginger into matchsticks.

Slice the pepper, chop the broccoli into small florets and peel the carrots then also turn into matchsticks.

De-vein the prawns and set aside for the minute.

Now place the coconut oil, sesame oil ginger, garlic and dried chilli flakes into a wok and place on a medium heat till it begins to soften. Now add the Chinese five spice, shaohsing, soy, sriracha, honey and desiccated coconut, and allow to bubble - this will make the delicious gravy or sauce for the dish.

Now firstly add the carrots and broccoli into the wok and allow to cook for a minute. Now add the pepper and sweetcorn and cook for a further minute.

The prawns go in next and only take about 3-4 minutes to cook - you'll know they are cooked when they become pink in colour.

As soon as the prawns are cooked, add the ho fun; or whichever noodles you are using. These will cook in a couple of minutes. Use a spatula to break up gently and mix all the while to ensure the noodles are well coated in the sauce.

Serve alongside some braised or quick-fried Chinese vegetables such as pak choi, ho tun (as I have) or chinese cabbage. Enjoy!