Spaghetti with Nam Prik Pao

This recipe is kind of a farang( like lao wai in Chinese - white devil) Pad Thai recipe, in that it has most of the usual ingredients of Pad Thai, but it uses the Thai nam prik pao, or roasted chili paste, instead of the tamarind sauce. It also uses spaghetti, a Westerner ingredient (Pad Thai normally uses rice noodles), and carrots and zucchini instead of chives and bean sprouts. We used the vegetarian version of nam prik pao, which doesn't have shallots or garlic (which are "hot" vegetables; in other words, stimulating - so, if you are making this dish for a Buddhist vegetarian, you wouldn't make it with the garlic, nor the shrimp) and no dried shrimp or shrimp paste, instead it uses soy sauce, soy protein, fermented bean and shiitake mushroom; either one is acceptable. This is a somewhat spicy dish, depending on how much of the nam prik pao you add. So saying, it tastes pretty good, a Thai influenced dish.

Spaghetti with Nam Prik Pao
1-1/2 cup cooked spaghetti
vegetable oil
1/4 cup diced extra-firm tofu
2" carrot, sliced
2" zucchini, sliced
1 clove garlic
6 prawns
2 Tbsp nam prik pao
1 Tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp lime juice
1 egg
3 green onions, sliced into long strips

Cook spaghetti as per package directions.

Fry tofu in oil over medium heat until brown. Set aside.

Fry carrot and zucchini slices in a little of oil until almost soft, then add prawns and garlic. When the prawns are cooked, set aside with the fried tofu.

Fry the nam prik pao in 2 tablespoons of oil for about 30-60 seconds, then add noodles, sugar, lime juice, fish sauce; stir to mix.

Make a big hole in the middle (push the noodles to the edge of the wok) and add 2 tablespoons of oil, and then crack in the egg. Stir to break the egg yolk and leave it until the egg is almost cooked, but still a little liquidy.

Fold in the noodle over the cooked egg, and add the tofu mixture and stir to mix everything.