1. Place the prawns together with curry paste and chopped coriander leaves in a food processor. Pulse into a paste, then form into 20 balls.
2. Put the rice noodles in a bowl and cover with hot water from the kettle. Leave 4 to 5 minutes until tender, then drain, rinse in cold water and drain again.
3. Stir the fish sauce, chilli sauce, lime zest and juice, brown sugar and chopped red chilli with seeds removed together until the sugar has dissolved. Add fresh mint leaves and spring onions, then toss with the noodles.
4. Fry the prawn cakes for 2 to 3 minutes on each side until golden and cooked through.
5. Serve the prawn cakes with the noodle salad and cucumber pickle. Decorate with more fresh chilli, coriander and a lime wedge.

Cook's tip:
  
If you don’t have time to make cucumber pickle, simply serve with bottled Thai sweet chilli sauce.
   
When choosing prawns, buy peeled and uncooked ones – they are much less expensive than shelled king prawns. They can often be bought for around $10 per kg at supermarkets.