• Jill Dupleix's ultimate pad Thai recipe

Once you've mastered the master recipe, turn the Thai takeaway favourite into a summery salad, fried rice or even brunch.

■ To make pad Thai for vegans, swap the fish sauce for tamari, drop the egg and double the smoked tofu. Swap the protein for finely shredded carrot and 300 grams of purple cabbage, and scatter the dish with crushed cashews (see adapted recipe here).

■ Pad Thai fried rice, anyone? Just fry up all the ingredients and sauce (except noodles) with cooked, cooled jasmine rice. Serve topped with shredded iceberg lettuce and loads of herbs and limes.

■ Turn pad Thai into a tangy, spicy soup. Fry a tablespoon of red or green curry paste in a pan, add coconut milk, chicken stock and chilli to form the base soup, then add noodles, fish, chicken or prawns and beansprouts and finish with fish sauce and lime juice.

■ Add crisp bacon, top with a fried egg and call it brunch. Or serve the noodles inside a folded golden omelette, striping the top with chilli sauce.

■ Pad Thai is very forgiving. If you don't have tamarind, use rice vinegar or lime juice. Use finely-sliced garlic instead of garlic chives. Swap rice-stick noodles for rice vermicelli or glass noodles. Dirty it up with soy sauce, kecap manis and chilli sambal.

■ Summer's coming. Make a pad Thai noodle salad by cooking the noodles, prawns and chicken ahead of time, cool then toss in a vinaigrette of rice vinegar, olive oil, shallots and brown sugar, with a stack of coriander, mint and basil. Serve with halved soft-boiled eggs and crisp fried shallots.