The third season of The White Lotus, Mike White’s luxury-holiday-turned-murder-mystery juggernaut, has landed in Thailand, and viewers are doing what they always do after an episode: booking fictional spa retreats in their heads, googling the filming locations (this season’s reportedly shot around Koh Samui, Phuket and Bangkok), and wondering if that suspiciously charming concierge is about to kill someone.

But back in the real world, something else is happening. Sales of pad Thai are soaring, fishcakes are flying off shelves, and Waitrose has the data to prove it – demand for its chicken pad thai ready meal for one is up 44 per cent, and Thai salmon fishcakes have surged by 188 per cent. Why? Because the only thing more transportive than HBO-grade cinematography is a really good curry paste.

Searches for Thai recipes have jumped 69 per cent week-on-week, and interest in pad Thai itself is up 120 per cent. It seems we’re all trying to recreate the magic of White Lotus from our own kitchens – minus the body count.

So, whether you’re in the mood for chargrilled curry chicken skewers with zingy lime, a red curry that’s quicker than calling Deliveroo, or a stir-fried ginger beef that’ll have you hooked faster than the theme tune, here are three Thai-inspired recipes from Waitrose to bring a little five-star flavour to your next weeknight dinner.

Speedy hake and king prawn red curry

Serve up this delicious Thai-style fish curry in less than 15 minutes; quicker and tastier than a take out. You can cook your own rice in 10-12 minutes, or use a couple of pouches of ready-cooked.

Serves: 4

Prep time: 5 mins | Cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 bunch spring onions, thinly sliced

1 red chilli, thinly sliced

½ x 25g pack fresh coriander, stalks finely chopped, plus leaves, to serve

4 tbsp Thai red curry paste

400g coconut milk

120g extra fine green beans, halved

200g pack hake fillets, cut into large chunks

165g pack raw king prawns

Rice, to serve

1 lime, cut into 4 wedges

Method:

1. Heat the oil in a sauté pan or large, lidded frying pan. Add the spring onions (reserve some green parts to garnish), the chilli and coriander, then fry for 2 minutes.

2. Stir in the curry paste and coconut milk, then bring to a simmer. Add the green beans, fish, prawns and a little salt, then return to a simmer. Cover and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the fish is cooked through, opaque and flakes easily with a fork and the prawns are pink, opaque and cooked through.

3. Scatter over the coriander leaves and reserved green spring onions, then serve with the rice and lime wedges.

Cook’s tip: For added crunch, serve with some crushed salted peanuts for sprinkling over. Deseed the chilli before slicing, if you prefer things less spicy.

Chargrilled Thai-inspired curry chicken skewers

All the flavours of a Thai green curry but lighter and brighter, with plenty of zing!

Serves: 4

Prep time: 15 mins, plus marinating | Cook time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

1kg pack chicken thigh fillets, cut into 2cm strips

4 tbsp Thai green curry paste

3 unwaxed limes, zest, plus juice of 2, 1 cut into wedges

160ml can coconut cream

300g jasmine rice

1 cucumber, halved lengthways, deseeded, then sliced

200g pack trimmed sugar snap peas, sliced lengthways

2 red chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced

25g pack coriander, leaves picked

Method:

1. Put the chicken into a large bowl with the curry paste, the zest and juice of 1 lime and half the coconut cream. Season and mix everything together. Cover, then leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 10 minutes, or up to 12 hours.

2. Cook the rice according to pack instructions, with the remaining coconut cream. Preheat the grill to medium.

3. Weave the strips of chicken onto 8 metal or soaked wooden skewers. Grill on a rack for 6-8 minutes each side, until slightly charred and cooked through with no pink meat and juices that run clear (discard any excess marinade).

4. Mix the cucumber, sugar snaps, chillies and most of the coriander leaves together in a bowl with the juice of 1 lime and a good pinch of salt. Serve the rice in a wide dish with the chicken skewers piled on top, lime wedges for squeezing over, and the salad on the side. Sprinkle with the remaining coriander.

Cook’s tip: Pork shoulder steaks, thinly sliced across the grain, would be ideal in this recipe. You could use red curry paste instead of Thai green, if you have some.

Thai-style ginger beef

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A zingy, aromatic stir fry that’s on the table in less than 30 minutes. Leave the chilli seeds in if you like it spicy.

Serves: 2

Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

75ml beef stock (or water)

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tbsp nam pla fish sauce

1 tbsp reduced salt light soy sauce

1 tsp caster sugar

2 nests dried flat rice noodles

2 tbsp vegetable or sunflower oil

200g rump steak, thinly sliced

2 shallots, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely grated

15g ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 Thai chillies, deseeded and finely sliced

250g pack green pak choi, roughly sliced

½ x 20g pack Thai basil, leaves picked

Method:

1. In a bowl, mix the stock (or water), oyster sauce, fish and soy sauces and sugar; set aside. Prepare the rice noodles according to pack instructions. Drain, rinse and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, heat the oil over a high heat in a large frying pan or wok. When smoking hot, add the steak and shallots; stir fry for 2 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger and chillies; fry for 1 minute more, then add the pak choi and fry for another 1-2 minutes, until the meat is browned all over.

3. Add the sauce mixture to the pan and cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes until it has reduced a little. Take off the heat and stir in half of the basil leaves. Divide the noodles between bowls, top with the beef stir fry and scatter over the remaining basil.

Recipes from Waitrose.com