Pad Thai

Mix together all of the sauce ingredients. The exact amounts are up to personal preference. It should taste sweet, salty and sour all at once.

Soak the rice noodles in roughly 60°C hot water for about 10 minutes. They should become soft and slightly stretchy, but not so soft that they're falling apart. Make sure they're completely covered in the hot water to avoid hard spots.

Make sure all of the ingredients are close by and prepped before you start cooking. This needs to be cooked over high heat, and there's no time to do any prep once you get started.

Heat a wok with some vegetable oil over high heat until the oil starts to smoke.

Add the 2 tbsp salted preserved radish and 4 tbsp pressed tofu to the wok. Keep them moving for about 2 minutes until the tofu dries out and starts to brown. Add 3 tbsp diced shallots and keep tossing everything for another minute or two until the onion is fragrant and the tofu has developed some more colour.

Add 8 prawns and fry for about 30 seconds. Don't fully cook them, they'll continue cooking throughout the next steps.

Add 100 g rice noodles and briefly toss before adding the combined sauce. Toss them quickly, making sure the sauce coats all of the noodles. If it looks too dry then add a tablespoon of water, just be careful it doesn't become mushy.

Push the noodles to one side of the wok, then pour a tablespoon of oil on the now-empty side. Add 2 eggs and start breaking it up with your spatula. The egg should start to scramble, but don't fully scramble them! Once the eggs are halfway cooked, flip the noodles on top of the egg. Wait for about 10 seconds, then stir thoroughly to distribute the egg throughout the pad thai. This way is more authentic, and means the egg properly cooks into the noodles.

Turn off the heat, then add 2 cups bean sprouts and 1/2 cup garlic chive strips into the wok. Combine them thoroughly, then divide into bowls. If making more servings, rinse out the wok to remove any food and repeat the cooking steps. Add toppings as desired and serve.