Mie Goreng (Indonesian Fried Noodles)

Have every ingredient chopped and within arm's reach before you light the burner. This dish takes about six minutes from start to plate.

💡 There is no moment during the cooking when you can stop and chop a shallot. Wok cooking punishes preparation gaps immediately.

Heat the wok until a drop of water vanishes on contact, then add a tablespoon of oil and swirl it round.

Fry the shallots, garlic and chili for 30 seconds until they smell sweet, then add the chicken and cook until it loses its pink.

Add the prawns and stir until they curl and turn opaque — barely a minute.

Push everything to one side, crack the eggs into the empty space, let them set for a few seconds, then scramble them roughly and fold into the rest.

💡 Give the egg its own patch of hot metal. Cracked over the noodles it coats them in a raw film and steams instead of frying.

Throw in the cabbage and mustard greens and toss for a minute — they should stay bright and still have bite.

Add the drained noodles, pour the kecap manis, soy sauce and white pepper down the hot side of the wok, and toss hard until every strand is evenly dark.

💡 Sauce poured down the hot wall caramelises on the way in; poured into the middle it just wets the noodles. Toss with tongs and a lifting motion, not a stirring one.

Fold in the tomato wedges at the last second, plate up, and finish with fried shallots, prawn crackers and a wedge of lime.