Ground chicken stir-fried fast with capsicum, onion and spring onion, then tossed through hydrated rice noodles with a fistful of basil thrown in at the last second. The dish reads as Thai-Chinese pantry cooking at its quickest, somewhere between a pad krapow and a Cantonese chow fun.

Thai basil (the licorice-scented variety with the purple stems) is the right choice if you can find it; the heat in the wok releases the oils and gives the dish its signature aniseed perfume. Italian sweet basil works as a substitute but reads softer and rounder, less savoury.

Get the wok smoking before the oil goes in. Ground chicken cooks in 90 seconds; the trick is to break it up hard so it browns rather than steams in its own liquid. Vegetables in by hardness, sauce of soy, oyster and a touch of sugar just before the noodles, basil right at the end off the heat so it wilts rather than fries.

Serve in deep bowls with sliced green chilli on top and a wedge of lime on the side. A Singha or a Tiger beer alongside; the dish is hot enough to need the cold. Twenty minutes from chopping to eating.