Pad macaroni (Thai stir-fried pasta with ketchup sauce and shrimp)

Mix the sauce: ketchup, Thai sriracha to taste (none for kids), Golden Mountain sauce, a touch of sugar (or add it at the end after tasting) and white pepper.

Drop the tube pasta into salted water just before starting at the wok so it is ready on time and does not sit and clump.

Cook the shrimp separately until browned and just cooked; set aside. (Chicken would be marinated in a little soy sauce first.)

Add a little more oil and butter, keep the heat low, and cook the garlic in the butter; as the butter browns add carrots and onions, about a minute if you like them crunchy.

Add the three eggs, break the yolks without scrambling, let them set partway, then toss with the vegetables into big marbled pieces. Turn off the heat until the pasta is ready.

Drain the pasta, shaking the colander hard so no salty water stays trapped in the tubes.

Heat back on; add the pasta and sauce and toss until coated; taste and adjust sugar.

Add tomatoes; turn off the heat, toss in green onions and the shrimp.

Eat straight away while shiny; reheated, the sauce soaks into the pasta and it is less moist.