Thai sukiyaki noodle soup (suki nam)

Pound garlic into a paste; add Thai chilies and sugar (the sugar's friction helps grind them) and pound to a spicy garlicky paste.

Add a couple of cubes of red bean curd and some juice from its jar; mash it up (easier before the juice goes in).

Add white vinegar, soy sauce and toasted sesame oil; whisk, then add toasted white sesame seeds and chopped cilantro.

Marinate chicken breast with soy sauce, oyster sauce, toasted sesame oil, egg white and cornstarch (velveting); let it sit at least 20 minutes.

Soak glass noodles in room-temperature water for about seven to ten minutes.

Bring unsalted pork stock to a boil; blanch a handful of each vegetable for one minute and transfer to a serving bowl.

Cook the glass noodles in the stock for two minutes. Other noodles should be boiled in a separate pot, since they leach starch and make the broth murky.

Wait for a full boil, then add the chicken so the heat sets the velveting; return to a boil, add the egg and stir only briefly.

Pour into the bowl and stir in a couple of tablespoons of the suki sauce.

For a dipping sauce, mix Thai sriracha with some suki sauce.