Pad See Ew

How to make it

1. Stir the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, oyster sauce, palm sugar, and white pepper together in a small bowl. Keep stirring for a couple of minutes, until the palm sugar has fully dissolved and the sauce is glossy and evenly dark. The sugar needs to be gone by now, because in the blazing-hot wok it won't have time to melt.
   Chef's tip The dark sweet soy is there mainly for color and sweetness — the salt comes from the light soy and the oyster sauce. Swap the amounts around and the dish ends up either pale or unpleasantly salty.
2. Cut the pork tenderloin into thin slices across the grain, about half a centimeter thick. Toss the slices with the light soy sauce for the meat, so each slice is glossily coated, and let them sit while you prep the rest.
3. Separate the fresh rice noodles with your fingers, one strand at a time, so they don't end up in the wok as a single clump. If they're cold and stiff, warm them briefly over steam or in the microwave until they're soft and pliable and slide apart without breaking.
   Chef's tip Chilled rice noodles are stiff because the starch has set; gentle heat softens it again. A strand should bend double without snapping — if it snaps, the noodles are still too cold and will break into pieces in the wok.
4. Cut up the Chinese broccoli: the stems into diagonal slices about 3 cm long, the leaves roughly chopped. Keep the two parts separate, since the stems need a head start in the wok. Chop the garlic coarsely.
5. Slice the chilies into thin rings and stir them into the rice vinegar in a small bowl. Set the bowl aside so the vinegar can draw strength from the chili while you wok.
6. The dish is cooked in two batches, half of everything per batch, because a crowded wok steams instead of charring the noodles. Set the wok over high heat and let it get thoroughly hot, until a drop of water evaporates instantly. Pour in 2 tbsp of the oil and wok half the garlic and half the marinated meat for just under 2 minutes, until the meat is white all the way through with no pink center.
   Chef's tip Wait for the wok to smoke faintly before the oil goes in — noodles added to a merely warm pan release moisture and boil in it rather than charring. A crowded wok drops the temperature the same way.
7. Push the meat up the side of the wok and crack 2 eggs onto the cleared base. Stir them for half a minute, until they've just set into soft flakes, then mix them with the meat.
8. Add half the sliced stems and wok them for 1 minute, until they're glossy and have lost their raw snap. Fold in half the leaves and let them wilt for half a minute, until they're deep dark green.
9. Add half the separated noodles and pour half the sauce over. Turn everything with a spatula, lifting from underneath rather than stirring, so the strands don't break apart. Let the mixture sit completely still a few times along the way, 3 minutes in total, until every strand is evenly dark with black, almost-charred edges here and there.
   Chef's tip Lift and fold from underneath with the spatula rather than stirring — wide fresh noodles tear easily once softened and warm. Broken strands turn the dish into fragments that won't hold sauce.
10. Turn the finished batch out into a bowl and cover it with a plate to keep it warm. Scrape the wok clean and put it back over high heat. Then repeat with the rest of the oil, garlic, meat, eggs, stems, leaves, noodles, and sauce. The second batch should come out with the same dark, charred edges.
    Chef's tip Scrape out stuck sugar and soy residue between batches — it's already at its browning limit and will turn acrid and bitter in the second round. Reheat until a water drop skitters before adding oil.
11. Divide both batches among four flat plates right away, while the noodles are still steaming hot. Put the bowl of chili vinegar on the table, and let everyone drizzle a couple of teaspoons over their own portion before the first bite — the tart sharpness belongs to the dish but is dosed at the table, not in the wok.