Boil water and pour over instant noodles in a bowl. After 5 minutes, pour out warm water, add 1 tablespoon soy sauce and a little oil (to prevent the noodles from sticking), and set aside to cool.

Place 2 tablespoons soy sauce and half of the chopped ginger in a ramekin.

Heat a heavy, large pan over medium heat.

Heat 2 tablespoons rice bran oil in the pan and pour over the soy sauce and ginger. Set aside to allow the flavours to develop.

Lightly stir fry onion and garlic, until the onion lost the worst of it’s bite, but is still firm. Remove from pan and set aside.

Add a little oil (not too much!) to the pan and lightly stir fry carrot to soften it somewhat, but remove it from the pan while still firm. Set aside.

Turn up the heat and stir fry the minced beef. Add curry powder, the remainder of the ginger, and a good pinch of salt. Remove from pan when cooked and set aside.

Add 1/2 teaspoon green Thai curry paste and boiling water to pan and stir briskly to deglaze the pan (this will dissolve the residue left after frying the minced beef). Pour the liquid into a ramekin, but discard the meat residue.

Turn pan down to medium heat again, add a little oil, and lightly stir fry the cabbage and mushrooms until softer but still firm. Remove and set aside.

Briefly fry noodles until smoky.

Add the onion and garlic, carrots, meat, cabbage and mushrooms, as well as the liquids that you’ve set aside, and the chicken stock.

Let the dish heat through, while stirring gently. You want to fry it just long enough to heat it through, retaining all the lovely individual colours and flavours, but not so long that it starts sticking to the pan’s bottom or turn into a mushy mass.

Serve immediately, with freshly brewed green tea and steamed baby corn.

This recipe and photo is from the Rainbow Cooking