First prepare all the ingredients: chop the garlic, spring onions and tofu.  Have everything ready on the bench to be thrown into the wok.  I precook the shrimp as I can’t seem to get my wok hot enough.

In a small pot, mix together the ingredients for the sauce and heat. Taste it to see if you like the salt/sweet sour combination.  Remember that the flavours will not be as strong when added to the Pad Thai.

Soak the rice noodles in hot/boiling water for about 5 - 10 minutes.  When they’re ready to cook you should be able to wind them around your finger.

Now, are you sure that everything’s ready?  The cooking goes fast, so there’s no time to prepare anything!  Right off we go then! Heat some vegetable oil in a wok until it’s very hot.  Throw in the garlic.  Let it sizzle for a couple of minutes, then throw in the tofu cubes.  Cook them, stirring constantly, until they are brown.

Drain the noodles and add them.  Add half the sauce and stir until the noodles can be broken between your fingers….this may only take a couple of minutes.

Push the noodles to the side and add the eggs.  Scramble them and then stir everything in together.

Add the shrimp or chicken (precooked) and stir.

Add more of the sauce all through this cooking period. Take off the heat.

Add the beansprouts  and spring onions.  Add the lime juice. Stir.  Sprinkle with ground peanuts.

Eat it hot!  After a couple of tries, it gets less nerve-wracking to make.  As long as everything is ready to go, it’s easier than pie! When you get confident, you can start throwing in handfuls of things: more or less of each ingredient, depending on your tastes.