Mushroom or lam

Step 1: Lift 6 dried shiitake mushrooms out of their soaking water, squeeze them, cut off the stems and slice the caps. Keep the soaking water, leaving behind any grit at the bottom.

Step 2: Thread 3 shallots, 4 cloves garlic and 3 dried or fresh red chillies onto a skewer, or put them in a dry pan, and char over a medium-high flame for 5–6 minutes, turning, until blistered and blackened in patches. Pound them roughly in a mortar.

Step 3: Put 3 ¼ cups water, the mushroom water, 2 stalks lemongrass, 2 in sakhan (pepper wood) or Sichuan peppercorns and the pounded aromatics in a pot. Bring to the boil, then simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes so the broth turns smoky and peppery.

Step 4: Add 6 Thai or small round aubergines, 1 ¾ oz pea aubergines and the sliced shiitake and simmer for 15 minutes, until the aubergine is very soft. Lift out two pieces of aubergine, mash them and return them to the pot.

Step 5: Add 5 ½ oz yardlong beans and 7 oz oyster mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes. Squeeze 3 tbsp cooked sticky rice to a paste with your fingers and stir it in; simmer for 5 minutes more, stirring often, until the stew turns thick and clinging, like a loose gravy. Common mistake: adding the sticky rice in a lump; it stays as a gluey ball. Mash it with its soaking water first and stir as it goes in.

Step 6: Season with 2 tbsp tamari and ½ tsp salt, then add 3 ½ oz ivy gourd leaves, spinach or pumpkin shoots, 3 spring onions and most of 1 bunch dill and cook for 2 minutes, until the leaves wilt. Fish out the lemongrass and sakhan.

Step 7: Ladle into bowls, top with 1 handful Thai basil and the rest of the dill, and serve with sticky rice and a jeow.