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1
Heat the wok over the highest available flame until it begins to smoke, then add the oil and swirl to coat — a properly smoking wok means the oil will move like water and the aromatics will sizzle instantly rather than stew. Add the garlic and bird's eye chillies and stir-fry for no more than 20 seconds, so the fat carries their heat and fragrance into the wok before any moisture from the seafood can cool things down. The aromatics are ready when the garlic is fragrant and beginning to colour at the edges — not browned through.
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2
Add the prawns and squid and toss continuously over maximum heat, so any liquid they release evaporates on contact rather than pooling and dropping the temperature. The seafood is ready when the prawns have curled and turned opaque and the squid has tightened and taken on faint colour — approximately 90 seconds. Remove from the wok and set aside so the seafood does not carry over into toughness while the noodles are worked.
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3
Without reducing the heat, add the noodles to the dry wok in a single layer, pressing them firmly against the surface and leaving them undisturbed for 30–40 seconds so direct metal contact scorches the outer surface and drives off surface moisture rather than steaming it. This is where the dish lives or dies: the noodles must acquire a true wok char — dark in patches, faintly smoky, with a dry outer surface — before they are turned or broken apart. A pale, steamed noodle at this stage cannot be recovered later.
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4
Add the fingerroot and the combined seasoning sauces, then toss the noodles to coat, breaking apart any clumps so every strand drinks in the sauces while the residual heat is still fierce enough to drive off the liquid rather than leave it sitting. The noodles are ready when the sauces have been absorbed into the noodle surface and no pooling liquid remains in the wok — this is a dry-fried preparation, not a sauced one.
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5
Return the cooked seafood to the wok and toss to combine and reheat, no more than 30 seconds, so it warms through without tightening further. Add the holy basil leaves and fold them through off or at the edge of the heat, so the leaves wilt gently and release their peppery, clove-like fragrance without blackening and turning bitter. The dish is ready when the basil has just wilted and that fragrance rises sharply from the wok.