The ingredients. Homa "feeling slightly intimidated by the number of ingredients v the number of minutes to prepare them in."
(Stevie by contrast looks as cool as cucumber) Photograph: Guardian
Homa: "Cooking begins: my first mistake was forgetting to buy sesame seeds, but at least I remembered the sunflower seeds and cashew nuts"
Stevie: "I had everything out and ready to go, like I was told to - that's the key here" Photograph: David Levene/Guardian
Homa: "Pour in boiling water to cover the rice noodles: this is easy!" Photograph: David Levene/Guardian
Homa: "Rubbing spices onto the beef: this smelt delicious, but was also the point at which I realised my second mistake - not checking I had pepper in the house"
Stevie: "... if you are faffing around looking for stuff you might find yourself in a bit of a mess." Photograph: David Levene/Guardian
Homa: "Soy sauce goes into the dipping sauce: running out of time, I started panicking soon after this when the fish sauce splattered across the floor"
Stevie: "I followed the instructions, trusted what the boss was saying and it just flowed" Photograph: David Levene/Guardian
Homa: "How have I almost used up the whole 15 minutes? The end is nowhere in sight: I haven't even started chopping the vegetables yet ... " Photograph: David Levene/Guardian
Homa: "It takes 10 minutes to chop the chillies, lettuce and radishes, slice the spring onions, grate the carrot, snip up the coriander and chop the cucumber: so much still left to do. With no time to slice and dice neatly, I hack away"
Across London Stevie's moved on to lunchtime service ... Photograph: David Levene/Guardian
Homa: "The freshly cooked beef is laid on top of the vegetables and noodles: pretty impressed with my handiwork at this stage despite the time, although this has meant the noodles were soaking for a full 30 minutes and have gone a bit wrong"
Stevie's now moved on to filming an episode of his new TV series Photograph: David Levene/Guardian
Homa: "Finished at last! Minutes later I collapse in a heap"
What seems like hours ago, Stevie was still looking supremely relaxed having finished with 4:28 remaining.
What a consummate pro. Makes you wonder how he does it ... Photograph: Guardian
