Sichuan Braised Pork

Directions

Thinly slice a pork chop, white fish fillet, or flank steak across the grain. Briefly par-freezing the meat will make it easier to slice.
Marinate in a combination of salt, msg, white pepper, corn starch, soy sauce, shaoxing wine, and an egg white, for 30 minutes.
While the meat is marinating, prepare some toppings:
Briefly toast some sichuan peppercorns and dried, seeded chillies in a dry wok, and grind into a fine powder with a spice mill or mortar and pestle.
Slice some scallion greens into thin rings, and roughly chop some cilantro.
If making homemade chili oil, deseed, toast, and powder a handful of dried chillies.
Heat some vegetable oil in a pan, and infuse star anise, bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, cloves, fennel seeds, sichuan peppercorns, and ginger.
Once the oil has heated up, remove the spices and pour the oil over the chili powder in a heat-proof container, in three phases:
One third at 190C, one third at 135C, and one third at 85C.
Let it cool to room temperature, then strain through a coffee filter for a clear red oil.

Now for the main dish:

In a wok over medium high heat, add 100ml of vegetable oil.
Add in 3cm worth of minced ginger, 5 cloves of minced garlic, and scallion whites, chopped into 4cm lengths.
Once fragrant, add in 150ml of doubanjiang. Fry for a minute in the oil, so that it's infused with the chili bean paste and starts to turn red.
Add in 60ml of soy sauce, stir together, then add 750ml of water.
Bring the broth to a boil, and add in 3 stalks of celery and their leaves, cut along a bias.
Next add in 5 napa cabbage leaves, the greens hand-torn into rough pieces, and the whites sliced into 1cm wide strips.
Remove the vegetables after a minute of blanching, into a serving bowl.
Now, add in the sliced meat, poaching for a minute before removing into the serving bowl.

Ladle a few cups of the broth over the vegetables and meat, then top with the peppercorn-chili powder, scallion greens, cilantro, and some sesame seeds.
Heat up some chili oil and drizzle it over the toppings to release their fragrance. Use a good amount of oil and mix well before eating — this is supposed to be spicy!