Mix Sichuan pepper (15g) and dried red chili (20g) in one bowl. Adjust the amount here to your liking.
Mix cinnamon (1 stick), star anise (2 pieces), black cardamom (1 piece) and bay leaves (2-3 pieces) in another bowl.
Slice ginger (1 inch knob) and garlic (5-6 cloves), cut spring onions (3 pieces) into inch-long pieces, put in yet another bowl.
PART II
Slice all veggies into bite size pieces
Mix Shaoxing wine (30ml) and light soy sauce (30ml).
Boil some water (200ml).
PART III
Slice beef into very thin slices (around 2mm thick) against the grain.
Mix with Shaoxing wine (1 tbsp), soy sauce (1 tbsp), starch (1 tsp), egg white and salt. Mix well and marinate for at least 15 minutes.
PART IV
Mince the garlic (2 cloves) finely.
Mix the chili flakes (1 tbsp) and powder (1 tbsp) in a bowl, adjust the amount to your taste.
Chop up coriander if using.
Cooking & Assembly
PART I
Heat up oil in wok.
Put in Sichuan pepper and dried red chili, fry until chili starts to turn dark slightly (about 1 min).
Scoop out the pepper and chili with a metal sift, set aside and let cool.
Add cinnamon, star anise, black cardamom and bay leaves to hot oil, fry until fragrant (about 30s).
Add sliced ginger, spring onions and garlic to oil, fry until the onion and garlic turns golden.
Turn off heat.
Scoop out all solids from the oil, discard the solids (or eat the fried garlic slices, they’re yummy).
Use mortar and pestle to roughly grind the reserved Sichuan pepper and chili. (Alternatively, chop them up with a knife, but they have a tendency to fly around.) Put them back to a bowl. This will be used for the final assembly.
PART II
In another pan or wok, add 1 tbsp oil and heat up.
Add veggies, stir fry until they are soft.
In the mean time, heat up the first wok with oil in it. Add doubanjiang, keep stirring until the oil turns red, about 1-2 min.
Add Shaoxing wine and soy sauce.
Add water, boil.
Transfer veggies to the wok with oil-water mixture, boil for another 2-3 min.
Turn off heat.
Take veggies out and put them on the bottom of a deep serving bowl.
PART III
Put marinated beef slices into the oil-water mixture one piece at a time, make sure they don’t stick together.
Turn up heat, cook until the water is boiling and the beef is no longer pink. This shouldn’t take too long as the beef is sliced very thin. Overcooking them will result in a rough and chewy texture. Turn off heat the moment the beef is no longer pink.
Pour everything into the serving bowl on top of the veggies.
PART IV
Put the pepper-chili mixture from PART I along with minced garlic, chili flakes and powder on top of everything in the serving bowl.
Heat up oil until it’s almost smoking.
Pour hot oil over the garlic and chili, let it sizzle.