In a saucepan, add Sichuan pepper (1 tbsp), bay leaf (1 piece), cinnamon stick (1 piece), star anise (2 pieces), and black cardamons (2 pieces).
Add vegetable oil, and heat up on high heat until it just starts smoking. Turn off heat and let rest for 4 minutes (time may vary depending on the amout of oil and room temperature).
In the meantime, fish out the bay leaf, cinnamon stick, star anise and black cardamons from the oil.
Add sesame seeds to hot oil, let it fry for one minute.
Add all other dry ingredients (15g chili flakes, 17g chili powder, 1g 5-spice powder, 1g ginger powder, 1 tsp salt).
Immediately add vinegar to the mixture.
Optionally, add a splash of sesame oil to the mixture.