Dry Pot Cauliflower

Ingredients

• 700g cauliflower, broken into small florets
• 150g pork belly, thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp neutral oil
• 1.5 tbsp Pixian chilli bean paste, chopped
• 8 dried Sichuan chillies, snipped
• 1 tsp whole Sichuan peppercorns
• 5 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tbsp sliced ginger
• 1 green pepper, cut into squares
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 3 spring onions, cut into 3cm lengths
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Before you cook

• Break the cauliflower into small florets with plenty of flat cut surfaces, and dry them well
• Slice the pork belly as thinly as you can
• Snip the dried chillies and shake out the seeds
• Slice the garlic, ginger and green pepper

Steps

1. Heat a dry wok over high heat until a drop of water skitters across the surface.
2. Add the cauliflower with no oil and let it sit for one minute so the flat faces blister and char.
3. Toss and continue dry-frying for four minutes until the florets are speckled brown and slightly floppy, then tip them out.
4. Add the oil to the wok and lay in the pork belly slices.
5. Fry the pork over medium heat for three minutes until the fat has rendered and the edges are crisp.
6. Turn the heat low, add the chilli bean paste, and stir until the oil runs red, about forty seconds.
7. Add the dried chillies, Sichuan peppercorns, garlic and ginger, and stir for thirty seconds.
8. Return the cauliflower to the wok along with the green pepper and turn the heat back to high.
9. Splash in the Shaoxing wine, then add the soy sauce and sugar, and stir-fry hard for two minutes.
10. Add the spring onions and sesame oil and toss once.
11. Tip everything into a warm bowl and serve it while the cauliflower still has bite.