Cantonese zha jiang (meat sauce) lo mein, wonton noodle shop style

Dice fatty pork to mung bean size or grind coarsely; 400 g.

Render the pork in a wok with a tablespoon of peanut oil: loosen it for a couple of minutes, scrape off whatever sticks with a metal wok spatula, and keep going until it releases lard and starts to brown, 15 to 20 minutes over medium to medium-high.

Optionally loosen the mianxi paste first with a couple tablespoons of the rendered lard so it mixes in more easily.

Add 40 g mianxi paste and fry about a minute over medium to combine; add 40 g Guilin chili sauce and fry briefly.

Add one by one 80 g hoisin sauce, 100 g plain tomato sauce and 20 g granulated sugar.

Raise the heat to medium-high and fry the sauce in the lard about 5 minutes to deepen the flavour.

Add 200 g stock, bring to a boil and cook about another 5 minutes, stirring; it splashes.

Season with 1/4 tsp each salt and chicken bouillon plus 1/2 tsp MSG; slowly thicken with a slurry of 1/2 tbsp starch and 1 tbsp water; take off the heat into a bowl.

Boil 60 g dry wonton egg noodles per portion until done to taste and plate; quickly blanch a couple pieces of lettuce and arrange alongside.

Drizzle about half a teaspoon of toasted sesame oil or lard over everything, add 2-3 tbsp of the sauce and sprinkle with scallion.