Guangxi char siu rice noodle soup

Julienne 300 g of packaged pickled bamboo shoots and squeeze the excess liquid out; they need to be as dry as feasible for toasting.

Toast the bamboo shoots in a dry wok over a high flame five to six minutes, until the surface is for the most part no longer moist to the touch.

Add two tablespoons of oil and, over a low flame, optionally a tablespoon of chili powder, and fry briefly.

Add the bamboo shoots back with any pickled chilies, turn the flame to high and fry two to three minutes until mixed and fragrant, then jar it.

Rub 100 g of scallion with 50 g each of smashed roughly chopped ginger and garlic until the scallion wilts a bit.

Grind the cinnamon stick, star anise, licorice root, sand ginger and white peppercorn into a powder and add it with the salt and sugar.

Keep rubbing about three minutes until the scallion releases much of its liquid.

Add the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, water, high-proof liquor and the optional red yeast rice powder.

Add the pork, mix well and massage the marinade in for about five minutes, until your hands start to feel hot and spicy from the ginger.

Marinate at least 24 hours, ideally 48.

Transfer the pork with its marinade to a non-stick skillet and cook it down over medium-high about 20 minutes, flipping a couple of times, until completely cooked through. This dries the pork out so it slices thinly and lets the meat absorb the flavour.

Rinse the pork pieces well, then fry at about 170C for about a minute until the exterior deepens in colour, and drain on a paper towel lined plate.

Chill at least half an hour before slicing, then thinly slice 40 to 50 g per portion.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, blanch a kilo of pork bones three minutes, then transfer to cool water and rinse.

Put the blanched bones in a stockpot with about five litres of cool water, two inches of smashed ginger and about 30 g of knotted scallion. Bring to a boil and skim if gunky.

Drop to medium-low, keep it at a heavy simmer or light boil, cover and cook three hours.

Shut off the heat, season with a tablespoon of salt and remove the pork and aromatics.

Boil 100 g of dried rice noodles per serving, about six to eight minutes for these.

Reheat the stock in a small pot or the microwave, and thaw and reheat the char siu if frozen.

Season a bowl with an eighth teaspoon each of salt, sugar, MSG and white pepper powder, add the strained noodles, arrange the char siu, add the bamboo shoot and scallion and ladle the soup over.