Twice cooked beef

Cut the beef into big chunks and put it in a stock pot with the water; bring to the boil over medium heat, uncovered.

Skim off all the scum with a fine sieve, which removes the gamey flavour and keeps the soup clean.

Add the crushed ginger, knotted scallions, star anise, dried red chilies, Sichuan peppercorns and salt.

Turn the heat to the lowest and simmer 1 to 1.5 hours, until a chopstick goes through easily but the meat is still firm enough to slice.

Separate the white and green parts of the garlic shoots.

Cut the dried red chilies into short pieces and stir so the seeds fall to the bottom, then separate them out.

Smash and dice the ginger, roughly dice the garlic, cut the green and red chili peppers into bite-sized pieces.

Slice the cooked beef thinly; it keeps 4 to 5 days in the fridge or 4 months frozen.

Heat the wok on high until smoking, add a generous amount of oil and swirl it around.

Toss in the dried red chilies, diced garlic, ginger and the white parts of the garlic shoots and stir a minute.

Drop the heat to medium-low, add the doubanjiang, oyster sauce and soy sauce and stir until the doubanjiang releases its aroma and red oil.

Add the beef slices and the braising liquid and reheat 2 to 3 minutes.

Add the green and red chili peppers and the green parts of the garlic shoots, mix and serve.