Youqiang stir fry

Roughly chop the garlic, fresh chilies and ginger; split the lemongrass into core and fibrous tops.

Pound the Dai mix in a mortar, about five minutes, to a coarse paste; do not take it too fine.

For tripe: roll it up, cut into about two centimetre pieces, blanch ten seconds in boiling water, then dump into cool water and rinse well to stop the cooking; drain.

For shrimp: rinse the shelled shrimp, soak with a teaspoon of sodium carbonate and water for 5 to 10 minutes.

Rinse well, then sit under a trickle of running water another 5 to 10 minutes.

Drain, pat, and wrap in a towel so the shrimp are really dry.

Butterfly the shrimp by cutting into the back and opening them like a book, removing any remaining digestive tract.

Marinate the shrimp with salt, sugar, white pepper and Shaoxing wine, mix, then toss with a tablespoon of oil to coat.

Swirl four tablespoons of oil into a hot wok and over a medium high flame add the dried chilies and Sichuan peppercorns.

Fry until the chilies begin to turn chestnut coloured, then optionally add a teaspoon of red chili powder and let it stain the oil about 15 seconds.

Add the pounded Dai paste, mix, raise the flame to maximum and fry about one minute until the oil comes back out.

Add the protein: shrimp about 30 seconds until mostly cooked, tripe about 10 seconds.

Add the sauce and mix about 15 seconds.

Off the heat, stir in the culantro or cilantro and serve.

Variation: fuzhu tofu sticks or deep fried tofu in place of the organ meat for a vegetarian version.