Add 2 tbsp of oil to the wok. Don’t need to wait for the oil to get hot. Just directly add in 1 tbsp of Sichuan peppercorn and 2/3 cup of dry hot chilies. Keep the flame on medium-low and we gonna stir this for a minute. You don’t want to burn it or else it will bring a bitter taste.
This just to activate the fragrance and flavor out of them. Because they gonna go on top of the dish. And we will pour a splash of hot oil to it. If you don’t saute them now, they not gonna be as fragrant as it should be. Once you see some of the chilies have a slightly dark red color, that means it is close to getting burned. Turn off the heat and tilt the wok.
Take the chilies and Sichuan peppercorns out. There will be some oil left in the wok. Just leave it there. We gonna use it to cook the vegetables later.
Roughly chop the chilies and finely dice the Sichuan peppercorn. Set it aside.
Prepare some vegetables to put on the bottom of the bowl [Di Cai 底菜].
In the same wok, this time, don’t need to add oil. Heat it up and add in the carrot, the bean sprout, the shredded cabbage and, the celery. Toss them on high heat for a minute. We don’t want to cook it all the way done. We want them to stay crunchy and fresh. Add some salt to taste, I used about 1/2 tsp. Mix it well. These vegetables are going to be put on the bottom of the bowl. It will balance out the flavor of this dish. Set that aside.