Sliced beef in chilli sauce (Fuqi feipian)

1. Blanch the beef shank in boiling water for 3 minutes, rinse, then put it in a pot with fresh water, sliced ginger, star anise, Shaoxing rice wine, soy sauce, sugar and salt.

2. Bring to the boil and simmer gently, covered, for 1.5-2 hours until tender but still sliceable; leave to cool in the liquid, then lift out and set aside 1 spoonful of the cooking liquid.

3. Toast the Sichuan pepper and peanuts separately in a dry pan; grind the pepper finely and roughly chop the peanuts.

4. Cut the cooled beef across the grain into very thin slices; finely dice the celery and roughly chop the coriander.

5. For the dressing, mix the chilli oil, soy sauce, sugar, ground Sichuan pepper and the reserved cooking liquid.

6. Arrange the beef on a platter, drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle with the celery, peanuts and coriander; serve cold.

Tip: Chengdu's famous cold starter, its name means "husband and wife lung slices" – originally made with offal, today mostly with beef shank. The leftover cooking liquid makes an excellent stock for noodle soups.