In Guanghan town, Chengdu, I made a dish using our friend Jenny’s delicious xiang chang – Chinese sausages made from minced pork belly. This is how my grandmother used to prepare Chinese sausage in Taiwan – fried in a wok until crispy and served with raw garlic slices.
Take a trip to an Asian supermarket to find the more unusual ingredients in this authentic recipe.
Place the sausages in boiling water and cook for 15 minutes, then drain. Slice the sausages on the diagonal into 1cm/½in slices.
Slice the wood ear mushrooms and pickled chillies on the diagonal to resemble the long oval shape of the sausage pieces.
Heat a wok over high heat and add 1 tbsp of the vegetable oil. Add the wood ear mushrooms, garlic chives (or spring onions) and picked chillies and toss together in the oil. Stir fry for less than one minute on high heat, then spoon out onto a plate.
Place the wok back on high heat and add the remaining vegetable oil. Add the chilli bean paste, Sichuan peppercorns, Sichuan pepper oil, vinegar, light soy sauce and sugar.
Return the sausages, wood ear mushrooms, pickled chillies and garlic chives to the wok and toss together a few times in the fragrant hot oil to combine all the flavours. Take off the heat, spoon out onto a serving plate and eat immediately.
