Ooo boy… This is… authentic. Spicy and tingly, sweet and sour, crunchy and… tasty. But I do feel like it might be a bit much for my feeble western tongue.
I’d perhaps suggest halving the chillis and Sichuan peppers here. As it is I think there’s going to have to be much rice on hand, and perhaps a jug of milk within reach.
The most important thing in this recipe and other like it is to control the temperature of the wok while frying the aromatics, whether this is by getting other elements (meat or veg) into the oil immediately after the aromatics have been put into the wok and so cooling the wok; or by control of the hob thermostat. They burn so, so easily! I’m getting better at this, but I’m not there yet.
Another thing I’m learning with Chinese food of this nature is not to be afraid of adding water if the consistency is firming up too much. It doesn’t detriment the meal at all.
Once prepared this takes no time at all.
From the Food of Sichuan, pg. 182