Firecracker Chicken

I always thought I had quite a heavy hand when it came to using the fragrant and fiery Sichuan peppercorns – until I tasted a red-hot mouth-numbing chicken dish in Lintong, in Shaanxi province. I asked our guide Clarence to give me the lowdown on how it was made: the chicken was cooked with masses of whole Sichuan peppercorns and whole small dried chillies which set our tastebuds on fire, but it quickly became addictive as we worked our way to the bottom of the plate.