Directions

1. You want to use red skin potatoes because they are low in starch which will give you a nice texture for this recipe. Peel the skin and cut the potato into shreds.

2. Soak them in room temperature water for 20 minutes. Add in 2 tbsp of white vinegar into the water. Vinegar will cause some chemical reaction with pectin that is exiting in between the plant cells, I don’t know how to explain that, but that will change the texture of the potatoes. It is very interesting.
3. Drain the potato and leave it in the sieve so it will have a little more time to get rid of any excess water. If it is not well drained, the dish will be too saucy.
4. Add some oil to your wok, about 2.5 tbsp. You can use less oil if that is what you prefer. Add the Sichuan peppercorn in while the oil is still cold. That will season the oil when the wok is getting hot. We just gonna fry the peppercorn for a minute. Don’t burn it. If the peppercorn turns black, it will bring a bitter taste. Once you think you got enough flavor, you can tilt the wok and fish out all of them. This is optional. I just think it is quite annoying if you leave the peppercorn in the dish. It does not feel good if you bite one by accident.
5. Throw in all the aromatics besides the green part of the spring onion. Give them a few quick stirs. Dump in all the potato shreds. Toss it quickly. You want the oil to coat the surface of the potato. That will prevent it from producing starch. If you don’t do that, it will likely stick to your wok which is quite painful. Keep stirring them another minute and a half.
6. Season it with some salt. I used a little bit less than 1 tsp. Some sugar, about 1 tsp as well. Few more stirs then add 1.5 tbsp of Chinese black vinegar along with the green part of spring onion. This is the vinegar that I am using and yes, you can use white vinegar for this recipe. I just think this provides more flavor.
7. Keep stirring and mixing all the ingredients. Now you will see that the potato shred becomes a bit softer. They are not stiff anymore. That means you are done. Take it out and serve. It is a side dish in China. You normally will have a meat dish and a soup to go with it.