From Every Grain of Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop (a Brit who was the first Westerner to attend the Sichuan Institute of Higher Cuisine)
Fuchsia describes this dish as one she doesn't use a recipe for...but constructed this one for the purpose of giving the rest of us a place to start. She implies a LOT of variations (including crushed garlic and/or serving on a bed of sliced cucumber) and suggests that it's a great choice alongside more ambitious dishes since you can pre-prep everything and then quickly stir it together when it's time to eat.
CHICKEN
3/4 lb cold poached chicken* (I used boneless breast... but you can use anything up to a whole chicken, hacked apart with a cleaver :-)
3 green onions, sliced thinly at a steep angle
1/4 t salt
1 T sesame seeds
DRESSING
2 T light soy sauce
1.5 t Chinkiang vinegar (a very dark/complex vinegar, widely available in Chinese markets)
1.5 t sugar
1 T chicken stock
3-4 T chili oil (I used a more modest 1 T for the first try - it was delicious; I plan to up it a bit more next time)
1/4 - 1/2 t ground roasted Sichuan peppercorns
1 t sesame oil
Tear chicken into shreds (so it can absorb the dressing) and mix with green onions and salt. Mix dressing in another small bowl.
Just before serving stir dressing into chicken and top with sesame seeds.
*Suggestion for poaching: Let chicken come to room temperature. Bring to boil enough water to cover chicken (but not much extra). Add chicken to pot, return to boil and skim. Add a slice of ginger, lightly crushed and the white parts of two green onions, also lightly crushed. Partially cover with a lid, reduce heat so that the liquid "just murmurs gently" (about 1.5 on my stove dial) and poach for about 30 minutes (more or less depending on size of pieces. Check for doneness. When chicken is done, save a bit of stock for dressing, then remove and rinse chicken in cold running water. Set aside to cool.
