Szechwan Boiled Fillet of Fish (四川水煮魚, 水煮肉片, 水煮牛）

This is another traditional Szechwan dish.  The basic cooking method for spices is similar to the Szechwan Diced Chicken, even though the result looks quite different.

1. Cut 2 - 3 pieces of fillet of fish into 3/4"-square size chunks, and marinate for at least 30 minutes, with 1/2 tsp of salt and 2 Tbsp of rice cooking wine.  See Step 6 below for preparing pork or beef in place of fish fillet.
2. Rinse 8 - 12 oz of soybean sprouts (黃豆芽）thoroughly, blanch for 3 - 4 minutes, then spread evenly at the bottom of a medium-to-large serving bowl.
3. [Medium Heat] Add 2 - 3  Tbsp of vegetable oil into a flat bottom cooking pan, turn on medium heat, add  1/4 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of sugar, 2-3 stalks of green onion (cut into 1" segments),  6-8 slices of ginger,  6 cloves of garlic (pressed flat, coarsely sliced),  1 Tbsp of Hot Chili Pepper Oil (see this post), and optionally, 1 Tbsp of chili powder (to make it more spicy hot).  Note- The basic seasonings of Chinese Cooking are all in use here: salt, sugar, green onion, garlic, and ginger (鹽、糖、蔥、薑、蒜).  The common use of Sichuan Pepper (花椒) for this dish is folded into the Chili Pepper Oil, so we don't have to deal with the hassle of chewing on those peppercorns, since they are hard to separate out in this step.
4. [High Heat]  Turn up the heat, add 1 can of 14-oz chicken broth and 1 can of water into the cooking pan.  Bring to boil, add the marinated fish fillet into the pan, stir gently, let simmer for 2 - 3 minutes.  Pour all content from the cooking pan into the serving bowl, on top of the soybean sprouts.
5. [Medium Heat] Add 2 - 3 Tbsp of vegetable oil into a fresh flat bottom cooking pan, turn on medium heat.  Add 1/2 - 1 cup of dried chili pepper (hand-torn open into halves) into the pan,  stir till fragrant (2 - 3 minutes).  Add 2-3 stalks of green onion (cut into 1" segments) and 1-2 tsp of Sichuan Pepper powder (花椒粉), mix evenly with the chili peppers.  Now pour the pan-fried dried chili peppers and green onions into the serving bowl, gently stir and mix with the fish fillet, and serve.  Here is a picture of the finished product.  Note- If the dried chili pepper is spicy hot, this dish would turn out to be too spicy for most (reduce or eliminate the Hot Chili Pepper Oil and chili powder in Step 3).  Otherwise, the degree of spicy-hotness will depend on the Chili Pepper Oil and Chili Powder when the dried chili pepper is used primarily to decorate the dish.  
   
6. We can substitute Napa Cabbage for soybean sprouts (rinse and cut into bite size).  We can also substitute pork or beef for fish fillet.  Lean pork or flank beef needs to be sliced and marinated with soy sauce, rice cooking wine, and corn starch first, and then stir-fried at high heat till almost-cooked (not fully cooked, take out when pink, turning white in veggie oil).  The almost cooked meat can go into the boiling broth in Step 4 above.