Sichuan Chicken Noodle Salad

I've been craving cold noodle again.  The weather chilled for about a week but the match has struck again, and my life is ablaze.. again.  What I was looking for was the "chaos out of order" effect visually, and the mala numbing spicy effect taste wise, but refreshing all at once.  Here is the perfect match to my mood swings.. there is chicken, vegetable, crunch, tang, spice, and it's all served cold... as is revenge..

Inspired by ChinaSichuanFood

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the chicken:

2 chicken breasts

1 tsp whole Sichuan peppercorns

1 green onion, sliced lengthwise

2 slices fresh ginger

1 tsp doubanjiang (PiXian broadbean chili paste)

enough water to cover

Noodles:

8 oz (230g) sweet potato starch noodles (or whatever noodles you want) cooked and drained

2 tsp sesame oil

Chili oil:

1 tsp ground Sichuan peppercorns

1 tsp red chili powder (mine is extra spicy)

2 star anise

4 slices ginger

3 Tbsp canola oil

Dressing:

3 cloves garlic, grated

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

2 Tbsp black vinegar

2 Tbsp rice vinegar

2 Tbsp mirin (or sugar)

Toppings:

2 julienned carrots (or cucumber)

1 green onion, chopped

crushed peanuts

fried shallots

Directions

1.  Place all the "For the chicken" ingredients in a pot of water.  Bring to a boil, let boil 5 minutes, then cover, remove from heat, and let sit 10 minutes.  Drain and cool the chicken in cold water, then shred and set aside.

2.  Cool the cooked noodles under cold running water, then toss in sesame oil and set aside.

3.  Make the Chili oil.  Place the Sichuan pepper and chili powder in a bowl.  In a pan, heat the oil with the ginger and the star anise.  When it starts to bubble, remove the ginger and pour the rest into the bowl.  Let infuse and cool.  When cool, remove the star anise.

4.  Make the dressing.  Stir it all together.

5.  Assemble.  Normally you are supposed to just toss everything together, but as you may have noticed, I like to make the bed before tearing it apart.  Neatly place everything as you wish,

then add the chili oil and dressing and make a big hot mess...

... a really really hot mess..