Sichuan Spiced Potato Salad

Step 1

Peel or scrub and leave the skin on the potatoes. To cut the potatoes as skinny matchsticks, slice the potatoes into thin pieces, roughly 1/8 inch thick. Group and stack them up, then cut into matchstick slivers (think skinny bean sprouts), transferring them to a bowl of water as you work to avoid browning. (Alternatively, use a mandoline.)

Step 2

Halfway fill a 4 or 5-quart pot with water and add 1 ½ teaspoons fine sea salt. Bring to a boil over high heat. Drain the potatoes in a colander, briefly rinse to remove excess starch, add the potatoes to the boiling water. Turn off the heat, wait for about 2 minutes, until slightly softened and still crisp, then drain the potatoes. Partly refill the pot with cold water then dump the potatoes in, swish a few times to remove starch and stop cooking, then drain in the colander.

Step 3

Shake the colander super well to expel excess water then transfer the potato to a bowl or even back into the cooking pot, if it’s cool by now. (If there’s still lots of lingering water, pat the potato with a dishtowel.) Toss with the vinegar and a good 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt and the sugar.

Step 4

In a small saucepan, combine the canola oil, dried chiles, and Sichuan peppercorns. Heat over medium-low heat, shaking the pan or stirring, until the chiles are and peppercorns are aromatic and a bit dark, but not burnt. You may hear gently sizzling towards the end. Pour the hot oil and aromatics over the potato slivers, toss. Pour on the sesame oil and retoss. Taste and add any extra salt, then mound into a shallow bowl to serve slightly warm or at room temperature.