Hot and Sour Shredded Potatoes

Peel 500 g potatoes, slice thinly, then cut into even matchsticks about 2 mm thick.

Rinse the potato strips in 2–3 changes of cold water, then cover with fresh cold water and soak for 10 minutes. Prepare the other ingredients for step 3 while they soak.

Deseed and thinly slice 50 g green bell pepper, mince 4 garlic cloves and snip 6 dried chilies. Drain the soaked potatoes in a colander until they stop dripping steadily before heating the wok.

Heat the wok, add 30 ml oil and lower the heat. Fry all the dried chilies until fragrant, then add all the garlic and briefly fry. Keep the garlic pale and the chilies from blackening; move straight to the next step.

Turn to high heat and add all the drained potatoes. Stir-fry for about 1–2 minutes until they begin to look translucent. Add 3 g salt, 3 g sugar and 10 ml light soy sauce; toss well. If the strips still have a hard opaque core, cook a little longer before adding the pepper.

Add all the green pepper and stir-fry over high heat for about 30 seconds until just softened. Pour 20 ml white vinegar around the wok edge and toss quickly. Once the potatoes are cooked through but crisp, with no hard raw core, and the pepper is tender-crisp, turn off the heat and plate. Thicker strips need longer; judge doneness by texture.