Bone Broth and Dipping Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 pounds soup bones, from the neck, tail, shin, or shoulder
• 1/2 cup rice wine
• One 2-inch section of ginger, cut into thirds
• Salt to taste, a few tablespoons

Directions

1. For the initial blanch, wash the meat well with cold running water, then put it in a pot. Pour in enough water so the meat sits under a few inches of liquid. Set the pot over medium heat and warm it until the water is just on the edge of boiling, then immediately drain the meat through a colander and discard the liquid.
2. Return the meat to the pot and add fresh water, again covering it by a few inches. Put the pot back over medium heat and bring the liquid to a gentle simmer. Stir in the wine, ginger, and salt, then lower the heat and cook at a quiet simmer until the meat is very tender, at least 2.5 hours. As it cooks, spoon away any foam that collects on the surface.
3. For the dipping sauce, warm the chili peppers in a heavy-bottomed skillet until their aroma blooms, 10 to 20 seconds, then do the same with the sichuan peppercorns. Take them off the heat and cool them. Crush the cooled spices with a mortar and pestle until they are somewhere between medium and fine, then transfer them to a ceramic bowl or glass jar.
4. Warm the oil in a small saucepan, stopping before it gets anywhere near smoking. Pour the warm oil onto the ground toasted spices, then season with salt to taste. Prepared this way, the oil can sit in the cabinets for weeks.
5. Remove the fat from the broth by spooning it from the surface, or chill the soup overnight until the fat firms up into a layer that can be lifted away.
6. Serve the broth with noodles and simmered vegetables, if desired, with the dipping sauce alongside.